Switching the Telescope Lens: A Sociomaterial Perspective of Sustainable Agricultural (Proto)Practices Transfer in an Agrifood Supply Chain
研究巴西家禽养殖供应链中可持续农业实践的转移，发现动物福利完全采纳，而废物管理、工作条件和生物安全仍处于原型阶段，一级供应商在转移中起关键作用。
ABSTRACT This study investigates the implementation and transfer of sustainable agricultural practices (SUSAPs) across a multitier agrifood supply chain (SC) using Brazilian poultry farming as the empirical context. We conduct an interpretive case study of buyer–supplier–subsupplier triads, including those certified under Global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and noncertified counterparts, using interviews, observations, and secondary data. Adopting a sociomaterial perspective, we investigate how SUSAPs' components—meanings, materials, and competencies—are embedded within specific SC tiers and transferred across the triad. A zoom‐in analysis reveals that only animal welfare is a fully adopted practice, whereas waste management, working conditions, and biosecurity remain in development as protopractices. A zoom‐out analysis of SUSAPs' components shows limited buyer influence across the triad, while first‐tier suppliers facilitate SUSAP transfer. We advance theory by demonstrating how a sociomaterial perspective explains the degree of SUSAPs' implementation and transfer, and introducing the boomerang effect , illustrating how first‐tier suppliers enable SUSAP implementation among certified and noncertified subsuppliers to ensure safer and more sustainable products. These insights help managers transfer SUSAPs into their SCs by leveraging first‐tier suppliers as boundary spanners.