Applying the operations strategy construct to rural grain-producing enterprises: a theoretical framework

Leitner, Camyla Piran Stiegler; Alves Filho, Alceu Gomes

Camyla Piran Stiegler Leitner

Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso – UNEMAT, Avenida das Arapongas, 1384, Centro, CEP 78450-000, Nova Mutum, MT, Brasil, e-mail: camyla@unemat.br

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1065-2331

Alceu Gomes Alves Filho

Universidade Federal de São Carlos – UFSCar, Rodovia Washington Luís, sn, CEP 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brasil, e-mail: alceu@ufscar.br

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7465-1581

AREA	DESCRIPTION
STRUCTURAL DECISIONS
CAPACITY	Analyses related to what, how, and how much will be produced, based on market need and available technological possibility.
FACILITIES	The size of the industrial plant, the geographical location of the business, the production processes, and the degree of specialization/focalization of production resources.
TECNOLOGY	The type and degree of production process automation, material handling, and decisions that specify how the different stages of the process are connected.
VERTICAL INTEGRATION	Decisions about what will be produced internally, what will be obtained from third parties, and what will be contracted with suppliers.
INFRASTRUCTURE DECISIONS
QUALITY MANAGEMENT	Establishes policies and quality management system. Criteria for entry inspection of materials, production line failures, and supplier evaluation are addressed.
HUMAN RESOURCES	Establishes human resources policies.
PLANNING AND CONTROL OF OPERATIONS	The company’s organization to forecast and schedule resources in production.
ORGANISATION	The definition of the number of hierarchical levels of the company, structure of the production sector, level of centralization, leadership style, work organization, etc.
RELATIONSHIP WITH SUPPLIERS	The types of relationships that the company has with its suppliers.

PRIORITY	DESCRIPTION	REFERENCES
QUALITY	Grain quality is associated with the biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of these products influenced by edaphoclimatic factors. Actions: Choice of the seed to be planted and correct execution of the activities of pre-planting, planting, cultural treatments, and harvest are reflected in the quality of the crop.	Diehl & Bacchi (2006) Diehl, D., & Bacchi, M. R. P. (2006). Relações de preços nos mercados interno e internacional de soja e derivados. In Anais do XLIV Congresso Brasileiro de Economia, Administração e Sociologia Rural (pp. 1-21). Fortaleza: SOBER. Recuperado em 10 de setembro de 2017, de http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/148203/2/682.pdfBACCHI;BACCHI http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/1... .
FLEXIBILITY	Product diversification in rural properties is a consequence of the attempt to reduce the cost of investment in the machinery park, fixed expenses with labor, and other administrative expenses for n activities of the farm. Actions: crop rotation and market analysis to follow the demands and offers of the products, and to remain aware of market oscillations and climatic changes .	Silveira (2004) Silveira, D. C. (2004). Proposta de um modelo de avaliação de desempenho de cadeias produtivas agroindustriais: estudo da cadeia da soja no Brasil (Dissertação de mestrado). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre. Recuperado em 10 de setembro de 2017, de http://www.lume.ufrgs.br/handle/10183/5691 http://www.lume.ufrgs.br/handle/10183/5... , Osaki (2012) Osaki, M. (2012). Gestão financeira e econômica da propriedade rural com multiproduto (Tese de doutorado). Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos. Recuperado em 10 de setembro de 2017, de http://www.bdtd.ufscar.br/htdocs/tedeSimplificado//tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=5418 http://www.bdtd.ufscar.br/htdocs/tedeSi... .
COST	Concern accentuated by the high standardization of commodities, added to the high demand for these products. Effective management is required through consistent information that helps in decision making. Actions: implementation of more flexible management practices and investments in process improvement..	Ferraz et al. (1996) Ferraz, J. C., Kupfer, D., & Haguenauer, L. (1996). Made in Brazil (pp. 39). Rio de Janeiro: Campus. .
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION	Reducing environmental impacts has become a barrier to entry of agricultural products into the external market, so it must be addressed to ensure the competitiveness of commodity operations. Actions: Changes in the productive process, introduction of integrated organizational practices.	Sporleder & Boland (2011) Sporleder, T. L., & Boland, M. A. (2011). Exclusivity of agrifood supply chains: seven fundamental economic characteristics. The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 14(5), 27-52. .

