Diss. Karlstad : Karlstads universitet, 2010.

Water is Australia's most precious natural resource. The quality, quantity and availability of this resource is the single factor most limiting agricultural development and sustainability in this country. Since the development of Australia's cotton industry in the 1960's, and the expanding areas of irrigated crop, there has been an increasing demand placed on the limited water resources of the country. Consequently, the cotton industry has been the target of protest from conservation groups, residents of rural townships and others farmers engaged in competing rural sectors. Therefore, cotton farmers need to develop best practice in terms of water use efficiency. Not only does this make good ecological sense but also good economic sense. Traditional methods of irrigation scheduling have proven to be subjective and haphazard. Recently developed methods, while providing more quantitative techniques, do not give a synoptic view of a field's or region's crop moisture status. The main objective of this project was to evaluate an airborne thermal scanner (8-12 µm) as practical tool for monitoring the water requirements of an irrigated cotton crop. The thermal scanner was mounted below a light aircraft and imagery was collected over Field 86 , Togo Station, north-west NSW during the summer of 1990/91. The field was divided into nine treatments for the purpose of this project. Three irrigation regimes (early, normal and late) with three repetitions were applied to the nine treatments. A total of fourteen images were selected for analysis. These images were grouped into sets of AM images, PM images as well as diurnal groupings which were interpreted for three separate dates during the growing season. Ground based measurements of infrared crop surface and soil temperature, soil moisture deficit, leaf area index (LAI) and the Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) were collected to calibrate the airborne imagery. Imagery was in the first instance visually interpreted to determine what information could be gained from this technique. Patterns on the imagery were related to diurnal variations in soil and crop temperatures. This investigation revealed a number of soil related phenomena inherent to the field which were influencing the airborne detected temperatures. While this technique showed variability across the field, the interpretation was somewhat subjective. Temperature values were extracted from the imagery in order to conduct an analysis of variance (ANOVA) between the airborne and ground measurements of infrared crop surface temperature. In summary, this analysis did not show a strong relationship between the airborne and ground based measurements. A number of contributing factors have been proposed as the reason for this variation in the two datasets. Pearson's correlation analysis was applied to the AM (r = 0.65) and PM (r = 0.32) groups of airborne and ground temperatures. Airborne derived calculations of the CWSI were compared to ground based measurements for the AM group of flights. These derived values were only acceptable in instances where the ANOVA results had shown them to approximate the ground based measurements. While airborne thermal imagery provides a useful tool for determining general variations in temperatures across a field, there are many additional factors, the most dominant being the thermal characteristics of the background soil, which influence the detected temperatures. This technique does not provide the precise quantitative information required to accurately determine across-field measurement of the CWSI.

The main question in this study was: do business units that exhibit a "linkage" or "fit" between their business strategy and manufacturing strategy variables, outperform competitors who lack such a fit? This exploratory research focused on two business strategies: cost leadership and differentiation. Based on existing literature, twenty-four hypotheses concerning the relationship between business strategy and selected manufacturing strategy variables were developed. The manufacturing executives of eighty-eight broadwoven cotton fabric mills (SIC 2211) were surveyed using a qualitative questionnaire. Two sets of comparisons were made between the manufacturing strategy variables of the sampled firms: first, high vs. low performers pursuing cost leadership strategy; and second, high vs. low performers focusing on differentiation strategy. Within each set of comparisons, high performers reported linkage between their business strategies and selected manufacturing strategy variables. This study re-affirms the importance of linking business strategy with manufacturing strategy variables as a forceful weapon for overcoming competition.

"This study deals primarily with the technical aspects of the cotton trade, examining the extent and nature of the trade, the activities of the state and Confederate governments to control cotton, and the specific problems of transportation. The concluding chapter, however, is devoted to the cotton economy in perspective, giving special attention to the financial aspects of buying and selling cotton and to the contribution of the cotton trade to Texas and the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy."--leaves iv-v.

