2. Page 2 of 10
Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
Many family owned farms are being bought out by corporations and governmental
agencies. In today’s economy the pressure to give in to these advances is easier than in the past.
My father, who owns a 400-acre farm, has felt these pressures for the last 20 years yet manages
to stand his ground even though he loses money every year. Throughout the years I have worked
in his business I have had an idea rumbling around in my head. I finally had the nerve to present
my case to my father with the center point of my presentation being turning a profit by changing
the small farm into a successful corporation of its own. I assured him that the business would
still be run by him but he would have people under him that would report to him and that only
family members could be employed. The goal was to turn the farm into a functioning
organization within five years by using the Systemic Model of Change (Kinicki & Kreitner,
2009). By functional I mean having employees put into place, a mission statement, strategic plan,
identifiable changes and measurable goals written. It would also mean implementing new ideas
and starting the work of a research corporation. With all this the farm could be seen as a
seriously-run organization.
As the farm is run now, my father hires one to two farmhands to help with the labor end
of farming. He is the only decision maker and the only one who runs the company. His
customers are sometimes known and sometimes unknown. His known customers are usually
local people who are repeat customers. My father is a good pig farmer and his pigs have won
grand prize won at the State Fair. For a few years he did research farming trying new seeds and
3. Page 3 of 10
Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
different ways to cultivate the land but never continued on with it. He is also members of
various organizations and a strong church member which are good ways of advertising.
To begin the conversion, I used the Systemic Model of Change (Kinicki & Kreitner,
2009) by introducing the strategy of changing the business. I chose the Systemic Model because
not only does the change trickle down to the farm hands, but it also will impact the surrounding
farmers. Also, I think with concrete goals the motivation to implement the change is greater. To
see your work being measured is another visual motivator along with a financial increase. The
four components of the model are: mission statement, strategic plan, areas to be changed, and the
end results wanted (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).
Using the second form of applying the change model (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009), I
focused on determining the cause of the failing farm. I think the main problem my father wasn’t
turning a profit was that he couldn’t compete with big land owners and wasn’t producing enough
to stay afloat. So with the okay of my father, the first goal was to announce the change to my
extended family and then see who in the family would like to participate and who would be
competent to fill the vacancies. Once I got the interested parties were named we sat down and
decided who would fill what vacancies in the new structure of the business. Most of the family
lives within 200 miles but the outliers used email and telephone to communicate.
To begin with, we each shared what knowledge we had. We thought that the 400-acre
farm that had the Mississippi River running through it as well as a vineyard and orchard on it
should have the following structure to effectively run it and preserve it. I used the organization
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Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
chart (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009) to show the breakdown of chain of command, giving each
person a separate title, show the division of labor and who has control of whom.
CEO- My father would be the head of the corporation. My father also had an established
reputation among his community and if he went away a lot of the business would disappear. He
lives on the farm.
Finance/Sales –My sister has her MBA and is good at investments and has been an excellent
salesperson for about 25 years. She does not have experience in farm markets but we all agreed
her knowledge is transferable to the farmer’s market. My sister lives about 150 miles away from
the farm.
CEO
Finance –Stocks
and Sales
BUSINESS
ATTORNEY Accountant
RESEARCHER/
WRITER
MANAGER OF
ANIMALS
MANAGER OF
CROPS
MANAGER OF
ORCHARD
VINEYARD
MANAGER OF
WOODS AND
RIVER
TAX ATTORNEY
AND FARM
LABOR
FARM HAND FARM HAND
OFFICE
MANAGER
ASSISTANT
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Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
Researcher/Writer – I got assigned this title as I have worked in the industry for about 20 years
writing for various newspapers and journals. I know computer graphics as well. My position
would entail researching new techniques of farming and other things. I also would serve as
cultural liaison as there are rare Indian artifacts and European artifacts on the land. I live about
10 miles away.
Tax Attorney and Farm Labor – My step-cousin is a tax attorney and was raised on a farm so
understands the business. This person will find tax loopholes to save money for the farm. He is
also responsible for taking care of farm labor and contracts. My step-cousin lives about 100
miles away.
Business Attorney – My cousin is a business attorney and is good at writing contracts. He
knows corporate laws but has never dealt with farm land before. My cousin lives about 2000
miles away in California.
Accountant – My sister’s husband is a CPA and runs his own business. He said he could easily
do that part of the business for the company. My brother-in-law lives about 1500 miles away in
Colorado.
Office Manager – My sister has a lot of experience as an Office Manager. My sister lives about
15 miles away. Her daughter, who is high school, said that she would be happy to serve as the
Office Assistant. She is very good on the computer end of things. The Office Manager would
be in charge of telecommunications (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009) such as sending out emails,
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Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
typing reports to be sent out, checking in on everyone daily, upkeep of records and
communicating with people in the field.
