Department of Animal Science
Date of this Version
December 1993
Abstract
Management style is a major determinant of effectiveness. Setting direction in turn is an integral part of an effective management style. At Rex Ranch our mission or long term direction is to "maximize long term profit while improving the land, animal and human resources." The redundancy in the mission statement is recognized and intended. If we fail to improve the land, animal and human resources, we will not be competitive or profitable in the long run. So, that part of the statement is to keep us based on correct principles.
A ranch is really a production and marketing system made up of biological, human dynamic, climatic, economic and political subsystems. When I as a manager began to recognize the complexity of the ranching business, I knew I could not measure or predict all tendencies or results of management practices.
To deal with the complexities of our ranch production and marketing systems, it seems appropriate to simplify as much as possible. As a matter of strong personal opinion, I think that many who teach and advise us want too much data and too much number analysis. Collecting data that has only marginal usefulness in monitoring progress and in decision making can be very time consuming, costly and demoralizing to ranch hands. Much of the job purpose of this paper is to show how creating an environment of excellence and simplifying process and procedure will empower rather than overburden ranch owners, operators, and employees.
Comments
Published for Proceedings, The Range Beef Cow Symposium XIII December 6, 7, & 8, 1993, Cheyenne, WY.