Australian farmers are supplementing traditional practices with innovative strategies in an effort to survive recent economic, environmental, and social crises in the rural sector. These innovative strategies include moving towards a technology-based farm management style. A review of past literature determines that, despite a growing awareness of the usefulness of computers for farm management, there is concern over the limited demand for computer-based agricultural decision support systems (DSS). Recent literature indicates that women are the dominant users of computers on family farms yet are hesitant to use computers for decision support, and it is also unclear what decision-making roles women assume on family farms. While past research has investigated the roles of women in the Australian rural sector, there is a dearth of research into the interaction of women cotton growers with computers. Therefore, this dissertation is an ontological study and aims to contribute to scholarly knowledge in the research domain of Australian women cotton growers, agricultural DSS, and cotton farm management. This dissertation belongs in the Information Systems (IS) stream and describes an interpretive single case study which explores the lives of Australian women cotton growers on family farms and the association of an agricultural DSS with their farm management roles. Data collection was predominantly through semi-structured interviews with women cotton growers and cotton industry professionals such as DSS developers, rural extension officers, researchers and educators, rural experimental scientists, and agronomists and consultants, all of whom advise cotton growers. The study was informed by multiple sociological theories with opposing paradigmatic assumptions: Giddens' (1984) structuration theory as a metatheory to explore the recursiveness of farm life and technology usage; Rogers' (1995) diffusion of innovations theory with a functionalist approach to objectively examine the features of the software and user, as well as the processes of technology adoption; and Connell's (2002) theory of gender relations with its radical humanist perspective to subjectively investigate the relationships between farm partners through critical enquiry. The study was enriched further by drawing on other writings of these authors (Connell 1987; Giddens 2001; Rogers 2003) as well as complementary theories by authors (Orlikowski 1992; Orlikowski 2000; Trauth 2002; Vanclay & Lawrence 1995). These theories in combination have not been used before, which is a theoretical contribution of the study. The agricultural DSS for the study was CottonLOGIC, an advanced farm management tool to aid the management of cotton production. It was developed in the late 1990s by the CSIRO and the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), with support from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC). CottonLOGIC is a software package of decision support and record-keeping modules to assist cotton growers and their advisors in the management of cotton pests, soil nutrition, and farm operations. It enables the recording and reporting of crop inputs and yields, insect populations (heliothis, tipworm, mirids and so on), weather data, and field operations such as fertiliser and pesticide applications, as well as the running of insect density prediction (heliothis and mites) and soil nutrition models. The study found that innovative practices and sustainable solutions are an imperative in cotton farm management for generating an improved triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social outcomes. CottonLOGIC is an industry benchmark for supporting these values through the incorporation of Best Management Practices (BMP) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles, although there were indications that the software is in need of restructuring as could be expected of software over five years old. The evidence from the study was that women growers are participants in strategic farm decisions but less so in operational decisions, partly due to their lack of relevant agronomic knowledge. This hindered their use of CottonLOGIC, despite creative attempts to modify it. The study endorsed the existence of gender differences and inequalities in rural Australia. Nevertheless, the study also found that the women are valued for their roles as business partners in the multidisciplinary nature of farm management. All the same, there was evidence that greater collaboration and cooperation by farm partners and advisors would improve business outcomes. On the whole, however, women cotton growers are not passive agents but take responsibility for their own futures. In particular, DSS tools such as CottonLOGIC are instrumental in enabling women cotton growers to adapt to, challenge, and influence farm management practices in the family farm enterprise, just as CottonLOGIC is itself shaped and reshaped. Hence, a practical contribution of this study is to provide non-prescriptive guidelines for the improved adoption of agricultural DSS, particularly by rural women, as well as increasing awareness of the worth of their roles as family farm business partners.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Close to two decades after the break-up of the Soviet Union, there is still a marked difference in developmental paths, including institutional as well as economic development and performance among the states emerging from the ruins of the vast empire. Turning attention to the least successful post-Soviet region, Central Asia, and Tajikistan in particular, this thesis provides a contribution to the discussion of how to institutionalize social power and build the foundations for political community in post-colonial societies. It is argued here that increased institutional stability may be achieved through inter-organizational cooperation among main actors within an institutional setting. Through the dispersion of intra- and inter-organizational effects of cooperation beyond the action situations where they are produced, several goals may be achieved. These are increased predictability, transparency and durability in governance, a more equitable distribution of wealth, and (in relation to the kinship-foundation of Tajik society) the embracing of kin-divisions in society. The study examines how and why organizations decide to get involved in cooperative collective activities within the Tajik cotton industry, an industry infamous for its unscrupulous financing schemes to which local investors tie farmers; schemes lacking business ethics and the interconnection of the social and economic with political relations. The study, through an embedded case study of one project (the Farmers’ Ownership Model), also examines the institutional implications of inter-organizational collective activities. The study’s empirical base is a combination of data derived from literature, reports, reviews of official documents, as well as from interviews and an expert survey conducted among organizational representatives with expert knowledge on the Tajik cotton industry.                The results suggest that it is possible to divide the forms of cooperation into three broad categories; business based cooperation, development and support-based cooperation and unilateral cooperative activity. The latter category contains interactions based on helping as well as on coercion. The motives for cooperating follow the same divisions, with profit and position-related motives dominating business-based cooperation. Development and support-based cooperation are primarily motivated by non-profit factors, such as community-(re)building and knowledge enhancement, as well as position-related motives. Within the group of unilateral interactions, the same divisions valid for business-based cooperation (unilateral cooperative activity based on coercion) and development and support-based cooperation (unilateral cooperative activity based on helping) are found. The actors approached for this study confirm that the institutional setting is “difficult” and that the social and political climate is not supportive of inter-organizational cooperative collective activities. Despite this, the actors agree that the time is right for cooperative efforts. The implications of inter-organizational cooperative collective activities within the frameworks of the examined Farmers’ Ownership Model project are many and important from a stabilizing perspective. Numerous strategic effects have been identified, among which is the creation of the first open farmer-owned joint stock company in the country, providing crop financing, high quality input, and technical assistance to the farmers in the northern Sugd region.  This is the most tangible effect, as is legislative change related to the marketing of cotton. The learning and knowledge-creation effects as a result of inter-organizational interactions within the project are also substantial. Client as well as non-client farmers have, through the technical assistance provided through the project company, managed to improve awareness in terms of their legal status. In addition, the technical assistance component of the project has served to improve productivity and the quality of the cotton grown. Despite indications of attitudinal changes within the action situations examined, there is no clear-cut evidence of trust effects at the institutional level. The results of empirical examination of the Tajik cotton industry to a large extent support the central thesis of the study.

