NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the
Advice on Publications Available.Peter Walmsley
Marketing and Communications Officer
New Industries Program
Agriculture Western Australia
Baron-Hay Court
South Perth Western Australia 6151
Telephone: 8 9690 2150
Email: pwalmsley@agric.wa.gov.au
[This report has been produced as a result of an evaluation conducted on DOOR Marketing by Mr Peter Walmsley. Minor changes from the original have been made, including the exclusion of some details that were related to internal management matters specifically relevant to the New Industries Program, Agriculture Western Australia.]
Purpose
Since its inception in 1996, the Centre for New Industries Development has taken a market-focused approach to new industry development.
The opportunity and challenge, is to develop new agricultural industries that will provide sustainable economic growth for Western Australian rural industry. The Centre takes a market-focused approach, leading industry into sound and diverse export markets throughout the world.
To date, the Centre's partners have largely been commercial operators with proven track records, looking to move into new product areas or to expand their industries into Western Australia.
Individuals examining new opportunities for rural Western Australia are currently not directly supported by this approach. Such industry players would benefit in the long term through any opportunity to participate in new sustainable agricultural industries.
The Centre is keen to see the market-focused approach promoted to the wider Western Australian agricultural community, empowering them to assess new opportunities and develop new sustainable agricultural enterprises. In particular, the Centre aims to provide diversifying farmers with more support than it has received in the past, equipping an agricultural sector with the capacity to identify and progress their opportunities.
In sharing our approach, the Centre has identified the Queensland DOOR (Do Our Own Research) Marketing Course as a potential framework to package and deliver these philosophies. In order to assess the Course's suitability for this purpose and to build our understanding of the course, a visit was conducted to Queensland to interview past participants in DOOR Marketing and to observe the delivery of the course.
Course Background
The New Crops Group at the University of Queensland Gatton College developed the DOOR Marketing Course with support from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and industry.
The DOOR Marketing Course was developed in response to requests from the new crops industry made during the First Australian New Crops Conference held in Queensland in July 1996. It also proceeded from research conducted by the New Crops Group into the complexity of assessing new crop opportunities (Project UQ-33A, RIRDC/GRDC).
Following positive feedback from an initial pilot course conducted at Gatton on August 8 and 19 September 1997, the concept has continued to develop. Industry feedback and review have been collected from each Course, leading to further refinement of the workshops.
The New Crops Group at the University of Queensland Gatton College currently use the DOOR Marketing Course as a tool in empowering industry groups or diversifying farmers to assess their opportunities. The Queensland Department of Primary Industries was a major supporter with the development of the Course and the preparation of the Manual but is no longer directly involved with the Course, following restructuring of the Departmental Agency involved.
The course takes the approach of training participants through their involvement in decision making and information collection. This approach aims to empower participants to conduct their own research into potential new opportunities of interest to them.
This Do Our Own Research (DOOR) approach was initiated by Dr Mal Hunter, previously the Horticulture Centre Coordinator, Redlands Research Station, Queensland Department of Primary Industries. (Dr Hunter now operates as Anova Solutions Pty Ltd, Email: malcolm.hunter@mailbox.uq.edu.au, developing DOOR processes with the nursery industry).
DOOR was initially developed for the nursery industry, to skill individual nursery operators to undertake their own research, on issues relevant to them.
The underlying philosophy of the DOOR Marketing approach is that there are no experts, of the type known in traditional industries, in new rural industries. The course focuses on the process of investigating a new industry as opposed to specific industry technical information. The course assumes that the participants are sufficiently self-motivated to conduct research on their industries. The approach assumes that ownership of this process and their findings will result in their action.
Investigation Methodology
The approach in undertaking this investigation was to interview past participants and observe the delivery of the course.
Dr Rob Fletcher, of the School of Land and Food, University of Queensland Gatton College, the principal developer and facilitator of the DOOR Marketing Course, assisted in developing the itinerary.
Rob suggested ten past participants for the interviews, chosen to represent individuals who were thought to be either supporters or sceptics of the DOOR Marketing principles, and a date was scheduled for the delivery of the DOOR Marketing Course at NSW Agriculture, Grafton in collaboration with Mr Craig Wood, the local organiser.
