An analysis of export market strategies and barriers perceptions by U.S. agricultural HVP exporters

This study identifies barriers perceived by agricultural exporters and examines how these perceptions influence use of export market strategies. Ordered logit models are used to estimate effects of perceived barriers and firm characteristics on export market strategies. The results from these models show that perceptions about import restrictions influence use of diversification of exports across products, competition influences use of competitive export pricing, and overseas product regulations affect product adaptation for export markets.     

Concentration and internationalization of Brazilian agribusiness exporters

By using an unprecedently disaggregated data set, this article analyzes rapid concentration and internationalization (the growing presence of multinational firms) in the agribusiness of Brazil in the past decade. The article: (1) analyzes the concentration of exports over the 1990s of seven subsectors; (2) analyzes internationalization, and mergers and acquisitions in these and other subsectors; (3) describes the managerial strategies adopted by firms to cope with the increased competition arising from concentration and internationalization; (4) discusses the particular conditions in each of the major subsectors; and (5) draws managerial and policy implications in an era of globalization.     

Empowering agricultural production cooperatives: a nationwide survey of definitions and strategies in Iran

The empowerment literature lacks a common understanding of the empowerment and the important elements in the empowerment process. This study aimed to create an empirically generated list of definitions and strategies for empowering agricultural production cooperatives (APCs). A nationwide survey was conducted in Iran to achieve the research objectives. Fifty-five (out of 80) government employees involved in agricultural cooperatives’ empowerment and 85 (out of 277) board members of cooperatives who participated in empowerment programmes, were randomly selected to participate in this research. The perceptions of the two groups were compared using t-test to reach consensus. In the end 19 agreed definitions and 32 strategies were provided for empowering the cooperatives. An exploratory factor analysis was used to determine what sets of definitions and what sets of strategies hang together. The study results suggest that empowerment actors in Iran are trying to make cooperative principles governthe cooperative. The article concludes with the discussion of strategies for strengthening empowerment in APCs and implications for human resource development (HRD).     

Green logistics management and performance: Some empirical evidence from Chinese manufacturing exporters

The value chain of many business enterprises is increasingly required to demonstrate the profitability of their primary activities, starting from inbound logistics to operations, outbound logistics, marketing sales, and finally to services. The adoption of green logistics management (GLM) presents an opportunity for Chinese manufacturing exporters to competently respond to the escalating expectation of the international community for resources conservation and to achieve environmental performance profitably. This study makes several important contributions to the literature on managing logistics with environmental considerations. First, the authors identify the components of GLM: (i) procedure-based practices, (ii) evaluation-based practices, (iii) partner-based practices, and (iv) general environmental management practices. Second, they relate GLM to environmental and operational performance in a developing country context. Third, they identify the institutional and operational antecedents that prompt the adoption of GLM by export-oriented manufacturing enterprises in China. Fourth, they examine the moderating effect of environmental regulatory pressure on the GLM-performance linkage. The results are based on a survey of manufacturing exporters in China. The commonly held view that economic motivation is related to the adoption of GLM is not supported. However, GLM positively affects both environmental and operational performance, and regulatory pressure enhances the GLM-performance relationship.     

Korean strategies for export markets

Facing the rapid loss of cheap labour advantage, Korean firms are confronted with a new challenge of transition from Original Equipment Manufacturer to own brand exporter. What kinds of new strategies are required for an OEM exporting company to become an own brand exporter? To answer this question, four Korean companies—of whom two made the transition successfully and two did not—were investigated. A few key success factors were identified, and this article suggests some strategy changes regarding R & D, production and marketing. These strategy changes will only be validated in the long term. Related previous studies are discussed and linked to the suggestions.     

Competitive strategies for service businesses

The Journal's American Editor writes to introduce a group of articles on the theme ‘Competitive Strategies for Service Businesses’. With the globalization of economic activity, productivity is of immediate concern to business worldwide—and as much in the service industries as in manufacturing. As competition intensifies, industries are re-structured and new technologies are introduced, strategic planning and competitive strategy have an important role to play. The following articles examine the role of planning in the service industries.     

