It is exciting and diverse. It is changing quickly. It relies on the weather, uses an incredible

Figure 13. Gap analysis

Although agribusiness markets are well known for their volatility, agribusiness managers cannot escape the responsibility of forecasting sales. Nearly every management decision includes a critical assumption about the level and timing of sales volume. All production schedules are built around projected demand. Raw-material purchases are based on expected sales. The personnel function of hiring and firing is greatly influenced by anticipated sales. Cash needs are based on sales forecasts. Capital investments in new facilities are heavily influenced by sales projections. The allocation of resources to research and development is based heavily on the expected sales of the resulting products. The fact is that a great majority of management decisions and much of the entire planning process rests squarely on forecasted sales.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Management is the process of achieving desired results with the resources available. A key to successful management is accepting responsibility for leadership and making business decisions through the skillful application of management principles. Management of the agricultural business is unique because of the biological nature of production, the importance of food to people, the seasonality of food and agricultural markets, and the perishability of agricultural products, among other reasons. The management process is often divided into four tasks: planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. Planning is determining a course of action to accomplish stated goals; organizing is fitting people and resources together in the most effective way; directing pertains to supervising and motivating people; and the controlling task monitors performance and makes adjustments to stay on purpose. Each of these is a necessary ingredient for accomplishing the established organizational goals.

Agribusiness managers must have a clear understanding of economics to be successful. Economics involves the allocation of scarce resources, that is, land, labor, capital, and management, to meet the needs of society. Macroeconomics focuses on a “big picture” view of our economic system. Microeconomics is the application of basic economic principles to decisions within the firm. The profit motive is used as an incentive that guides businesses in fulfilling consumer wants as consumers express these wants in the marketplace with their dollars. Several eco- nomic concepts provide insights for agribusiness managers. Opportunity cost is the income given up by not choosing the next best alternative for the use of resources. Economic profit is defined as accounting profit less opportunity cost. Economic profit then forces managers to explore alternative uses of resources. Supply captures the relationship between price and quantity supplied. Demand curves slope downward from left to right, indicating that larger quantities are only purchased at lower prices. Applying supply and demand principles is important in understanding how markets work, and how prices move. Elasticity estimates for demand help agribusiness managers examine the potential impact of changes in price, income, or other prices on quantity demanded.
Agribusinesses represent nearly every conceivable kind of business organization. A great many are owned and controlled by one person as a proprietorship, or by two or more people as a partnership. These forms of business are the simplest forms and allow their owners complete flexibility, minimize red tape, and incur no corporate profits tax. But owners are personally liable for any debts or lawsuits against their business. Also, the longevity of the business is limited to the life of their owners. The corporation is an organization created for the purpose of carrying on business. Because it is a legal entity, it can own property in its own right, sue or be sued, and carry on business on its own behalf. Its owners are separate legal entities; thus, their liability is limited to the amount of their investment in the firm. Also, the life of a corporation does not depend on how long its owners live. However, corporations must pay a special corporate profits tax and must regularly report their activities to federal and state governmental units. The Scorporation is a special type of corporation for small firms; they gain the benefits of a corporation, but are exempt from corporate profits tax. Strategic alliances are agreements to cooperate that stop short of formal legal combinations. These alliances offer a number of benefits and are commonly used in food and agribusiness markets. But, there are clearly some limitations and problems to be managed, so firms must explore both the advantages and disadvantages before forming a strategic alliance. What will work in one situation may not work in another situation. Selecting the best form of business organization for a particular agribusiness is an infrequent business decision for both management and owners, but an extremely important one. As an agribusiness firm grows, it must often consider moving toward becoming a regular corporation. And the timing of that decision is highly important.
International agribusiness is a field that has seen significant growth over the last several decades. Advantages to conducting business abroad include sales growth, taking advantage of scale economies, risk reduction, lower production costs and access to lower-cost raw materials, access to credit, and experience from operating in other markets. The internationalization of our world, our attitudes, and our abilities to be connected are greatly responsible for the growing trend called globalization. Some companies have done away with their domestic versus international distinctions and instead are competing in global industries with global strategies and approaches. Exports and international sales have become even more important to the food and agribusiness markets. With population and income increases comes the potential for increased demand for high-value agricultural products. Such trends affect the entire food production and marketing system.
Marketing is the process of anticipating the needs of targeted customers and finding ways to meet those needs profitably. The strategic market planning process begins with a careful assessment of the business environment and a critical evaluation of the firm’s strengths and weaknesses. The results of this assessment are summarized in a SWOT analysis. The focus here is identifying key business opportunities in the market those areas where the agribusiness should focus its marketing resources. The market assessment provides data for a fundamental choice the Agri marketer must make: What target market(s) should the firm pursue? A target market is a group of customers and prospects that will respond in similar fashion to a given offer. Agribusiness marketers can segment a market on a wide range of characteristics demographic, geographic, business, psychographic, etc. The key for the marketer is to identify a target group with unique needs that the firm can serve profitability. An important part of the strategic market planning process is determining the position the firm wants to take with its target market. The position serves as a focal point for the firm’s marketing mix it captures the essence of the message the firm is trying to send the market. An agribusiness firm’s position is typically drawn from its competitive advantage the firm’s unique edge over rival firms. The set of decisions agribusiness managers make as part of the strategic market planning process may be among the most fundamental choices facing an agribusiness firm. Decisions about what markets to pursue and what position to take in these markets drive much of the rest of the firm’s business activities.
Agribusiness marketers must translate the position they want to create for the target market into a product/service/information bundle that serves customer needs and communicates the desired image. The set of decisions to accomplish this task is called the marketing mix. Product decisions determine what products, services, and/or information are offered by the agribusiness. The needs of the target market are at the center of any decision in this area. Agribusiness marketers create a value bundle that will satisfy customer needs. This bundle includes both the tangible attributes of the product or service as well as any intangible benefits the firm may offer the customer. As products are introduced, they move through a systematic adoption and diffusion process. Each new product has a life cycle, passing through distinct phases from its introduction to its demise. Both the adoption-diffusion process and the product life cycle have important implications for market planning. Pricing decisions are critical to marketing success. Pricing strategies are based on the perceived value of the firm’s products and services, the firm’s cost of doing business, the marketing goals of the firm, and competitive actions. A wide range of pricing strategies are available, from simple rules of thumb, to far more sophisticated approaches which involve carefully measuring the value delivered by the firm to the target market. Promotional decisions determine how the agribusiness will communicate with the market. These decisions involve determining the proper mix of advertising, sales support, public relations, and personal selling needed to communicate the firm’s desired image to the market. Developing a market communications strategy involves identifying the target audience, determining the communications objective, designing the message, selecting the communications channel, and managing the implementation. A coordinated set of activities which communicate the desired image to the target market is the goal of the agribusiness marketer in this area. Finally, place decisions concentrate on the methods and channels of distribution that will optimize sales and profits. Logistics management plays an important role in place decisions as firms determine how products will physically move from manufacturer to customer. Issues of cost and efficiency, timeliness, freshness, customer service, customer access, and control all affect the choice of distribution channel by an agribusiness. All elements of the marketing mix are critical decision areas for the marketing manager. In the end, the marketing mix must deliver a consistent message the position to the target market.
Proceeding from these conclusions, I will give the following suggestions for the development of Agriculture in the conditions of a market economy extensive use and introduction of intelligent technologies for the development of Agriculture, attracting qualified specialists for the introduction of this issue and constantly improving their skills, productive and effective management of Agriculture from the necessary lands in the market economy of the state of origin in the conditions of Uzbekistan