The Rural Voice, 1992-09, Page 62Management skills
and success
In the current times of economic
problems, there are many stories of
failure and bankruptcy. What most
of us never have the opportunity to
learn, are the errors committed which
lead to these business failures. If we
examine the reasons why a failure
occurred and not the result, we have
an opportunity to learn from the
event.
Successful management of a farm
business relies on correct decisions
being made in many day-to-day
activities. Put bluntly, you must
know your business. Most farm
businesses rapidly reach a size where
the manager must rely on information
from outside sources about his own
business, to base his decisions on.
This information may come from
accountants, customers, suppliers,
veterinarians, builders, family,
friends, employees and many other
sources. It is necessary in today's
business climate to know as much as
you can about what you are doing to
arrive at a proper decision. It is
imperative that people in
management roles cultivate good
working relationships with and
respect for all these groups of people.
Managers must be able to listen to all
discussions and arrive at a sound and
reasonable conclusion on a subject.
The next area of skill that must be
developed is the area of improving
what we do best. In difficult times,
and even in good times, risk only
what you can afford to lose
completely. Do not try new or
unproven ideas on a large scale.
Trials must be of a size to be realistic,
but do not try them on a scale that
could destroy the business if the
unexpected happens. It is a time to
look at what you are doing and plan
modest changes that are known to
work, rather than to try to be
innovative or creative.
Cost control is another area of
management skill that must be
developed. In the pork industry for
instance, the best of farrowing and
weaner units can be slowly destroyed
58 THE RURAL VOICE
Advice
by the inefficiencies of poorly run
feeder operations. Not only are
production numbers important, but
costs of producing those numbers are
equally critical. The whole
production unit must be looked at in
terms of what were last year's costs,
and how can we reduce those this
year. Most of us have never really
looked at cost control seriously. We
feel that we can do little but pay the
asked prices. True cost control
measures means we locate all sources
of the goods or services we need,
analyze costs in terms of performance
or improvements and arrive at a
decision. Brand names or historical
suppliers receive no preference in
making these decisions.
The final area of management
skills that can be developed is
communication. Are you, as a
manager, able to reach out and share
the wisdom in financial, technical and
business areas that you need to make
correct decisions. You must let your
needs be known to the people with
whom you deal. In this way you
avail yourself of all their knowledge
and experience, and improve your
chances of making a correct decision.
It is important as managers that we
learn from the mistakes of others,
before we make them ourselves.0
Ed Barrie
Swine Specialist
Dealing with
pessimism on the
dairy farm
These days it's not difficult for
dairymen to come up with a lengthy
list of threatening concerns. And the
longer we dwell on these concerns,
the more convinced we become that
farmers have lost control over their
business and way of life. For some, it
can be very depressing.
If we stop to think about it, the
long list consists mostly of "beyond
the line fence" concerns. Things like
government policy, quota prices, our
shrinking dairy market, Free Trade,
market globalization, environmental
issues, animal welfare groups,
consumer apathy toward farmers.
And so on.
It's very noble to commit oneself
to battling "beyond the line fence"
problems. But it's folly to do so at
the expense of not getting one's own
house in order first. As individuals,
we can't do much about these
"beyond the line fence" issues.
However, we can have a great impact
on two important factors that are still
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