I. Point of View II. Synopsis III. Statement of the Problem What could Dole Tropifresh, Inc.

do to increase the efficiency of their asparagus production in relation to the expiration of the production contracts and collection of the receivables and meet export demand? IV. Case Facts V. Analysis of the Problem Situation and possible alternatives SWOT Analysis

Internal

Strength
Dole Tropifresh is a division under a very solid company Dole (allows support of strategic units). They have many contract farmers and their land is very appropriate for the production of asparagus. Since one of the requirements for farmers are being active growers, they are knowledgeable with farming. Growers are organized into associations. A processing plant is already present near the farms Growing asparagus is systematic and scheduled. There is a grading system allowing all produce appropriated to proper market Dole has an establish marketing network and a consistent client (Japan) Since some inputs are acquired by bulk, there is an economy of scale.

Weaknesses
No control on the use of funds given to the farmers Plant capacity does not match the present contracted land area and no. of growers. Rate of production is affected by some uncontrollable factors like weather. Asparagus is highly sensitive commodity Weak promotion of the particular product

External

Opportunities
Possibility of expanding the market tapping other countries Increase in demand due to the growing culinary interest and restaurant industry (increasing demand in the local market)

S-O
Increase count of Contract Growers and encourage renewal of contracts Community relationship efforts to align ideals with the company and achieve better production results

W-O
Create control measure to make sure that inputs were properly used. Like what they did with the pesticide and fertilizer. Increase Plant capacity or find means of improving efficiency (like layout, bottlenecks and other matters)

Threats
Farmer may not have the same ideals as Dole and Tropifresh not renew contracts Possibility of competitor stealing some of the market share. Food Safety and Environmental Issues. Labor safety and other government regulations. Cultural Differences (ex. Religion)

S-T
Farmer Training and other support like in financing (third party players)

W-T
Community relationship efforts to align ideals with the company and achieve better production results

List of Strategies and its possible effects 1. Community/ Association relationship efforts to align ideals with the company and achieve better production results. In addition, trainings are provided to the farmers and communication is open for technical and other concerns. Advantages o Communication allows to bridge the gap between the integrators and growers o Allows better understanding of the quality requirements and objectives o Increase the efficiency of production o An indirect means of keeping a close watch with the culture and actions of the community o Create Loyalty with the grower and the public (marketing and production objective o Address cultural Differences o Allows room for farmers feed back and probably development of innovations due to serendipitous discoveries during operations. o Boost morale of farmers due to the participative approach in production and management Disadvantages o Time consuming o Costly o Creation of more complicated relationships 2. Increase count of Contract Growers and encourage renewal of contracts Advantages o Allows larger production resource o Disadvantages o It would be hard to convince at the same find eligible growers o Prospecting growers would make them feel they have the upper hand o Production may not match with the plant capacity o Potential of mismanagement due to lack number of contacts/ interaction required. 3. Create control measure to make sure that inputs were properly used. Like what they did with the pesticide and fertilizer. (revision of contract) - Stringent controls like growers application requirements and volume requirements. In addition, sanctions are created to consistently poor performing growers.

Advantages o A good time to make revisions in the contract since most would be expiring soon o Allows better control to the production process and indirectly lead to higher production efficiency Disadvantages o It may not be accepted the growers and would lead them to pole vault or back out from the contract/ not renew

4. Increase Plant capacity or find means of improving efficiency (like layout, bottlenecks and other matters) and during lean months acquire produce from the market (other growers) Advantages o Allows more room during peak months and capture probable markets Disadvantages o Costly and might be not useful when the production does not keep up 5. Create another set of contract growers (preferred growers) with non-financial benefits like preferences during acquisition, higher selling price, more training opportunities and roles (which could create a sense of importance). Advantages o Creates a push for farmers to do better o Growers loyalty Disadvantages o Lessen morale of some growers o Conflict within the farmer groups Creation of a technical management team to closely monitor the farmers movement and support during the operations Advantages o Allows open communication with the farmers o Avoids putting the blame on the company due to its negligence lack of support Disadvantages o Costly due to additional personnel

6.

VI. Recommendations Given the situation, it is advisable to devise not a single solution but a set of strategies to address certain concerns. Based on the list above, we would just prioritize on the development of contracts. Since the expirations are nearing, it would timely to revise the contract, indicate/create control measures, and make preferential membership

for good performing farmers (as a means of reward/incentive) and sanctions. Added control measures must be created to assure that farmers use the inputs properly. Also performance measures must be created such as production quotas that must be set as basis for good performance and a requirement for renewal of contracts. Consistently good performing farmers may have some non-financial benefits added roles in the management; thus creating a sense of importance. Sanctions and monetary rewards will be applied to the whole association/ production group to push other farmers to comply. As additional support to the contractors, other than the regular trainings and seminars, Community/ Association relationship must be strengthen and a management/extension team must be created to closely monitor every production activities. This would lead to proper identification of production constraints and inefficiencies. Farmers should have participative role during to production and development. Such openness give farmer a voice to share information observed in the field that may be critical in the overall improvement. In addition, it would realigned the objectives of the form with the growers and more or less increase the overall Here are the possible activities to allow better collaboration with the farmers: Farmer management forums Farmer and extension production research (hand-on training, model farm)