Training Employees for Optimum Performance

Literature Review

Best Management Practices in Agriculture

The agricultural business environment is rapidly changing . With the liberalization of trade , agricultural firms need to compete not only with local but also international competitors . Competitiveness depends on the ability to address the needs of the global market in a cost-effective way . Competition is strong among agricultural sectors in countries producing similar products . Quantity and quality of the product as well as cost relative to competitors is a determinant of success in marketing agricultural products to an international market Technological developments in agriculture

have also addressed emerging demand and created new opportunities for agricultural production Competitiveness also emerges through differentiation in terms of product variety and manner of production . In the current agricultural business environment , firms need to establish an edge not only in their products but also in managing operations . Continuous improvements in business performance foster the success of agricultural firms

Best management practices emerged as the collective term for a practice or a set of practices that effectively improve the performance of business firms (Victoria , 2004 . Every agricultural firm needs to have best management practices or continue to improve on practices that enhance business performance to achieve productivity , competitiveness and sustainability . Best management practices can be comprehensive by covering the entire operations or specific to a certain area of management . Best management practices fall under six major practices

The first best management practice is strategic management . This practice is broad and encompasses management practices over the entire operations . Strategic management is...