Browsing by Subject "Shortage of skilled labour"

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Wandel des Unternehmertums in der Landwirtschaft
(2016) Gindele, Nicola; Doluschitz, Reiner
The starting point for this cumulative thesis is the continuously advancing structural shift in agriculture and its upstream and downstream sectors. The first section of the thesis discusses the challenges faced by agriculture as a result of structural and demographic change. The thesis focuses on the shift in entrepreneurship in agriculture. It analyses to what extent there is a shift and the consequences that it has for the managers of agricultural businesses. Its impact on the availability of qualified agricultural workers is assessed in relation to the demographic change in the population. The studies reveal a strong dependence between business success and the ability of a farmer to act in an entrepreneurial manner, among other things caused by advancing structural change and increasingly liberalised agricultural markets. At the same time the farm managers remit is changing in line with economic growth and technical advances. Organisational and managerial tasks are growing in importance, while practical, hand-on tasks are relatively declining. The demands on farm managers increase as farms grow, greater technology is used and farms tend to specialise, and the requirements governing the qualification of permanently employed external workers also become stricter. It becomes clear that there are differences specific to particular regions and between individual farms when it comes to the professional qualifications of workers. In terms of the search for workers, there are particular problems today relating to the recruitment of specialist employees, while workers for simple auxiliary tasks are easier to find. Against the background of an emerging skills shortage, farm managers are called upon to analyse more closely their own management style and personnel management tools, such as non-material incentive systems, to offer their employees an attractive and pleasant long-term working environment. The second part of the thesis examines the challenges for rural cooperatives emanating from the structural change in agriculture. Cooperatives are the proven partners of agriculture, both in terms of the provision of equipment and the concentration and marketing of agricultural products, as well as the related improved market positioning of farmers. The thesis examines member management, in particular member retention, using the example of purchasing and sales cooperatives, as well as fruit and wine cooperatives, as there has been a sharp decrease in the number of members of the affected cooperatives in recent years. Strategies to improve the market position of rural cooperatives are also outlined. The rural cooperatives need to adopt an end-to-end well thought-out customer relationship management approach to counteract steadily falling numbers of members. Communication with members plays a key role in this. End-to-end and continuous communication with members improves the exchange of information and knowledge, encourages members to participate to a greater extent in the self-government of the cooperative and strengthens the overall emotional ties to cooperatives. Cooperation can be intensified, product quality improved and member retention positively influenced by means of contractual agreements, possibly in the form of cultivation and sales contracts between members and their cooperative. Against the background of growing farms and the related rising demands on the qualifications of farm managers, expanding the existing services offered provides another possible starting point for improving relationships with members. Expanding the services offered by the farm makes sense particularly in relation to advisory services in business administration, business management and production technology. To secure their market position, cooperatives can adapt to changing market conditions and gain a competitive edge by adopting a strategy of cost leadership, differentiation or niche marketing. The combined implementation of these strategies often happens in practice. Mergers represent another common strategy for improving market position. The history of mergers of fruit cooperatives in South Tyrol shows that the intensive involvement of members in the merger process is vital for its success. Structural change in German agriculture therefore not only has consequences for the farmer as an entrepreneur. Rural cooperatives also need to respond to changes in agricultural business structures by adopting adaptation strategies specifically matched to the particular cooperative. The size of the company is not decisive when it comes tor the success of managing a cooperative or a farm. The success of the business depends much more on the individual farm manager or director, who needs to be able to recognise new potential and business opportunities in a dynamically changing environment and implement innovations to ideally position the business within the competitive market.