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Research Papers in Economics

International Food and Agribusiness Management Review
Vol 5 Iss 3 2003
Executive Summaries
Alternative Dispute Resolution And Peace Making For Resolving
Agribusiness And Food Management Conflict Resolution In The Free
Trade Area Of The Americas Grass Roots Initiatives With International
Applications
Eric Thor, S.A.M. and Rodica Evtuhovici
One of the major research questions for the future is how will the different
cultures, and ethnic groups conduct trade effectively.
The FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) will bring together 35 countries,
with five different languages and over 300 ethnic and cultural groups. As trade,
cultural discourse, and other joint efforts develop among countries, private
organizations, public entities and individuals, many disputes will arise. In a
few countries the “rule of law” can solve these disputes effectively. In most
others, the rule of law either cannot work because of political, social or even
criminal events.
As NAFTA showed, developing a successful and efficient dispute resolution
mechanism is an important component of developing a successful working
relationship of the agreement among all the parties and countries.
Our study area has been alternative dispute resolution since many nations do
not have an effective legal trade system nor accept one country over another.
Other Trade Agreements including NAFTA and WTO have found that the
successful functioning of these agreements require all private and public
parties to think carefully about resolving disputes ahead of time and setting up
a number of alternative processes to be used by the parties. Only in
Government-to-Government disputes is the system relatively simple.
Otherwise, there are several models which have been developed in the U.S. and
other developed countries which can assist in resolving agribusiness and food
management conflict resolution in rural communities: Grass roots initiatives
with international applications disputes over land, grazing rights, homes, credit
issues and financial resources can be a serious impediment to growth.
In Arizona, the U.S. and the Americas, this has caused large dollar value
disputes, ill will, riots and even death. In both rural and agricultural basedArizona, U.S. and the Americas, this presentation highlights methodology and
courses being developed to solve some of these conflicts. Our results have
shown that over 3,800 disputes were filed for mediation last year in the
Agriculture and rural areas and close to 80 % of these were solved.  As the
negotiations continue the area of dispute resolution and commercial and
agricultural difficulties need to be included in the trade process.
Emerging Importance of Biobased Products and Bio-Energy In The U.S.
Economy: Information Dissemination and Training of Students
Surendra P. Singh, Enefiok Ekanem, Troy Wakefield, Jr. and Sammy Comer
Biobased products are non-food, non-feed agricultural products that are used
in a variety of commercial/industrial applications, thereby harnessing the
energy of the sun to provide raw materials for industry. The importance of
biobased products in the U.S and the global economy is expected to increase
tremendously. The federal government has set the goal of tripling U.S use of
bio-energy and biobased products by the year 2010. Meeting this goal could
create $15-20 billion a year in new income for farmers and rural America, and
reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions. However, the development of a
significant technical information base for use by bio based products producers,
shippers, exporters, rural communities, government agencies, and universities,
for informed decision-making, will be crucial. Businesses involved in
production and marketing of biobased products will require personnel, one that
understands the complexities and variability of agricultural production, and yet
can recognize and help advance promising new technologies utilizing
agricultural materials as a feedstock. Workforce development and creative
linkages with new sources of human and technological capital are essential to
the success of biobased economy. The paper attempts to: (1) to identify various
bio-based products and energy sources and their applications, (2) examine
emerging importance of bio-based products in the U.S, discusses technical and
marketing barriers and need for market development, and (3) discuss a plan to
prepare students to work in the bio-based product economy.
A number of economic changes in consumer attributes, technological
development and environmental concerns make it almost necessary for
development of bio-products and bio-fuels. However, there are many challenges
that must be overcome including (1) creating market demand and preference
for biobased products, (2) establishing market qualifications and standards, (3)
identifying customer needs, and (4) providing incentives for producers for jump
starting the market. The transition to a biobased economy will be technology-
and market-driven, and the educational skill needs of agriculture graduates
and farmers will change. In short, the attitudes, skills and knowledge of
farmers and other agricultural professionals must change to take full
advantage of biobased economy. These changes make it necessary to re-
evaluate educational programs in agriculture to specifically address the
question: What are the competencies required of graduates of agriculture as
perceived by employers?In the development of these opportunities students and faculty at Tennessee
State University will work directly with the Biobased Information System®. The
Biobased Information System® is an internet-based system of categorized
information and data quantifying tools used to gather, sort, exchange, and
disseminate biobased information to a highly targeted, specialized audience
who access the system through the affiliated website of their choice. Also a
survey was designed by the project staff to gauge employer’s (industry and
government) needs for training concerning biobased products, bio-energy,
knowledge, and skills employers look for in their employees. The results of the
survey and comments provided by stakeholders will guide in the selection of
electives, development of course outlines and topics/areas to be included. The
curriculum (electives) in bio-products to be developed at Tennessee State
University (in partnership with academia, industry and government) will focus
on macro-examination of key drivers, macro perspectives of conversion
technologies, commercial applications and market development. These courses
will be designed to serve junior/senior level undergraduates to graduate level
students.
Knowledge Management and Communities of Practice: An Experience
from Rabobank Australia and New Zealand
Brad Hinton
Knowledge management is a collective term for the facilitation of improvements
to an organization's capabilities, efficiencies and competitive advantage
through the better use of its individual and collective knowledge and
information capacities. Knowledge management initially emerged from
information management and has since become interdisciplinary in its
application to a myriad of activities, including innovation and business
strategy. Knowledge management applications are now being harnessed within
the farm and agribusiness sectors. This paper will examine knowledge
management and some key concepts. The experience of Rabobank Australia
and New Zealand in establishing an important component of knowledge
management, Communities of Practice, illustrates one effective way of building,
sharing and using knowledge and information within a disaggregated
workplace environment. The benefits are in helping staff to work smarter,
encourage thought and discussion, and finding solutions to put into action by
meeting farm and agribusiness client needs.
