Master Farmer Part 10 – Willis Ceramics

MASTER FARMER

TEACHING SMALL FARMERS MANAGEMENT

BRUCE M. LANSDALE

WESTVIEW PRESS 1986

PART X

PART TWO: TRAINING THE MANAGERS

Chapter 5: The Planning Process (Cont.)

Why is planning important in development?
Can peasants really learn to plan?
Is “leaving it to the gods” the most effective approach when there are so many unknowns?

Program-oriented planning

While the Mission Statement was being developed, the board commissioned Professor Irwin Sanders, a sociologist and leading authority on rural Greece, to study the objectives of the school in view of the rapid changes in the villages. After interviewing trustees, faculty, officials, alumni, and villagers Dr. Sanders took a different approach in his report. Rather that preparing a broad mission statement that might be confusing, he made his recommendations in terms of specific program goals and activities.

Dr. Sanders then prepared a time frame for staging his recommendations, which provided both priorities and deadlines. The Sanders report concluded:

“Since it is impossible to meet all of the challenges confronting the School at this time, it seems best to deal with them in stages, or in sequence. Staging means that at a given time we will seek to upgrade one program while putting other programs on ‘hold.’ Administrative and staff time is so limited that to diffuse it too widely is self-defeating.

An agreement upon program staging can make possible long-term budgeting and some predictable allocation of resources over the next three, four or five years.

Summary of Dr. Sander’s recommendations

Two-year vocational schools in mechanized farming and in rural economics and management, as well as a vocational lyceum in farm machinery.
Emphasis throughout on farm management skills, decision-making, record keeping and cost analysis.
Increased emphasis on teaching English.
A Curriculum Materials Development Program.
A well-rounded program in continuing education.
Production demonstration units to produce revenue and train students and adults.
Evaluation of existing production demonstration units.
Continuation of existing international programs.
Development of a plan for making the school’s program more truly international.
At a later date development by the staff of a plan for making the School a more truly international center. (A decision on Sander’s Recommendation 10 was postponed until a future date.)

It was much easier for the board to review each recommendation and approve or disapprove it once they had specific recommendations and the staging program.
The Sanders report has since been an invaluable guide to the staff in planning activities on an annual basis. The Board of Trustees decided to review the whole study every few years to evaluate achievements and to provide further future guidelines.

A third approach to long-term planning implemented by the staff was to look ahead for a ten-year period. This resulted in a view of the institution that was not so concerned with exact implementation dates for specific projects as with broad-brush sketches of programs and the physical plant at the end of the decade. This approach enabled the administration to envisage plant facilities, personnel, and budgetary requirements for the years ahead and submit a ten-year plan for consideration by the board.

Planning procedures

In addition to the clarification of the school’s goals, an invaluable byproduct of these studies was the personal involvement of the trustees and many of the staff members in the planning process.

As a result of the meetings and informal discussions they grew closer to each other as well as to the school and its programs.
What had originally been a near calamity for the school proved to be the focal point of a new spirit of cooperation for faculty, trustees, and other friends.
The most effective way to maintain the interest of trustees is to seek their advice in the planning process, even though this approach may sometimes seem time consuming and frustrating.
It is vitally important to maintain the involvement of those who establish program policy, and it has been said of involved trustees: “More to be desired are they than gold.”
Individual staff members feel personally committed to the success of the long-range plan only to the extent that they shared in preparing the recommendations for it.
Over the years the richest sources of innovative ideas for the school have been not only faculty members but also laborers and technicians, most of whom grew up in the villages.
A large number of graduates employed by the school have played an invaluable role in the planning process.
Administrators should never forget the potential contribution of peasant wisdom in developing long-term goals.
Other groups that can make important contributions to the planning process are the students themselves, trainees from the villages, and leaders in agricultural industries.
In forming local advisory committees, organizations should select members who represent many associated interests such as the agricultural office, home economics department, district cooperative office, university education department, agricultural bank, as well as representative dairy, vegetable, and field crop farmers, leading village house wives, and alumni.

MEDIUM –TERM PLANNING

The medium-term planning at the school is presented in a five-year budget. The section for the first year is highly detailed; that for the second outlines the programs that the school expects to implement; the sections for the third, fourth, and fifth years are much more broadly based but still stand up to detailed scrutiny. A flow chart of a five-year plan based on Dr. Sander’s recommendations and a five-year budget based on this plan were submitted to the Board of Trustees. Each year since these were compiled the staff has reviewed the previous year’s accomplishments, updated those for the subsequent years, and worked on projections for the final year. The discipline of coordinating program and budget planning has been most useful to everyone concerned and played an invaluable role in the management process.

