Management and Decision Making

Chapter 2

Functions of Management- Planning, Implementation, and Control Planning- Choosing a course of action. You need to

be able to identify goals, amounts of resources available, options or alternatives.

Implementation- Starts with procuring inputs of production, including labor. Coordinating, staffing, purchasing and supervising all come under implementation.

Control- Monitoring results and recording information and comparing to a standard

Adjustment- if not meeting manager’s objectives

Functions of Management- Planning, Implementation, and Control

How do farm managers differ from industry managers?

Strategic Management versus Tactical Management- SM consists of charting the overall long-term course of the business. TM consists of taking short-run actions to keep the business moving along that course until that destination has been reached.

Strategic Management

Strategic Management is an ongoing process, seeking to find out what the business should be doing, and its steps are: Define the mission of the business Formulate the goals of the business Assess the resources of the business Survey the business environment Identify and select strategies Implement and refine the selected strategies

Tactical Decision Making

Identify and define the problem or opportunity Identify alternative solutions Collect data and information Analyze the alternatives and make a decision Implement the decision Monitor and evaluate the results Accept responsibility

Characteristics of Decisions

Importance Frequency Imminence Revocability Number of Alternatives

The Decision-Making Environment in Agriculture Biological Process and Weather

Gestation Period for livestock Makes product unpredictable

The Decision-Making Environment in Agriculture Fixed Supply of Land

Most valuable resource in Ag Must increase in productivity or compete for

rental land or land that goes up for sale

The Decision-Making Environment in Agriculture Small Size

90% of farms in US are sole proprietorships Small Scale operations dominate landscape

The Decision-Making Environment in Agriculture Perfect Competition

How are prices determined? Collective action Niche Marketing