Environmental context and marketing planning processes

The traditional model of marketing planning assumes that the process by which organizations take planning decisions is constant with respect to context. Organizational environment, internal context, performance and distinctive competency affect marketing planning only as information inputs for the planning process, not as influences on the choice of process. However, rapid change in environments, in competitive patterns and in market responses all demand action from organizations. Intuitively, we expect that rapid environmental change will require a faster planning process, and that increasing environmental complexity requires more careful deliberation. The marketing planning model does not accommodate such intuition. This paper outlines the case for rethinking marketing planning models, and develops a conceptual framework through which the impact of environmental context on marketing planning processes can be effectively examined.     

Institutional Arrangements and Public Agricultural Research in Canada

Over the last three decades, public investment in agricultural research and development has made an invaluable contribution to the economic and social well-being of Canadian society. However, in the 1990s, public research agencies were reorganized due to budgetary considerations and changes in research agendas. It is evident that since then, private sector contributions have increased and novel ways of funding research and providing financial incentives have been developed. We present quantitative data to show how research expenditure patterns have evolved in response to institutional and organizational changes in research policy. Data are also presented to show how the federal Department of Agriculture has benefitted from inventive activity. Implications of recent changes in research policy for new funding and financing arrangements are also discussed.     

PATH ANALYSIS: AN EXAMPLE

This paper describes the technique of path analysis using data from Scully (1962). Path analysis is a method of decomposing covariances or correlations between two variables in a structural equation model in order to determine how much of this covariance is attributable to a theoretically specified causal effect of one variable on the other. In so far as it allows us to assess the relative importance of different explanatory variables in a more adequate manner than does regression, path analysis is a technique of wide potential applicability to economists and sociologists.     

On the Opportunity Cost of Crop Diversification

Distance functions are increasingly being augmented, with environmental goods treated as conventional outputs. A common approach to evaluate the opportunity cost of providing an environmental good is the exploitation of the distance function's dual relationship to the value function. This implies that the opportunity cost is assumed to be non‐negative. This approach also requires a convex technology set. Focusing on crop diversification for a balanced sample of 44 cereal farms in the East of England for the years 2007–2013, this paper develops a novel opportunity cost measure that does not depend on these strong assumptions. We find that the opportunity cost of crop diversification is negative for most farms.     

China's Industrial Economy Rises Amidst Diffculties

“China's Industrial production is on the steady rise,though confronted with the tightening external economic environment,” according to a recent report by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).The industrial value-added output during the January-July period rose 14.3 percent year on year.Since the second half of last year,the industrial economy has been keeping a smooth growth.The industrial value-added output in the first and second quarter of this year climbed 14.4 and 14 percent respectively.Generally,there is no drastic fluctuation in the industrial economy.     

Estimating the effectiveness of extension information systems using farm trials and subjective probabilities

A method of combining survey data and Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) records to achieve low cost farm trials is presented. Farm trials and surveys of current practices and production responses are useful to identify yield gaps between expectations predicted from experimental findings and actual field results. Different management schemes can be ranked using subjective probabilities and stochastic dominance to enhance successful implementation of research findings and to increase the feedback between researchers, extension workers, and producers. A survey of current masitis control practices and expected milk yield response is the example. Combining survey results with DHIA records allowed estimating the relationship between somatic cell counts (SCC) and milk yield. Eliciting beliefs about the relationship between SCC and milk yield showed that producers agreed with predictions from the statistical model. Subjective probabilities about SCC and mastitis control practices showed that our sample of experts and producers consistently ranked the different practices but extension agents had no consensus about the the most or least effective ones.     

Urban Influence on Costs of Production in the Corn Belt

This article determines the relative technical efficiency of rural- and urban-influenced crop/livestock enterprises in the Corn Belt. Farmers in urban-influenced locations are less technically efficient than farmers in rural locations. During 1998–2000, stochastic production frontier procedures indicate that a 10% increase in urban influence leads to a close to 4% decrease in technical efficiency. The most successful urban-influenced farms have controlled costs as effectively as rural farms. They have tended to de-emphasize that nondairy livestock activities—particularly beef and hogs—do not rely extensively on off-farm income, and have relatively large, less residential/lifestyle operations compared to less successful urban-influenced farmers. However, our statistical analysis clearly bears out the refrain in popular literature that urban proximity raises the cost for, and decreases the viability of, traditional farms.     

The Gatekeeper Appraiser's Role in an Era of Higher Energy Prices*

This article discusses the notion of gatekeeper, or opinion leader, appraisers. Because these appraisers are instrumental in disseminating information to other appraisers they are very influential in shaping appraisal practices. A sample of 763 appraisers is used to identify these gatekeepers and to examine their appraisal practices relative to other appraisers. Differences are noted between opinion leaders and non-opinion leaders in the importance attached to and in the use of energy conservation components of real property in appraisals.