Corporate strategies for political action

Discussions of the firm's relationships with its environment have usually concluded that the firm should make adaptive decisions to non-market areas, and proactive or strategic decisions in market areas. Predicating strategic responses upon the differences between market and non-market relationships is inappropriate and misleading, reduces the capacity of the firm to respond effectively to its environment, and distorts the process of environmental scanning. When the firm's relationships with its environment are examined as inter-organizational relationships, market and non-market relationships are structurally similar, and the same types of strategic responses can be selected for both areas. The strategic responses available to the firm in inter-organizational terms are: adaptation; pre-emption, co-optation; interpenetration; conflict and withdrawal. These processes and choices are structurally similar to traditional market related strategic options and can be used to respond to market and non-market factors. The manager scans the environment not only to identify opportunities for adaptation, but to identify groups which affect the integrity of the firm, the processes for interaction, the character of relationships, and occasions for strategic choice. The strategic decision process under a framework of inter-organizational transactions is illustrated by the cases of Sun Life Insurance Co., and the pulp and paper industry in Quebec.     

Marketing strategies for Scotch whisky

A major problem currently facing the Scotch whisky industry is the export of Scotch in bulk. This trade has grown rapidly over the past decade, but there are some doubts about its real value to the industry and the economy. This paper looks firstly at the economic arguments for a ban and then broadens the discussion and considers the wider strategic issues.     

Chartering strategies for shipping companies

This paper describes a model which may be used in the evaluation of the relative effectiveness of policies used in the areas of ship chartering and the switching of combined carriers between the dry cargo market and the tanker market. The policies for chartering and market switching are expressed in the form of ‘desired proportions’ of the fleet operating in a particular charter-mode or a particular market. Graphical illustration of this form of expression of policies can be easily understood, so that alternative policies can be designed with relative ease. The effectiveness of a particular form of policy under various freight market conditions can be determined from the model, the use of which is illustrated by its application to the deployment of the fleet of an hypothetical shipping company. It is assumed that the feedback connection between the company's actions and the marketplace is negligible.     

Segmenting the commercial producer marketplace for agricultural inputs

A cluster analysis procedure was used to develop a market segmentation of U.S. crop and livestock farms with annual sales in excess of $100,000. The segments were developed based on the importance of six factors that producers evaluate when selecting input suppliers. The results indicate that four distinct segments exist: Convenience buyers, Balance buyers, Price buyers, and Performance buyers. Differences in preferences across these segments have important implications for the marketing strategies of agricultural input suppliers.     

Dynamic strategies for branch and bound

Some straightforward but unconventional strategies are proposed for implementing branch and bound methods. These include ‘shrinking’ the branch and bound tree and instituting ‘branch reversals’ by reference to the notion of the relative influence of particular branches in the current solution. An attractive feature of these strategies is their ease of implementation, and the fact that they free the solution process from its customary dependency on early branches created on the basis of inadequate information.     

Adjustable robust strategies for flood protection

Flood protection is of major importance to many flood-prone regions and involves substantial investment and maintenance costs. Modern flood risk management often requires determining a cost-efficient protection strategy, i.e., one which has the lowest possible long run cost and which satisfies flood protection standards imposed by the regulator throughout the entire planning horizon. There are two challenges that complicate the modeling: (i) uncertainty - many of the important parameters on which the strategies are based (e.g. the sea level rise) are uncertain, and will be known only in the future, and (ii) adjustability - decisions implemented at later time stages need to adapt to the realized uncertainty values. We develop a new mathematical model addressing both issues, based on recent advances in integer robust optimization, and we apply it to the Rhine Estuary - Drechtsteden area in the Netherlands. Our approach shows, among others, that (i) considering 40% uncertainty about the sea level rise leads to a solution with less than 10% increase in the total cost, (ii) solutions taking the uncertainty into account are cheaper in the long run if the ‘bad scenarios’ for the uncertainty materialize, even if the ‘optimistic solutions’ are allowed to be repaired later on, and (iii) the optimal here-and-now investment decisions change when uncertainty and adjustability are included in the model.     