Cargill Hybrid Seeds Mexico: A Case Study
Carlos Trejo-Pech, Lisa House and Carmen López-Reyna
The majority of the case study focuses on the history of Cargill Seeds Mexico,
its position in the industry and the manner in which it has grown throughout
time.  Details on product, facility and personnel decisions give a feel for how
the company was managed and how it succeeded in growing rapidly in the
1990s. The purpose of this case study is to provide an in-depth look into theMexican Seed industry, with a particular focus on Cargill Seeds Mexico prior to
its takeover by Monsanto.  Additionally, the case study allows for the
discussion of how to successfully merge similar companies, in this case, three
companies that are accustomed to being competitors in the market.
A discussion focusing on unique human resource difficulties that come from
such a merger are setup in the case study.  Included in this discussion is
information about Cargill’s Personnel Career Development Plan, a human
resource management strategy pursued by Mr. Magaña prior to the merger.
Agribusiness Executive Education & Knowledge Exchange
Maria Ines Jatib, Fernando Vilella, Hector Ordoñez, Gustavo Napolitano and
Hernan Palau
The Argentine scenario of the 90s shows that although competitiveness
improved, the agrifood system is unable to react immediately to the market
because of low efficiency, poor training in agribusiness and high taxation. In
the year 2000, FAUBA, the School of Agronomy of the University of Buenos
Aires, created two Executive Management Postgraduate Courses in Food &
Agribusiness that combined theory with hands-on exercises focused on the
competitive management of agrifood chains and on quality.
The distance learning Executive Management Postgraduate Course in Food &
Agribusiness was created towards the end of 2000 in response to a specific
training need voiced by individuals who could not afford travelling to the
nearest venue. The current edition of the distance learning Executive
Management Postgraduate Course in Food & Agribusiness is considering the
incorporation of the portal www.elprincipe.com as a strategic partner in order
to retain and attract new students. The aim is to help the Executive
Management Postgraduate Course in Food & Agribusiness become a key part of
training in this field in Latin America.
The Executive Management Quality-Oriented Postgraduate Course in Food &
Agribusiness was received with great enthusiasm the first year. 50% of the
participants belonged to the public sector and the other 50% came from the
private sector. At the beginning of the second year, the distribution changed
significantly and only 20% of the attendees belonged to the private sector.
Under the circumstances, the third edition of the Quality-Oriented
Management Postgraduate Course will not take place in 2003.
Currently, the face-to-face Executive Management Postgraduate Course in Food
& Agribusiness is only held in the FAUBA venue. There is still strong demand
among students for this Course and only one Postgraduate Course offered. In
view of the shortage of Postgraduate courses in the interior of the country and
the high demand for this Postgraduate Course voiced by entrepreneurs,
professionals and farmers who live more than 250 km away from the FAUBA
venue, a new monthly course was conceived at the beginning of 2003.The Team responsible for co-ordinating the Executive Management
Postgraduate Course in Food & Agribusiness offered by FAUBA is fully
committed to academic excellence and continuous improvement. The Team is
permanently in touch with the students and has introduced a system for
teacher evaluation.  By means of this system, teachers get feedback at the end
of each class and have the chance of improving their performance. The Co-
ordinating Team is responsible for implementing the necessary changes at once
to satisfy the demand in a sustained manner. Since the culture of claim is not
installed among the students, many are unaware of the benefits to be obtained
through their involvement.
Finally, given that the Executive Management Postgraduate Course in Food &
Agribusiness is perceived in the market as being one of the most prestigious in
the country, private and public organisations in the agrifood sector have
channelled their search for specialists through this Postgraduate Course.
Price Relationships Among North American Fresh Tomato Markets:
A Comparison Between Mexican and U. S. Markets
Luz Padilla-Bernal and Dawn Thilmany
Tomato trade between the U.S. and Mexico has grown significantly during the
past decade, and market structure suggests increased integration.  This study
examines fresh tomato price relationships between two major North American
shipping points (Sinaloa, and Florida) and several major terminal markets in
the U.S. and Mexico to infer whether tomato marketing and placement
strategies vary by supply region or the geography of consumer markets. Two
research questions were answered through this work.  How does the tomato
market perform between Mexican and U.S. markets and between domestic
markets in each country? What might performance differences suggest about
competition in the new market environment (post-NAFTA and with increased
vertical integration)?
An extended parity bounds model was applied to determine the probability of
different market behavior among Sinaloa and Florida tomato suppliers. This
method uses data on prices, transaction costs and trade flows between
markets (supplier and terminal markets) using weekly data series to estimate
unique relationships among the market pairs.
Although markets perform quite efficiently overall, the results show some
evidence of inefficient pricing behavior.  These less efficient market
relationships are the basis of discussion on the role of strategic behavior and
trade policies in these markets.  Among domestic Mexican markets, shipping
point prices are less integrated with Mexico’s own terminal markets than the
closest U.S. market, Los Angeles.  This finding is consistent with an export
development strategy, but one could expect an increasingly complex situation if
one considers continued reference prices, and resulting export volume
constraints.Among U.S. markets, perfectly competitive price behavior is less likely in the
Chicago terminal market relative to the Eastern markets that Florida
dominates. Two factors may influence this finding, the greater distance from
the shipping points (Sinaloa and Florida) to Chicago, as well as perceived
competitive activity between the two winter suppliers in the central U.S. market
location.  These findings suggest that regional tomato placements may follow a
segmentation strategy, and such strategies will only become more complex as
the types of product and production source continue to expand.

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