Thus the participants to be interviewed were not selected randomly, but were chosen for their diverse perceptions and responses to the course. Three days were allocated for these interviews and one day was allocated for observing the delivery of the first day of the DOOR Marketing Course in Grafton.
Results
1. What has attracted people to the DOOR Marketing course?
People were attracted to the course for two primary reasons:
Some participants saw the course as a rare opportunity for local support in their new crop pursuits. These participants were not specifically looking for a marketing course but any local event examining new crops. Other participants were attracted to the course in recognition of the importance of marketing in assessing and developing their new crop.
2. How do past participants describe the course?
Descriptions ranged from the course being a challenging event to a couple of days of sitting and listening to a range of presentations.
When asked to outline the content of the course, participants indicated that it included:
3. What elements of the course did participants like?
For some participants, the course was the opportunity to examine marketing issues for the first time and for others it was the opportunity to share experiences with a group.
Participants particularly liked the diversity of new industry case studies that were presented by speakers. These speakers were found to be invaluable in the discussions during the breaks. If there was only one presenter, then this individual support would not have been possible.
Participants also enjoyed the opportunity to use the internet to search information on their new crops. In searching this information and discussing their crops, the course provided an opportunity to document and formalise the participants' thoughts.
Feedback from the new crops investigated was particularly valuable and the course materials were excellent.
Participants liked the approach taken in delivering the course, particularly the philosophy that the facilitator was not the expert, and was working with the group rather than for the group.
4. What elements of the course did participants not like?
Participants commented on the content and process of delivery: some found the content was delivered too quickly while others were frustrated that they stayed on topics for too long. Some participants stated that this content was too generic, since they were looking to take home more specific information.
The case studies were highlighted to be useful but some participants would have liked more marketing examples. Others highlighted that the case studies presented were generally from exotic industries and they would have liked to have heard more traditional case studies. It was highlighted that the course didn't offer any practical work, such as a field visit to a cooperative or actually looking at people's products.
5. What were the key things participants learnt?
Participants developed a clearer understanding of the marketing issues of their new crops. They were better equipped to clearly define their product, identify what information was required and where to source this information.
Marketing was highlighted as a priority. Participants identified that they should know their markets before 'jumping in' to a new enterprise. They took away an understanding of marketing chains and an acknowledgement that there are numerous pathways to accessing markets.
For those with some understanding of marketing issues prior to the course, there was a realisation of just how many people don't go through the process of examining their marketplace. The course also highlighted the need for collaboration with others when developing a new enterprise.
6. How did the course influence the thinking, specific activities or the business of participants?
Participants realised just how much work is required in investigating a new crop, acknowledging that they had to actively go out and look for markets.
One group's thinking was very production-orientated prior to the course but has since become more market-focused. The outcome for another group was an identified need to collaborate, deciding to investigate marketing cooperative structures.
In one instance, the course acted to consolidate a participant's marketing understanding and resulted in them being less concerned with marketing issues.
Another participant was pleased to note that they are now receiving less enquires since encouraging their industry group to attend the course. This participant now feels they have clearer communication and understanding within their industry group. It was also stated that many people have left their industry since attending the course and this was seen to be a healthy choice.
7. For this course to be effective, what type of groups should participate?
Responses for this question varied considerably.
Some participants felt that the course would be more effective with groups representing a diverse range of industries, facilitating the sharing of ideas and looking 'outside the box'.
Others believed that the course would be more effective with individual industry groups, enabling them to look more specifically at their industry issues and to learn as a group, rather than individually.
There was also some debate as to the value of the course to new groups versus established groups. The course offers new groups the advantages of looking at marketing together from the beginning and facilitating network building and information sharing.
Established new industry groups may provide significant challenges in shifting their production focus to an increased emphasis on markets. However, established groups may progress their investigations faster, since they are likely to have a good understanding of the characteristics of their products and some market understanding of their industry.
8. What level of support is required between Day 1 and Day 2 of the course?
The DOOR Marketing course doesn't currently offer direct support to participants between the modules [Normally, a period of at least two weeks is encouraged between the two days of the course].