Developing strategies for management information systems

This is the first of two articles on a practical approach to Business Information Systems Planning. The articles will outline a formal but practical approach for the development of an information systems strategy. The approach is based on experience gained by the author in the conduct of planning projects in a variety of industries, including wholesale and retail banking, consumer credit, chemicals, multinational manufacturing and distribution and the oil industry. The articles are based on the author's book ‘Planning for Business Information Systems’ (Pergamon Books, 1986).     

What right-to-know means for environmental strategies

Every environmental strategist spends time trying to anticipate environmental regulation. John S. Guttmann, director of the law firm Beveridge & Diamond based in Washington, D.C. provides CES readers with a quick study into the significant changes that are occuring in the nature and extent of public participation. Guttmann explains how the expanding nature of community “right-to-know” and direct public involvement are becoming drivers for regulatory change. His concluding comments blends critical analysis of current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency information of disclosure initiatives with an evaluation of recent EPA public involvement programs. Guttmann identifies how these changes might impact corporate disclosure, and offers valuable insight on the pitfalls of attempting to satisfy the growing public demand for information and involvement.     

The experience effect and pricing for agricultural products

It has been found that for a wide range of industrial products the unit prices and costs decrease by a constant percentage when production volume doubles—this is called the experience effect. This unit price behaviour is also observed for certain classes of basic agricultural products. As international market competition increases, price behaviour differences among countries may lead farmers, their organizations and governments to better understand what are the causes of the differences so that they can maintain and improve their competitive position internationally.     

Stakeholder strategies for the physician executive.

If physician executives are to be effective in confronting the environmental turbulence and uncertainty facing their organizations, they must effectively manage their stakeholders. This article extends the stakeholder approach described in the May-June 1989 issue of Physician Executive as a tool for the physician executive in the development of practical strategies to cope with turbulence and uncertainty. We suggest four generic strategies physician executives can use: involve supportive stakeholders, monitor marginal stakeholders, defend against nonsupportive stakeholders, and collaborate with mixed-blessing stakeholders. As an overarching strategy, a physician executive should try to change the organization's relationships with a stakeholder from a less favorable category to a more favorable one. The stakeholder can then be managed using the generic strategy most appropriate for the category.     

Simplest strategies method for manufacturing workcell restoration

We consider the production process of a manufacturing workcell. Production items obtained from an outside supplier are not processed adequately as far as their quality is concerned. Production items meeting the required quality depend on the workcell state, which degrades according to the number of produced items. The workcell is completely restored by some restoring operations leading to its as-new condition. The method of deriving the restoration period, which leads to the maximum probability that produced items meet the required quality, is introduced. It is based on the nontraditional approach, i.e. on the simplest strategies method for the formulation of the problem presented here. The implementation of this optimization approach is illustrated with an example.     

An LP model for assessing congeneration strategies

A linear programming model is described which is designed to assist in the assessment of optimum operational strategies for industrial plants with cogeneration facilities. A concise format is provided for linking together basic elements such as boilers, valves, turbines and processes with steam and electricity demands with steam, fuel and electricity balance equations. The model should prove particularly useful for assessment when electricity tariffs have time-of-use energy or demand charges or when tariffs have conditions which require consideration of strategies over an extended period. The model has been applied to a paper mill which utilises pass-out turbines for cogeneration of electricity and process steam. Results indicate that savings in fuel costs of the order of 400,000 dollars per year could be obtained by implementing optimal strategies for operating the present turbines. Savings of the order of one million dollars per year could be obtained by converting the turbines to give high pressure pass-out steam and then operating optimally.