Strategic Issues in Food and Agribusiness (AECN896)

This course provides a framework for analyzing and understanding some of the important strategic issues and decisions that confront food and agribusiness firms. Although individuals who are relatively new to a business are usually concerned with rather routine short-term decisions, they must deal with problems that are longer-term and more complex once they begin to assume higher-level management responsibilities. The topics covered in this course focus on these types of problems and include organizational structure, vertical integration and coordination, competitive analysis, strategic positioning, and mergers and acquisitions. The course draws on recent developments in industrial economics, game theory, transaction cost economics, agency theory, and property rights analysis as applied specifically to food and agribusiness industries.