Classifying the strategic capability of farmers: a segmentation framework

Abstract

CopyrightItems in 'OpenAIR@RGU', Robert Gordon University Open Access Institutional Repository, are protected by copyright and intellectual property law. If you believe that any material held in 'OpenAIR@RGU' infringes copyright, please contact openair-help@rgu.ac.uk with details. The item will be removed from the repository while the claim is investigated. CLASSIFYING THE STRATEGIC CAPABILITY OF FARMERS:A Rob Smith is Reader in Entrepreneurship AbstractThis paper examines the capability of farmers to diversify and outlines the barriers and challenges that confront farmers. It suggests that not all farmers have a high level of 'strategic awareness capability'.The paper describes how a segmentation framework can be used to provide coherent understanding of the entrepreneurial farming business. A segmentation framework, will be presented.The segmentation framework classifies farmers by their personal characteristics, the characteristics of the farm enterprise, activities and processes undertaken by the farmer and specific needs of the farm enterprise. Criteria from this framework are chosen to identify different types of entrepreneurial farmers. The resulting framework shows different types of entrepreneurial farmers reflecting the strategic orientation of the farm.Different strategic orientations in farming may require different skills. The framework provides the opportunity for individual rural ventures to determine what these skills are. This paper is primarily concerned with an initial attempt to provide a segmentation framework for better understanding types of farm diversification, utilising an earlier segmentation framework initially devised and designed by Atherton and Lyon (2001) for the Small Business Sector. This concept was developed from earlier work conducted by Macfarlane (1996). In this paper we use the term segmentation framework to describe the completed framework we assembled from a reading of the original data building on work conducted in Rudmann (2008 This paper will be helpful to scholars of rural entrepreneurship, rural policy advisors and to consultants advising on farm diversification strategies as well as to farmers aware of the benefits of following current trends in academic thinking. Indeed, the segmentation framework could well be used by such farmers to plan their farm diversification strategies or in starting related businesses. This would greatly improve the "strategic capability of farmers" and an understanding of the classification in terms of how such typologies reflect the farmers' personal characteristics, the characteristics of the farm, and specific needs of the 3 farm help practice? These are very practical applications. In addition the framework is an "iterative device" which can in itself be used as a predictive strategic tool. Key WordsThe literature on business segmentation is largely positioned to deal with and explain corporate type businesses. There is however, an expanding generic literature in relation to issues surrounding segmentation (See Taylor, 1983;Jenkins ...

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