Agri-food System Management
| Numbering Code | U-AGR04 3D301 LJ82 | Year/Term | 2022 ・ First semester | |
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| Number of Credits | 2 | Course Type | Lecture | |
| Target Year | 3rd year students | Target Student | ||
| Language | Japanese | Day/Period | Mon.2 | |
| Instructor name | TSUJIMURA HIDEYUKI (Graduate School of Agriculture Professor) | |||
| Outline and Purpose of the Course |
Globalization and market forces in agriculture around the world threaten the sustainability of agricultural management by intensifying competition with cheap imported agricultural products and abolishing price-support policies. In this socioeconomic environment, what strategies and directions are desirable for small-scale family businesses, which account for the majority of global agricultural business? This course begins with these modern problems of agricultural management, as well as the basic concepts, terminology, analytical perspectives, and methods of agri-food system management. It proceeds to examine farm management as both a private and a social entity, also explaining how to act on these diverse goals and analyze their outcomes. The mechanism of management development is understood as responding to the socio-economic environment while simultaneously changing the internal structure to achieve sustainable business management. Based on this, the course explains the specific direction of development by introducing specific examples such as changes in corporate structure, scale expansion, and diversification. The characteristics of global family farming, especially in Japan, France and Tanzania, are also explained. Furthermore, with regard to management (especially marketing) strategies, students will gain the ability to formulate management strategies themselves by understanding the formulation process and the details of each stage. They will then develop marketing strategies for agricultural products in groups for a case of farm management by young farmers, present the results, and conduct discussions of these presentations. |
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| Course Goals |
(1) To acquire the ability to understand the basic concepts, terminology, analytical perspectives, and methods of agri-food system management (especially agronomics). (2) Based on the basic concepts and analytical perspectives, to understand the modern challenges of agricultural management and acquire the ability to examine ways of social adjustment. (3) To acquire the ability to understand the mechanism of business development based on the basic concepts and analytical perspectives, and understand the details of changes in corporate structure, expansion of scale, and diversification (complexation) as the actual direction of business development. (4) To acquire the ability to understand the characteristics of global family farming d based on the above basic concepts and analysis perspectives. (5) To acquire the ability to analyze actions and results based on the diverse goals of agricultural management, which is both a private and social entity. (6) To acquire the ability to develop highly practical management (especially marketing) strategies. |
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| Schedule and Contents |
Guidance: Management issues in modern agriculture (Week 1) From agricultural management to agri-food system management: Relationship with agrofood system theory (Week 2) Internal resources and environment of agricultural management: Mechanism of management development (Week 3) International comparison of agricultural management fundamentals and management development (Week 4) Basic concept of agricultural management (including management body) (Week 5) Classification and management goals of agricultural management: From private goals to societal goals (Week 6) Relationship between operating expenses (profitability) and production expenses (productivity) and indicators for management analysis (Week 7) Scale and intensity of farming: Economies of scale (Week 8) Corporate structure and corporate/family management in agriculture (Week 9) Agricultural management organization theory and the significance of complex and diversified economies (Week 10) Strategic planning and SWOT analysis (Week 11) Marketing and competitive strategies: Local farmers and places of origin (Week 12) Lectures by farmers (Week 13) Considering marketing strategies for agricultural products: Case method and presentations (Week 14) Feedback (Week 15) |
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| Evaluation Methods and Policy |
Class performance (30% weightage) Mid-semester examination (40% weightage) End-semester report (30% weightage): Summarization of case method results The evaluation criteria and achievement level are in accordance with the "Evaluation Criteria and Achievement Level" described in the Student Handbook of the Faculty of Agriculture for the relevant year. |
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| Course Requirements | This is a course for 3rd year students in the Department of Food and Environmental Economics. Homework (mini-report) will be assigned after every class. The course is not recommended for students who are not interested in food and environmental economics or who have difficulty attending. | |||
| Study outside of Class (preparation and review) |
Students will be asked to write essays (mini-reports) summarizing the main points of the class after every class. For this, they can either spend 10 minutes at the end of class, or 30 minutes at home as review. |
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| Textbooks | Textbooks/References | Will not be used | ||
| References, etc. | Will be introduced during class | |||
