Business Idea: Knowledge Management for Manjimup Apple Farming

This report proposes a business idea centered around apple farming, specifically addressing the challenges faced by Manjimup farmers in Australia due to low prices and buyer mistreatment. The solution involves forming a cooperative to bypass wholesalers and directly access external markets. The report emphasizes the importance of knowledge management within the cooperative to enhance learning, improve processes, and produce better apples, ultimately leading to better performance. Henry Porter's five forces are used to analyze the competitive landscape, focusing on supplier and customer bargaining power, the threat of new entrants and substitutes, and competitive advantages. The report also highlights the need for government support and the use of SMART objectives for setting future goals. The conclusion stresses the importance of knowledge management for sustainable farming practices. This document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

PROPOSED BUSINESS IDEA
Apple farming is a very lucrative business all over the world when the right buyers are
found since not all countries can produce enough apples for its locals. In Australia, there is a
significant production of apple farming in each season that’s why the Manjimup farmers are
facing challenges forcing them to take away their orchards because of the low prices of the
commodity and the mistreatment from buyers [2].
Farmers are using a lot of resources to hire workers to pick, pack and transport the apples
to the market where they come across the supermarket and wholesalers who don’t value their
hard work by buying their harvest at a very low price that can’t return their profits .Tiwana [2]
saiys that this problem has increased conflict between the buyers, and the farmers and is
affecting the business which will result in a reduction of production of the apples from the area.
To solve the problem of farmers selling their apples at a poor price, I suggest they find
another way to distribute their products without depending on the buyers and the wholesalers and
own up their crop. They should not allow their hard work to be at the mercy of those who don’t
understand the challenges and the effort they put in place to come up with the apple fruit. Many
countries don’t have enough supply of apples like it is in Manjimup, so they result in importing
the commodity.
Manjimup farmers should look into other markets outside there area or country that will
give them a good market and sustain it as well as ways to protect their produce from getting rot
and also improve on ways used to improve how the apples are being picked. If the wholesalers
and supermarkets see that the farmers can do that, then they will earn their respect and buy the
apples at a reasonable price[3]. They should also look into the types of apples they are growing
and compare it with the once that have a high demand in the market.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE BUSINESS IDEA
All Manjimup farmers should come together and form a cooperative and register it to be
able to transact their business in a group. Once it is done, they should hold a meeting and select
some of them to take up some roles in managing the cooperative and drive it to success. The
chosen team should research to know what to do for the benefit of the farmers and customers by
use of different knowledge management tools will help discover what is important and based on
what.
Social media is one of the platforms that can help share knowledge all over the world and
the experience from different people or organizations that have tried the same thing [4].
Knowledge management is the key to the success of the Manjimup cooperative since it will
enhance knowledge discovery capturing, sharing and application among the members.
Knowledge management will impact on the following in the business:
 People- it will improve employee learning and to improve their efficiency as they work
on the firm.
 Process- it will improve all the activities of the business in marketing, accounting,
manufacturing and public relations [5]. This medium will make more productive and
efficient.
 Products- it will make the farmers produce better apples than before.
 Performance –it will make the farmers generate good revenue that will make them stand
out compared to their competitors.

ANALYSIS THAT WILL GUIDE THE GROWTH OF THE IDEA
Henry porter came up with five forces that guide every industry to great success if
followed to measure competition with other apple producers in the region. The porter’s forces
include;
Supplier bargaining power: the farmers should bargain for the prices of the farm
materials at a reasonable price, that’s why they should have many different suppliers[5]. If they
choose one supplier, they will be increasing the price of the materials which will make you
increase the price of the apples and end up losing you, customers.
The threat of new entrant into the market: farmers should be up to date on the goods and
services the new organization is providing that they not, which can take away some of their
customers. Bring in something new that will attract more customers and retain them once you
already have.
The cooperation should use knowledge as their primary asset since it is going to make
them sustainable and competitive for a long time[8]. The can lose material assets, but they never
lose expertise because it has already been acquired by an individual and it can be shared to create
new knowledge. Sustainability and competition come in place when you already invested in
expertise earlier than your competitors making you ready to handle any problem or need that
arises.
Knowledge should be assessed to track cooperates performance which can be measured in
both financial and non-financial measures since there is no perfect way used to measure
knowledge.
Customer bargaining power: the apple prices should not be fixed to prevent the customer
a chance to ask for the reduction of the price if it is high. Come up with ways to motivate
customers to retain your customers If not the customers will be scared away.
Competitive advantage: it is good to have competition that is productive instead of the one
that will heart your business at the same time your competitors [9]. Check what other Apples

your competitors are selling and the marketing strategy they are using to know how to compete
with them at a fairground.
The threat of substitutes: farmers should keep watch of other fruits that can be used by
consumers instead of the apples which might be more attractive. Grant [9], insists that’s it’s
crucial for the cooperative to seek governments help to transport their products outside the
country. The government interacts with trade officials in many countries and can connect you
with business people from those regions who can sell the apples in a profitable amount.
When setting up future objectives, the cooperative has to think SMART as it’s a
marketing tool that’s essential and also looks hard into the target market[11]. When identifying
specific marketing objectives that support the long-term goals, it's critical to consider the
SMART marketing objectives. SMART objectives test and filters the quality of measures and
include;
Specific - is the information sufficiently detailed and can it be used to identify real-life
problems or opportunities for improvement?
Measurable – to create a metric will the qualitative or quantitative attributes be applied to
indicate progress?
Actionable – will performance be improved if the information is used?
Relevant – Can the marketer use the information to a specific problem? If given the
available resources will we achieve the results stated?
Time-bound – Specify when the results will be achieved.
Conclusion
It’s important for every farmer to know how to manage their farms so that they can have an idea
on how to handle their produce for every season. They should take their time to attend training so
that they can understand how to manage their knowledge in farming. Knowledge management is
very essential for any business because it provides different ways to handle things as long as it is
preserved and embedded in every employee working there.

References
[1] A. &. R. S. Irma Becerra-Fernandez, Knowledge Management, Challenges, Solutions and
Technologies, Pearson, Prentice hall, 2004
[2] A. Tiwana, The knowledge management toolkit: orchestrating IT, strategy, and knowledge
platforms, Prentice Hall, 2002.
[3] E. M. A. H. M. Ghaziri, Knowledge Management, prentice hall, 2004
[4] Nonaka, A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science,
1994.
[5] Nonaka, A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science,
1994.
[6] K. MacDonald, "The West Australian," The West Australian, 20 April 2018. [Online].
Available: https://thewest.com.au/business/agriculture/manjimup-farmers-in-strife-over-low
apple-prices-forcing-them-to-pull-up-their-orchards-ng-b88804715z. [Accessed April 21S
2018].
[7] M. Porter, The competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance, 1985.
[8] Pro picker, "Pick the world," 15 February 2015. [Online]. Available:
https://www.picktheworld.org/apple-picking-australia/. [Accessed April 21, 2018].
[9] R. Grant, Prospering in dynamically competitive environments: organizational capability as
knowledge integration. Organization Science, 1996.
[10] S. m. zyngier. [Online]. Available: https://www.uow.edu.au/kmbookchapter15final.pdf.
[Accessed April 21, 2018].

[11] T. Steward, The case against KM. Business, 2002.