Thesis, Graduate (Master in Management)--University of the Philippines Mindanao, April 2015.

Confidential

Over the last decade, the Foundation for Agrarian Reform Cooperatives in Mindanao, Inc. (FARMCOOP) has established itself as the leading non-government organization that provides technical support functions to its member cooperatives in the production and marketing of bananas. Nowadays, FARMCOOP is widely supported by local and national government organizations, NGO?s and other line agencies. Through the initiative of Atty. Koronado B. Apuzen, the Organic Producers and Exporters Corporation (OPEC), which markets the organic produce of FARMCOOP's member cooperatives, was also established. Specifically, OPEC is engaged in the production and marketing of low-chemical and organic, fresh and processed agricultural food products to support FARMCOOP's programs and services for agrarian reform beneficiaries, indigenous people, small farmers and other marginalized sectors of society. OPEC is also managing its own banana and vegetable farm at Sibulan, Toril to increase supply of organic banana and cope with the huge buyer demand. Moreover, the company is also managing its bio-organic compost processing plant at the Organic Agro-Industrial Complex or ECOPARK in Panabo City. Despite these advancements in the operations of OPEC, various issues and concerns still arise. Among these issues are (1) diseases incidence in banana cultivation; (2) competition with multinational companies; (3) unmet huge demand for organic bananas; and (4) poor productivity of organic banana and compost production. As such, a strategic plan for OPEC is necessary to help the organization evaluate its current performance, formulate and implement strategies that will enable the organization to achieve its objectives. Strategic management for the organization is very timely and relevant to exploit and create new and different opportunities for tomorrow. In facilitating the strategic plan for OPEC, the SOSTAC planning model was used due to its simplicity and effectiveness in structuring the plans for different strategies. SOSTAC stands for - (1) Situation; (2) Objective; (3) Strategy; (4) Tactics; (5) Action; and (6) Control. In the course of the strategic planning, the External Factor Evaluation (EFE) and Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) matrix were constructed for identifying the key internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) of OPEC. The SWOT analysis was then used as tool to match the internal factors and external factors identified in the EFE and IFE Matrix. Four types of strategies were developed in this matching ? SO(strengths-opportunities) Strategies, WO (weaknesses-opportunities) Strategies, ST (strengths-threats) Strategies, and WT (weaknesses-threats) Strategies. Based on the SWOT matrix, the following strategies were intuitively drawn by integrating the four different types of strategies: a. Strategy 1 - Scale up the bio-organic compost production and develop the market for organic compost. b. Strategy 2 - Increase production of certified organic banana to tap new markets in emerging economies c. Strategy 3 - Penetrate existing markets for organic vegetables and expand to new ones. The Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix was then constructed to provide an analytical method for comparing and prioritizing the identified strategies. It was evident in the QSPM that the priority strategy that OPEC should employ is Strategy 1. As such, an implementing program (following the four functional areas of management) was developed for OPEC. The highlight of the implementing program involves a 2year operations plan that requires sufficient marketing strategies, R&D, and revision of the organizational structure of OPEC. The financial viability of the suggested strategy is also very high with an NPV of PhP6.27 million, projected IRR of 40.04% and payback period of 2.46 years. Finally, a 2-year action plan was also developed to ensure that the tactical plan have coordinated activities and are budgeted accordingly. For the appropriate control systems, key result areas with corresponding key performance indicators were identify in order to keep tract of the project implementation and monitoring of performance. A KRA tool and balancing loop diagram is also prepared for appropriate reporting.