Identifying the gaps in necessary capabilities for agribusiness managers in a dynamic agricultural industry
Abstract
What are the critical capabilities that middle and upper level managers in retail agribusiness firms need to lead their firms successfully in the future? This is the central question of this study. A survey of CEO's in large retail agribusiness firms examines their perceptions of the critical drivers of change and key success factors in their competitive environment for their firms. Then, given these environmental changes these same CEO's are asked to identify the critical skills and behaviors that managers within their businesses will need to exhibit to allow the firm to compete effectively in the new environment. Individuals maintaining a leadership role at their firm or cooperative can use this information to craft strategies going forward, which may be more suitable to the imminent turbulent events that are characteristic of the agricultural industry. By identifying the critical skills and behaviors, the leaders will also be able to formulate succession plans or develop employees who can lead their organization successfully. Since firms in the agricultural industry are constantly subjected to changes in environment, future leaders need to continue developing their skills and competencies to minimize any potential skill gaps, especially those related to results, thought, personal, people leadership. This study seeks to identify what the important key driving and success factors are. The data indicate that industry leaders have a high degree of agreement on the most important external and internal influences of success for their industry. The study also tested the hypothesis that employees in a firm, years of experience of a leader, average annual sales, and competitive intensity having a statistically significant impact on the firm's perception of external influences, internal influences, and leadership areas. The statistically significant results of this analysis suggest that in competitive environments that are anticipating intense rivalry for key dimensions of competition in the future, leadership development needs to be centered on specific leadership areas. In most cases, rising levels of competitive intensity can result in a shift in leadership needs and individuals who have adept abilities in key leadership skills and competencies will be able to respond better to changes in market conditions. The study also tested the hypothesis that the perceptions of the CEO's on external and internal influences can dictate how important leadership skills are; results show that there are no statistically significant marginal effects. The reason that could be behind this that there is little variation identified surrounding many of the measured influences in the industry forcing the multinomial logit analysis, which intends to exploit variation, to produce statistically insignificant results. The findings send signals to current and future leaders in the crop input retail industry. Each leadership area has subcomponents that can help guide current strategists and future leaders in their attempt to navigate their organization through an amorphous industry that is characteristic throughout the agricultural sector. Under the many different circumstances which can arise in this industry, specific leadership development actions can be taken to ensure the success of their organization as it relates to the leadership skills and competencies. By anticipating what is in the future for the crop input retail industry, plans can be made to nurture or equip employees with the necessary capabilities using the many frameworks have been introduced by numerous authors. Finding a matching framework for a firm may be a matter of preference. This study operates under the Sveiby's framework of intangible assets which focuses on three components: the external structures, internal structures, and employee competencies. Other frameworks differ by creating a cyclical effect which recycles and spreads skills through sharing of information such as the framework proposed by Arthur Anderson and the American Productivity and Quality Center. With the knowledge management frameworks infused with the critical skills capabilities needed for the future, the leader of the firm or cooperative can navigate through the agricultural industry at a greater advantage than others who do not make this effort.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Gray, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Business administration|Management|Agricultural economics
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