The underlying assumptions have been that the course participants are sufficiently motivated that Day 1 empowers them to undertake self-directed research, with a view to present their findings during Day 2.
Participant's responses to this question unanimously indicated that there was a need for some support between the modules. The handouts provided during the Course were useful reference materials but participants would have liked some prompting. This particularly applied to those groups who had significant breaks between modules.
Participants emphasised that this prompting was not to provide the answers but to keep them focused.
9. What level of support is required following the course and what type of support should this be?
Most participants would like to see a follow-up workshop. The content of this workshop would depend on the progress of the group during the course.
Participants suggested that the workshop could provide support to:
Participants also indicated that a prompt after twelve months would be very valuable. This could take the form of a newsletter outlining key points from the course.
Discussion
1. Target Audience for the DOOR Marketing Course
Individuals or industry groups looking to diversify or move into new enterprises are the target audience for the course. There are advantages in targeting individuals or groups, which are relatively new to an industry but this doesn't exclude the course from being effective with established groups. There are benefits in operating the course with mixed groups but single industry groups are better positioned to look more at the specifics of their industry. Single industry groups can also learn as a group rather than just as individuals.
It is important to ensure that participants have a thorough understanding of the aims of the course. Participants who are simply looking for someone to spoon-feed them universal solutions to specific new industry problems will not find this course valuable.
2. Approach
The results have indicated that participants certainly valued the course and it achieves the aim of empowering them to undertake market research on their potential new crop. However, this is heavily reliant on the assumption that the participants are sufficiently self motivated to undertake their own research.
In acknowledging this, the course facilitator should provide some support between modules 1 and 2 and a level of support following the course.
Support should not be in the form of providing answers. Support needs to act as a prompt to keep participants on track.
In managing this support following the course, the development of an action plan for future activities should become an element of module two. The concept of a newsletter 12 months after the course also has significant merit in acting as a prompt and could document key points from the course and demonstrate these through case studies from past participants.
To some extent this is currently being provided through the Australian New Crops Newsletter but this follow up publication could be targeted more towards the issues and situations of the specific participants' group.
The case studies presented of new crop activities and investigations were highlighted to be of significant value. These should be further enhanced to incorporate case studies of more traditional crops such as investigations of value-adding opportunities. The advantage of such case studies would be that participants could relate to the characteristics of these studies, encouraging them to focus more on the marketing issues. The case studies could also be drawn from past participants of the course. This would also act to promote the value of the course and enable past participants to add value to future courses.
Internet access for market research investigations was highlighted to be particularly valuable. To maximise the benefits of this, the facilitator should ensure that the participants have ready access to internet facilities, particularly during the period between the two days of the course.
3. Finance/Operation
The results highlight the observation that new enterprise developers are generally keen to attend any training or networking opportunity to support their new enterprise. The convenience and low registration cost of this course has to some degree further encouraged this trend.
In managing this, there is a need to place a higher value on the course by increasing the registration fee (from $50-60 per participant per day; these charges have in the past been levied by the groups themselves). This will encourage participants to think more clearly about the relevance and value of the course to them.
The course could be delivered in Western Australia under three operational models:
4. Intellectual Property
The Intellectual Property Rights of the course will require thorough investigation prior to the formal integration into Western Australia.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Centre for New Industries Development undertake to present two pilot DOOR Marketing Courses. The content and approach of these courses should be as described in the course materials.
Some prompting should be provided between Day 1 and Day 2 of the course and the facilitators should also ensure there are internet facilities available to all participants during this period.
A key presenter or past participant from the Queensland DOOR Marketing Courses should be invited to provide industry case studies and support the facilitators in presenting the DOOR approach.
The first pilot course should be delivered to a mixed industry group and aim to determine the scope of target audiences and potential partnerships for the course's delivery.
The second pilot course should be delivered to a specific industry group and aim to provide industry feedback on the course's content and approach, in order to fine tune its delivery.
The Centre’s evaluation of these pilot courses should aim to determine their future level of investment and highlight the most suitable operational model for its delivery. Prior to formal integration of the DOOR Marketing Course into Western Australia, intellectual property rights will require thorough investigation.
Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter
Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email:
r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au[
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GK; latest update 17 October 2001 by: RF