I put the following people under me as I have the most experience of running the farm
out of all of my family members. They all would help me in the research of different things and
help with the marketing of their products.
Manager of Animals: My cousin’s husband has run a farm for many years and would like to
join a company with benefits. He has a lot of ideas for organic produce. He lives next door.
Manager of Crops: My cousin who now lives in Nebraska has worked in the corn industry
since she was a teenager and has a lot of knowledge of corn and is willing to work with other
crops. She is willing to move to Minnesota and stay in the guest house in the rear of the farm.
Manager of Woods/River: This is more of research issue and marketing issue. So my sister
and I decided to split the job researching the Mississippi River and possibly cutting down some
of the lumber. We also have a cabin out in the woods to rent to hunters.
Manager of Orchard and Vineyard: My niece who lives in Northern California has worked in
a vineyard for about 10 years and said she would like to help out but not move. One of the
farmhands agreed to do part-time work cultivating the fruit. My niece agreed to do a lot of
research on the vineyard and orchard as the seeds were brought over from France with my great-
great grandfather.
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Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
After announcing it to the family and assigning roles, the next step was to write the
businesses my father was involved with and update them of the change along with the
community surrounding the farm. Within the business we came up with the following statement
of what we wanted the corporation to be. This in turn would be the motivation to bring about
further change.
Mission Statement: Our family corporation’s mission is to implement research and new
strategies of agri-business in order to provide the best resources for the community. To honor the
lessons taught by our ancestors and to value and teach others about the cultural artifacts found on
the land.
Strategic Plan: Right now the farm runs almost on a survival capacity. It has good soil and the
animals are healthy. The weaknesses are that he does not track what works and what fails,
collections on customers are behind, and my father is the only one who knows the overall
business. The strengths are that my father’s customers are usually satisfied and return every year;
however, there are still untapped customers out there such as larger corporations. He has a
research background, yet there are new seed testing and other research he hasn’t tried. Some
opportunities of growth are new buildings to cut down on disease in the stored crops and
animals. He could market some of his animals and crops under the organic label. The threats of
all farmers are always the weather, the stock market, disease, new technologies, new laws, and
public consumption/opinion of produce and buyouts.
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Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
The corporate strategy would be, with long-term goals in mind, to increase productivity
and increase sales by using better advertising. To develop customer contracts and
billing/collections so not only do sales go up but also income. To research new business laws
and insurance policies. To research the benefits of selling produce under new labels to compete
in today’s market (organic, natural, etc.) To buy new technologies such as computers and
phones to stay in contact with one another and agree on employee hours and level of
commitment as well as benefits and rewards.
Target elements of change: As it is now, my father is the only one that suffers financial loss or
gain. When we implement the new change everyone involved will suffer loss and gain. For the
first five years, the work is mostly voluntary as the corporation will just be starting out.
Problems not thought of will have to be adjusted and if the goals aren’t being met a redesign will
have to be drawn out. Likewise, if one of the family members decides not to work for the
organization another one will have to be hired. With the idea that things will always be prone to
feedback and change according to the feedback, this acceptance will lead to a more functional
system of operation.
Outputs: The end goal is to have employees that stay and are motivated and not easily frustrated
by trial-and-error the first few years. Measurable things would be tracking stable customers
while going through the change. Tracking how each idea helps or hurts the employees doing the
work. Track how new advertising helps or hurts. Tracking how the feedback changes things
and the outcome of the change. The idea is to have a smooth internally run company as well as a
functioning outward run company.
9. Page 9 of 10
Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
Changing the farm into a corporation has many positive impacts on everyone. First, the
farmhouse would increase in value as a result of the incorporation. The corporation would
allow all employees and owners to get benefits and retirement even for the farm labors. If there
is an accident on the farm it won’t take such on my father personally but the accident would be
absorbed by the corporation. The corporation is a good tax break. It guarantees that just because
my father dies, the family business doesn’t. It would allow other members of my family to buy
into the business, this includes spouses and stepfamily. Being incorporated would allow my
nieces and nephews to the farm to be transferred to the second generation or third generation to
run the business if anything happened to anyone, even without a will in place.
The negative aspects of it are that my oldest sister would mean lose her control over my
father and the business. For my siblings and me it would mean allowing other family members
to contribute to the business. For my father it would be letting the reigns go and hearing new
ideas and allowing other people’s input.
By using the Systemic Model of Change, the inception of a functional farm would be the
seed to a profitable organization. By using telecommunication it would mean bringing
cohesiveness to a spread out family. It would allow the family farm to stay in the family and be
seen as a serious business with a purpose to motivate it to success.
Bibliography
10. Page 10 of 10
Alexandria Sutherland
Final Paper
December 19, 2011
Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills and Best
Practices. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