PRÉ-PLANTING	ACTIVITY	FUNCTION	PC OPERATIONS	DECISION AREA	INTERFERENCE
	Product type definition.	Determines what to produce, based on the market, production capacity, climatic conditions, and soil analysis.	Cost, flexibility, delivery, environmental protection.	Capacity.	Technology, planning and control of operations, vertical integration, relationship with suppliers.
	Definition of area in hectares to be cultivated.	Determines the areas of planting, quantity of machines, labor, and inputs	Cost, flexibility, environmental protection.	Capacity.	Facilities, planning and control of operations.
	Definition of the variety of seed to be cultivated.	Establishes the varieties of seeds based on the adaptation of these to the characteristics of soil, precocity, productivity, resistance to extreme weather patterns, etc.	Quality, cost, flexibility.	Capacity.	Facilities, planning and control of operations.
	Definition of agricultural inputs.	Establishes the inputs needed for production, based on the variety of seed chosen and the relationship with the supplier.	Quality, cost, environmental protection.	Relationship with suppliers.	Planning and control of operations, capacity, technology, quality management.
	Definition of human resources.	Analyzes the number of employees required for each activity vs. the number of employees available to the process.	Cost, flexibility.	People management.	Planning and control of operations, capacity, organizational structure.
PLANTING	Soil preparation.	Ensures ideal soil conditions for the planting stage. Actions are defined based on the type of product to be produced and on the soil analysis.	Quality, cost, environmental protection.	Planning and control of operations.	Capacity, facilities, technology.
	Preventive maintenance.	Minimizes breakage during planting.	Quality, cost, delivery, flexibility.	Planning and control of operations.	Technology, Quality Management.
	Planting start date.	Adheres to the legal determination that stipulates a better planting season to reduce production losses due to climatic risks.	Delivery, environmental protection, flexibility, cost.	Planning and control of operations.	Capacity, Quality Management.
	Planting sequence.	Analyzes area size vs. quantity of machines and labor, and soil characteristics. It seeks to reduce costs of movement and wear/breakage of machinery.	Cost, Delivery, environmental protection, flexibility.	Planning and control of operations.	Capacity, facilities, technology, Quality Management.
CROP HANDLING	Control of pests, diseases, and weeds.	Defenses are applied to avoid reducing the incidence of pests in the crop.	Quality, cost, environmental protection.	Quality management.	Capacity, Planning and Control of Operations.
CROP HANDLING	Application of fertilizers (cover and leaf).	Fertilizers are applied to improve crop productivity.	Quality, cost, environmental protection.	Quality management.	Capacity, Planning and Control of Operations.
COLHEITA	Verification of plant physical characteristics and moisture content of grains.	Color, leaf fall, and stage of maturation/drying of the plants, and the moisture content of the grain, are visually verified.	Quality, cost.	Quality Management.	Capacity Planning and control of operations.
COLHEITA	Grain harvest.	Grain is harvested from the field.	Quality, cost, delivery.	Planning and Control of Operations.	Technology, capacity, quality management.
STORAGE^*	Processing and storage of grain	Harvested grains are stored and processed.	Quality, cost, delivery.	Capacity.	Planning and Control of operations, technology, quality management.

COMPETITIVE PRIORITIES
ITEM	THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR INDUSTRY AND SERVICES	CONJECTURES ABOUTGRAIN PRODUCTION
QUALITY	Aesthetic characteristics of products.	Physical-chemical-biological characteristics of grains.
FLEXIBILITY	Increase in volume produced (according to customer demand or request).	Flexibility of product with multiproduct production in one year/harvest.
COST	Reduction of operating costs.	High-scale production and seed productivity used.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION	Protection and care for the environment.	Crop rotation, no-tillage, triple washing, and reverse logistics of pesticides packaging.
STRUCTURAL AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DECISIONS
ITEM	THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THEORY INDUSTRY AND SERVICES	CONJECTURES ABOUT GRAIN PRODUCTION
CAPACITY	Size of production unit, machinery ownership, adjustments to demand.	Based on the area available for planting (owned or leased), and the variety of products and types of seeds to be used.
FACILITIES	Geographical location, product specialization, supply and distribution logistics.	Standardized product, poor logistics.
TECHNOLOGY	Machinery, equipment, management, information systems.	Mechanization of planting, cultural dealings, and harvesting.
VERTICAL INTEGRATION	Subcontracting, outsourcing, domain over more than one segment of the supply chain.	Large companies that plant, store, market, transport; subcontracting.for harvests.
QUALITY MANAGEMENT	Product planning, process control, final product inspections.	Grain quality control, input applications, productivity gain, product inspection processes.
HUMAN RESOURCES	Compensation policies, training, organizational climate, compliance with safety standards.	Recruitment of temporary labor during harvesting periods, technical training, NR 31.
OPERATIONS PLANNING AND CONTROL	Production schedules, scheduling change flexibility.	Planning year/crop, routing of fields for planting, redefinition of programming due to non-controllable variables (climatic, biological).
ORGANIZATION	Delegation of functions, hierarchical levels.	Centralized, few hierarchical levels.
RELATIONSHIP WITH SUPPLIERS	Selection of suppliers, types of relationships, agreements and partnerships.	Financing of operations, training partnerships.

[1] Source: Based on Hayes & Pisano (1996) Hayes, R., & Pisano, G. (1996). Manufacturing strategy: at the intersection of two paradigm shifts. Production and Operations, 5(1), 25-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1937-5956.1996.tb00383.x.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1937-5956.1... .

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Applying the operations strategy construct to rural grain-producing enterprises: a theoretical framework

Abstract