Market Orientation, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: An Empirical Examination of the Illinois Beef Industry

This paper explores the importance of a producer’s market orientation on their subjective performance within agricultural commodity markets. Using a structural equation model of beef producers, our findings suggest that market oriented firms are highly innovative and achieve superior performance. These findings are consistent with previous research on the market orientation-performance relationship in heterogeneous product markets. The cost focus of a firm was also found to have a significant influence on innovation, but no direct effect on performance. This suggests that beef producers should follow a balanced approach utilizing both an external market and an internal productivity focus to achieve superior returns as opposed to solely focusing on internal productivity as many producers currently do.market orientation, beef production, innovation, performance, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q10, Q13, Q16,

The Impact of Alternative Market Orientation Strategies on Firm Performance: Customer versus Competitor Orientation

Research studies have differed over the importance of the relative emphasis of a customer versus competitor orientation in the development of a market orientation (Slater and Narver, 1994; Tajeddini, 2010). In this study, we assess whether the emphasis of one component over another of a market orientation is an important determinant of firm performance within the Illinois beef industry, specifically the cow-calf sector. Using a series of OLS regressions, we examine the importance of a market orientation, relative emphasis, learning, innovativeness, and a cost focus on firm performance. Our results suggest that a market orientation is an important determinant of firm performance while the relative emphasis of customer versus competitor orientation is not statistically significant, corroborating the findings of Slater and Narver (1994). Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.Agriculture, innovation, market orientation, relative emphasis, value discipline strategies, Marketing,

Positional Advantage within Small Farms: Evidence from Illinois

As the economic viability of small farms continues to be an issue facing policy makers and economists alike, a market orientation may be a valuable resource producers can develop as they compete in a marketplace dominated by larger firms. Marketing and strategy scholars have long established the importance of a market orientation in determining firm performance. More recently, scholars have studied the effect of these concepts in agriculture. Extending the literature of market orientation in agriculture, this study examines the concept of a positional advantage and its effect on performance using a sample of small farms in Illinois. Using a sample of 347 Illinois beef producers, we empirically measure and test the construct of positional advantage and test the relationship between positional advantage and subjective performance. Our results indicate that market orientation, entrepreneurship, innovation and learning are first-order indicators of positional advantage and that the positional advantage of a firm is positively related to firm performance.Agriculture, innovation, market orientation, positional advantage, Farm Management, Production Economics, L11, L25, L26,

Do Market Oriented Firms Demonstrate Clarity on Their Value Discipline? Evidence from Illinois Beef Producers

A market orientation has been shown to lead to improved firm performance in a variety of industries (Narver and Slater, 1990; Deshpande et al., 1993). In previous research, it has been argued that performance benefits are a result of a greater awareness of the sources of value the product provides to the consumer, without specifically describing how value was created. Treacy and Wiersema (1993) developed the concept of value disciplines, which are three distinctive means of value provision, namely operational excellence, customer intimacy and product leadership. More recently, Narver et al. (1998) argued that market oriented firms have a clear understanding of how they provide value to customers, but this assertion has yet to be empirically tested. A new scale was developed and tested to measure the choice and clarity of value discipline. Using a sample of 343 Illinois beef producers, results show that organizational learning, innovativeness, and extreme levels of market orientation contribute to value discipline clarity while moderate levels of market orientation have the opposite effect.innovation, market orientation, organizational learning, value disciplines, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q10, Q13, Q16,

Machinery Investment in Illinois: A Study Examining Existing Investment Motivations

In this study, we attempt to prove some previously held ideas of machinery investment decisions using farm level data from Illinois. Investment decisions are analyzed taking into consideration past investment decisions in the county and on the individual farm. The results show there is a correlation between county level purchases and individual farm purchases and investment levels decrease the following year after an initial investment. These results display how non-traditional drivers for investment also play an important role in the investment decision.machinery, investment, keeping up with the Jones', treadmill theory, Farm Management,

Ultraviolet-Absorption Spectroscopic Biofilm Monitor

An ultraviolet-absorption spectrometer system has been developed as a prototype instrument to be used in continuous, real-time monitoring to detect the growth of biofilms. Such monitoring is desirable because biofilms are often harmful. For example, biofilms in potable-water and hydroponic systems act as both sources of pathogenic bacteria that resist biocides and as a mechanism for deterioration (including corrosion) of pipes. Biofilms formed from several types of hazardous bacteria can thrive in both plant-growth solutions and low-nutrient media like distilled water. Biofilms can also form in condensate tanks in air-conditioning systems and in industrial heat exchangers. At present, bacteria in potable-water and plant-growth systems aboard the space shuttle (and previously on the Mir space station) are monitored by culture-plate counting, which entails an incubation period of 24 to 48 hours for each sample. At present, there are no commercially available instruments for continuous monitoring of biofilms in terrestrial or spaceborne settings

A Guatemalan Soycow Cooperative: Is the Whole Greater than the Sum of its Parts?

Teaching Notes available upon request: [email protected]; Author video:http://www.youtube.com/user/ifamr1?feature=mhum#p/u/8/FhUZu2lt6NsSoycow, cooperative, Guatemala, teaching case, Agribusiness, Q10,

Differences in Production Costs Across Compliance Scenarios for Canadian Cow-Calf Producers Accessing the EU Market

Using the 2016 Canada EU Trade Agreement as context, we develop a systems dynamics model to assess changes in the cost of production from a production system oriented toward the North American market where growth enhancing products are allowed, to a European market where these production practices are banned. We outline four different compliance scenarios and use data from western Canadian institutions to estimate how the cost of production for cow-calf producers changes in the different compliance scenarios. We find that compliance costs ranged from $2.13 per head for those firms who already had forgone growth enhancing products and were maintaining detailed records to$34.78 per head for farms who were least compliant with EU standards

Openness in Malting Barley Value Chains: The Case of Adoption of new Varieties in Canada and the United Kingdom

Development of new malting barley varieties depends crucially on value chain acceptance. A case study analysis of the adoption of new varieties in malting barley value chains in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) indicates thatopenness in value chains is a major contributing factor to a faster adoption rate for new varieties, even if firms conduct R&D in-house. Drawing upon the open innovation literature, this paper applies four degrees of openness framework across two dimensions: a firm's level of openness in innovation strategy, and its degree of openness with the rest of the industry