Probably no management concept has been more generally accepted by industry than management by objectives (MBO). The Farm School has been endeavouring to implement this system by having department heads prepare their annual objectives after reviewing those of the division head, which are based on the objectives of the associate director and the director. Objectives should include (1) definition of the objective, (2) responsibility for implementation, (3) completion date, (4) budget provisions, and (5) outside support required. Implied in the concept of management by objectives is self-control. Managers are expected to inform their supervisors when they are not meeting their objectives. At the same time, however, associate directors are responsible for ensuring that each of their departments is meeting its objectives.

Implementation of management by objectives at the Farm School has given rise, particularly among department heads, to a number of problems inherent in a developing society. One obstacle arises from a lack of discipline among staff members, who complain that they do not have sufficient time to complete the aspect of the program for which they are responsible. However, falling behind schedule often results from mistaken priorities or fear of added responsibility. Considerable effort is required to train subordinate staff to understand the concept of management by objectives, which is the antithesis of traditional peasant management practice. Greek employees are convinced that every laborer or clerk needs rigid supervision and firm discipline, although a more liberal approach is gradually evolving.

SHORT-TERM PLANNING

Both over-optimism and an inclination to avoid unpleasant tasks hinder effective short-term planning in most institutions. Certain techniques have been helpful in overcoming these problems:

The 3”x5” card listing the five most important jobs for that day, which is also available to write down an idea. It commits the user in writing to dealing with his problems and it provides a means of self-evaluation at the end of each day.
School staff also use annual pocket or desk calendars to assist in their planning process. Their use is comparatively new to Greece and is doubtless a strange idea to training center personnel in Third World countries.
To ensure effective communication the school circulates a monthly as well as an annual calendar, giving dates and times for various activities. To prepare these calendars, each department must anticipate its schedule of activities for the year and participate in joint planning and coordination among departments.
These schedules tie in closely with the statement of the overall objectives of the school’s two main divisions: education and administration-production. “Avoid surprises” is wise counsel for any institutional administrator.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

The Thessaloniki Community Development program, which was organized under the capable leadership of Dr. A. E. Trimis in cooperation with the Thessaloniki prefect and his staff in 1958 was one of the school’s most successful ventures, and it demonstrated the peasant’s ability to plan. It grew out of the recognition that the villagers could do many things for themselves rather than wait for outside leadership and assistance.

Community Development Committees

The first step in the program was to organize community development committees in each village……

Twenty-five years after the program was started, village leaders continue to speak enthusiastically about it. Roads, churches, water works, and school houses built during that time are visible proof of its results. The trees planted then have grown into small community forests. More important, many of the leaders of that time learned to work together for the benefit of the community. “Is peasant planning possible?” the Farm School was asked when it started its programs. Peasants, community leaders, and government officials working together proved that it definitely is.

Farm School Alumni

Another group that has demonstrated a thorough understanding of the planning process is Farm School alumni. The school received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to determine if an institution like the Farm School could introduce a new technology, such as raising broilers, by working through its students and alumni. At a time when the chicken was considered a great luxury, a group of 25 graduates was invited to the school for a short course in broiler raising. They were provided with a bill of materials from which to build a poultry house, shown how to build it, and trained in feeding, managing, and marketing. They built their poultry houses and purchased the chicks and feed, which the school produced with a loan from the Agricultural Bank. Within three years the whole structure of the Greek poultry business was changed because of these graduates and other producers in another area. As chicken became the cheapest meat, this new group of young entrepreneurs who had learned to prepare long-term plans became established businessmen.

A large number of Farm School graduates from poor peasant families have become master farmers. Some of the top pig operations in Greece with more than 7000 feeder pigs are run by graduates who knew little when they came to the school. Others are producing early vegetables in plastic greenhouses, and another group operates an extensive network of farm machinery repair shops. Many cultivate their own fields and rent large areas from other farmers to make full use of their high-priced farm machinery. Planning has played a major role in the success of these graduates.

AIDS TO INDIVIDUAL PLANNING

Dr. Harry Peirce, who spent three years at the Farm School as a consultant developing the concept of teaching packages, introduced a new approach to help farm families plan more effectively. His method involves adapting farm practices to changing family goals. The process applies to short-, medium-, and long-term goals.

Most peasants through the ages anticipated little more for their children than what they had themselves. But some peasants had aspirations for their children and their grandchildren.
The kakomiris, the loser, formulated unrealistic plans, whereas the nikokiris included specific objectives with time frames, clarified responsibilities, estimated costs, and anticipated results.
No matter how carefully the peasant plans he still must say, like Hodja, “This is my plan. I think it will succeed, if God is willing.”
But the winner among the peasants is the one who makes use of every available resource to ensure that as far as his efforts are concerned, his plan will succeed.

Chapter 6: Organizing the Organizers