Strategic plan (M.M.)-UP Mindanao, 2004

Paciano Farm is a family-owned and family-managed enterprise confronted with various major strategic issues: high production costs, lack of access to favorable distribution channels and intense competition in its hog fattening business. These issues pose a challenge to the farm's profitability and competitiveness. The Strategic Management Model of John A. Pearce and Richard Robinson Jr. is used as the basis of the strategic plan the author has formulated for the farm. Data and information on the internal capabilities of the farm have been gathered through interviews with the primary stakeholders, the owners and the workers. Secondary information in the form of data from government institutions such as the Department of Agriculture and the National Statistics Office and other various literatures have also been utilized in analyzing the external environments of Paciano Farm and the industry it operates in. Several strategies are proposed to help the farm build competitive advantage. The grand strategies are the adoption of natural farming technology system and strategic alliance with intermediaries. In adopting the new technology, Paciano Farm will be causing a major paradigm shift in hog fattening practices. The strategy will allow the farm to integrate backward and to achieve cost efficiency while in the strategy of alliance with intermediaries, the farm will explore the market for novel ways of marketing its product. Both strategies aim to address the issues of high production costs and lack of access to favorable distribution channels. These strategies will be complemented by functional strategies such as verical integration, specifically backward integration, capacity expansion, niching, re-organization of management structure and extensive trainings on swine production.