Thesis, Graduate (Master in Management)--University of the Philippines Mindanao, December 201o.

Raras Farms is a family farm engaged in rice farming in Barangay San Rafael, Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat. The farm is now being poised for a takeoff towards a higher level of performance to maximize its growth potential. To do this, it was felt that a strategic plan that will provide the roadmap for such a takeoff be prepared. This paper was intended to contain this plan. The researcher adopted the Strategic Planning Model as the analytical framework for this study. This strategic framework consists of three stages: strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation. Strategy formulation includes the review of the general situation, environmental scanning, goal setting, and the determination of the strategic choice. Strategy implementation includes the crafting of policies, identifying and pursuing programs and allocating of budgets. Finally, strategy evaluation refers to the setting up of a mechanism that will help management know whether the strategies being implemented are working or not. The researcher gathered the data used in this study through personal interviews with the owner/operators, farmer/maintainer, agriculturist, laboratory technicians, field technicians, traders and other stakeholders. Secondary information was obtained from various websites, power point presentations, research materials, books and other articles of various authors and practitioners. Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM), were also employed to help determine the relative attractiveness of various feasible alternative strategies in order to arrive at the selected strategy. The researcher feels that a strategy of product development is the best strategy for the subject company to take in order to attain the growth trajectory it wants to target. This will require expanding the business lines into three: rice farming, leasing of farm equipment and farm financing. Furthermore, it is also felt that in order to succeed in these undertakings, Raras Farms should provide training for the upgrading of the skills of both the owner and farm workers by exposing them to the latest technology on farming. This paper ends with a set of proposals on how the implementation of the selected strategy can be monitored periodically so that the proper interventions can be put in place in timely fashion and with minimal adverse impact on the enterprise's ability to attain its basic objectives.