19 August 2004 Management Style of Farmers Goes Under Research Microscope

It's all a matter of style... but just how much style do New Zealand farmers show in the management stakes?

The management styles typically shown by New Zealand farmers are being pinned down and identified in a survey by Lincoln University Associate Professor of Farm Management, Dr Peter Nuthall.

"We know that every farmer brings to the land different skills and attitudes acquired by learning over the years but a significant proportion of his or her makeup is also an expression of what has been acquired genetically, that is inherited.

"Our survey is part of a research programme to investigate the interaction of the two and determine the extent to which managerial skills – the learned component – might be improved through specific training programmes.

"Management 'style' includes such characteristics as conscientiousness, interest in trying new things, anxiety about getting things right, enjoyment through relating to people, and accepting outcomes.

"We may find that farmers' existing management style impacts on their management skills and that training could improve the situation if the impact is negative," he says. "But currently we know little about style so that's why we’re looking into it.

"The data collected so far will provide a benchmark of typical management styles. In the end it is hoped that the research will help determine which styles tend to be associated with an ability to improve management skills. The first job, however, is to see if management style is in fact associated with the capacity to learn skills."

To get a picture of the range of styles in the farming community, Dr Nuthall sent a survey to 2300 randomly selected farmers throughout the country. The farmers were asked to indicate on a scale of 1 to 5 their degree of belief in 25 statements.

Examples of the statements were – "You tend to mull over decisions before acting"; "keeping records on just about everything is important"; "you generally choose from experience rather than hunches"; "you usually find discussions with family and/or colleagues very helpful".

The 25 statements had their basis in five different commonly accepted management styles. Each provided five statements and the rankings were 1 = true and 5 = not true. A low score therefore meant agreement with the statement and a high score disagreement. The middle was 12.5.

The calculations showed that this sample of New Zealand farmers had average scores of 12.8 for "conscientiousness", 11.8 for "trying new things and experimentation", 13.8 for "enjoyment in relating to people", 15.5 for "anxiety over getting it right", and 13.3 for "acceptance of outcomes".

"These figures typify the management style of the average New Zealand farmer," said Dr Nuthall.

"Conscientiousness and a willingness to try new things have about the average score, the sociability, or lack of it, of farmers (people enjoyment) however seems to be prominent. On the other hand, farmers seem to be relaxed over getting it right and similarly they tend to put aside an 'it'll be right' attitude.

"Of course these are only interpretations of the 'average' farmer and such a person doesn't really exist because at the level of the individual there will always be particular differences and special characteristics.

"The success of the research depends totally on the help of the farmers," says Dr Nuthall. "The time they have given so far to filling out and returning the survey is greatly appreciated. The pay-back will be when management skill training systems become available."

Funding for the work has come from sheep and cattle farmers through Meat and Wool NZ Ltd (originally WoolPro).

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand