ISHS Acta Horticulturae 391: Horticulture in Human life, Culture and Environment
CONSISTENCY OF PERFORMANCE OF HORTICULTURAL FIRMS |
| Author: | V. Bitsch |
| Keywords: | Consistency of performance, Measurement of performance, Pot plants, Ratio analysis, Success factors |
| Abstract:
185 German pot plant growers with wholesale marketing were classified by cluster analysis with the aim of identifying the successful and the less successful subgroups. Producers were grouped as successful, and respectively less successful, if between 1982 and 1987, they belonged to the same subgroup at least four out of six years. The financial ratios of these 144 consistent firms were analyzed further in order to identify the more successful management strategies. The study applied the analysis of critical success factors based on accounting ratios to horticultural firms. Difficulties arose because of the special features of plant production and the diversity of products and production systems in German horticulture. A comparison of the means of the subgroups showed significant differences in the following ratios: Debts, net output per area unit, costs per area unit. In addition, the analysis proved that results differ, if the subgroups of single years are compared, from those results from the consistency approach. Therefore studies based on one single year's accounts are not very helpful to identify the sources of persistent success. | |
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