Greening the networked economy - Environmental Reform in the Information Age - page 165

global commodity chains and networks in terms of how certain (lead)
firms set, measure and enforce the parameters under which other firms
in the chain and network operate. Who is able - and how - to exer-
cise control by specifying what products need to be delivered, in what
quantity and when, how these should be produced and at what price
(Ponte and Gibbon, 2005 : 5)? Especially in the various contributions
to the development of convention theory, quality conventions in com-
modity chains and networks have become central in the coordination
between segments of the commodity chain. 4 And these quality con-
cerns move beyond a narrow market logic of product quality charac-
teristics, towards broader issues of process and production methods
and - among others - the environmental concerns related to that.
In these (global) economic networks and chains, information and
communication technology is increasingly a vital resource for economic
agents and a structuring element. ICT is greatly facilitating informa-
tion flows, which have become crucial in, for instance, detailing prod-
uct specification, the organisation of production schedules and just-in-
time delivery, and the monitoring of product quality and production
standards. Through ICT and electronic infrastructure, business infor-
mation of various kinds is swiftly transferred in economic networks,
both from producers to suppliers and customers (B2B) and from pro-
ducers to consumers (B2C). But ICT itself also enables and 'pushes' the
restructuring of these economic networks and chains, in which parts
of production steps and services can be relocated to the other side of
the globe, without any serious consequences for product quality, costs
and logistics.
Following Castells, Scholte ( 2000 ), McPhail ( 2006 ) and many oth-
ers illustrate not only how the global economy becomes information-
alised but also how communication and information capital and firms
become globalised. ICT industries, telecommunication companies,
(electronic) data processors and services, polling agencies, software

commodities, ranging from retailers, branded marketers and industrial
processors to international traders.

4

Conventions are defined as “shared templates for interpreting situations and
planning courses of actions in mutually comprehensive ways that involve social
accountability” (Biggart and Beamish, 2003 : 444). As such conventions -
whether they are purely economic or incorporate wider normative concerns -
provide a basis for judging situations and actions, but at the same time form
constraints.