Niken Anggraini Savitri is a PhD student undertaking a Double Degree programme between Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Indonesia, and Coventry University, UK, under the supervision of Professor Benny Tjahjono. Her doctoral research focuses on the power and influence of intermediaries in the palm oil supply chain, exploring how resource dependency, relationship dynamics and social networks shape sustainable supply chain performance. Her academic journey started with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering, followed by a Master's degree in the same program.

Before entering academia, Niken built a strong professional foundation through more than a decade of experience in multinational corporations, working at Schneider Electric Indonesia and Philip Morris International. In these roles, she developed expertise in project management, operations, and strategic supply chain practices, which later shaped her interest in bridging industry challenges with academic inquiry.

Niken seeks to advance the understanding of intermediaries’ unique role in improving the supply chain performance. Her work is committed to providing evidence-based frameworks and models that support more inclusive, transparent, and resilient supply chains—particularly in sensitive and globally significant sectors such as palm oil.

The Role and Power Dynamic of Intermediaries in The Sustainable Agriculture Supply Chain

Abstract: Intermediaries have become a common phenomenon, particularly in the agriculture supply chain of developing countries. This is mainly driven by the fact that the agriculture sector mainly consists of smallholders, who often face low productivity, low prices, and insufficient access to credit, input, and knowledge. Intermediaries or middlemen mainly facilitate the movement of commodities from growers to buyers while taking care of the ownership transfer and quality maintenance during the process. Although intermediaries significantly impact other players and the whole supply chain, only a few studies have examined the relationships between intermediaries and other players in the agricultural supply chain in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors which drive the intermediaries’ bargaining power and facilitate the intermediation in the palm oil supply chain. In addition, this research aims to investigate how the intermediaries’ role could possibly help in improving the sustainability actions in the palm oil supply chain. This study employs a thematic analysis and system dynamic approaches. After developing a theoretical framework regarding intermediaries role in the sustainable supply chain, thematic analysis is conducted to validate the framework. Semi-structured interviews are conducted in order to collect data. The data is processed via a qualitative content analysis. First, the collected data is quoted, in a second step it is coded, categorized and then explained and finally interpreted. After the framework developed, the next step is to create a model which represent the palm oil supply chain system and integrate variables that represent the intermediaries’ role within the system. Several scenarios are simulated to identify which scenario provides the best suitable intermediary’s role and supply chain structure in the palm oil commodity. This study is expected to contribute to supply chain literature particularly regarding intermediaries in palm oil supply chain which has not yet been explored extensively. In addition, this study also provides an understanding on how intermediaries’ power plays a role within the palm oil supply chain, and how the intermediary’s could influence the sustainability efforts conducted in the palm oil supply chain. This study is also expected to provide practical implication to the industry by knowing how to manage the relationships with intermediaries and what type of intermediaries should be considered in making sure the sustainability efforts could be achieved.