Management of a rural estate using a multi-criteria tool to support decision making

Abstract

The global population increase associated with an increase in purchasing power has caused an increase in food demand greater than productivity. This global context has generated demand for scientific development in agriculture and the collection of practical results from experimental farms and research institutes. The objective of this study was to build a process, illustrated by a model, to support the management of an experimental farm by highlighting, organizing and measuring what, in the view of the manager, are the most relevant factors in management and performance; in this way, the aim was to expand its current performance and reexamine its goals and practices to move from the current state to the new design. This is a case study: the source of data collection was unstructured interviews with the experimental farm manager through which primary traits were identified. The methodological approach is classified as both qualitative and quantitative and the logic of the research is thus both inductive and deductive. The intervention instrument used was the multi-criteria decision aidconstructivist tool, which allowed us to identify, organize and measure operationally, tactically and strategically the aspects judged as necessary and sufficient by the key decision maker to monitor and improve the performance of the experimental farm in a transparent way that is scientifically substantiated. Although this work has contributed to the development of a model that takes into account variables such as infrastructure, results and restrictions in the workplace, the model presented only qualitative data. In this sense, for future work it is recommended the use of cardinal scales for the measurement, which allows quantifying the degree of compliance of the objectives outlined by the decision-maker in a localized and holistic way.