Abstract:
While common in business schools, the use of case studies are less common in horticulture curricula, especially for business-related topics. After graduation, most students will go to work in a business, but horticulture majors are often not as well prepared for business management as they are for the technical aspects of horticulture production. In the horticulture industry, collaboration among businesses without formation of a formal cooperative is atypical; thus, the collaboration of independent retail plant sellers in Western Michigan provided an excellent opportunity for the development of a horticultural marketing case study. Branding, especially among state industry groups, has become increasingly popular as a means
to differentiate products and stimulate sales. Pricing products can also be challenging, and bundling products often purchased together may give a wholesaler a competitive and price advantage. Since case studies on non-cooperative collaboration, branding, and pricing were not available, three case studies were developed and are presented here for use in an upper-level horticulture course. Students enrolled in a senior-level elective course, Horticulture Marketing, have participated in these case study discussions since 2002. Suggestions for using this case study are also presented.
Key words:
horticultural case studies, business management, horticultural collaborative marketing
 Getter_Sept2012.pdf | [ ] | 351 kB |
