L Peters

This book is about managerial ability and how it might be assessed and improved, and it focuses on rural Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Traditionally, business studies have seldom covered the manager as a person and a decision maker in any great depth. Personnel management, production economics, financing, operations analysis techniques, etc. tend to be emphasized but the personal attributes of the decision makers have as much influence on success...

This book outlines the human components of what makes a person, and why a farm manager acts in particular ways. The following chapters bring past and new work as well as developments and theories from other disciplines, including psychology, to provide a well-structured set of ideas for understanding managerial ability. The book consists of eight chapters. Chapter 2 contains outlines of the characteristics of a farmer that defines his modus operandi,...

This book discusses the methods to determine optimal systems in farm business management. The methods are all about problem solving, as any decision situation implies choice and, therefore, requires a method for deciding which alternative maximizes the objectives. The book is not, however, about carrying out the optimal plans. Most of the chapters relate to quantitative methods and qualitative analysis. The book has a penultimate chapter discussing...