Au cours de la Première Guerre mondiale, les industries de la laine et du coton se retrouvent entraînées dans la mobilisation industrielle. L’intervention de l’État dans ces branches se révèle indispensable, et une nouvelle relation s’établit entre la puissance publique et les entreprises. La modification de la teinte de l’uniforme, sa large diffusion à près de huit millions d’appelés sur quatre ans et la perte des bassins industriels du Nord et de l’Est conduisent à la mise sous contrôle de l’État de presque toute l’industrie lainière, tandis que l’industrie cotonnière reste indépendante jusqu’en 1917. Cette relation s’étend jusque dans les importations de matières premières, avec une centralisation progressive qui exclut le commerce privé, mais associe négociants et industriels. En outre, la gestion de la main-d’œuvre constitue un défi quotidien pour les entreprises. Le besoin de travailleurs reste important, et les difficultés liées aux conditions de travail et au renchérissement de la vie entraînent des tensions sociales, malgré l’Union sacrée observée par les organisations syndicales. Dans le même temps, la perte des principaux territoires industriels représente une aubaine pour les autres régions, dont celles dont l’industrie textile est sur le déclin avant la guerre. Les fortes demandes de l’armée et les hauts prix du commerce privé entraînent des bénéfices importants, et conduisent l’État à adopter une fiscalité de guerre et réprimer les abus. Le retour des industries sinistrées à la fin du conflit, la question des dommages de guerre et la réintégration de l’Alsace-Lorraine mettent les industries textiles face à des changements radicaux. / During the World War I, the industries of the wool and the cotton find themselves pulled(entailed) in the industrial mobilization. The intervention of the State in these branches shows itself essential, and a new relation becomes established between the public authorities and the companies. The modification of the colour of the uniform, its wide distribution about eight million conscripts over four years and the loss of the industrial areas of the North and east lead to the putting under control of the State of almost all the wool trade, whereas the cotton industry remains independent until 1917. This relation extends to the imports of raw materials, with a progressive centralization which excludes any private business(trade), but associates traders and industrialists. Besides, the management of the workforce constitutes a daily challenge for companies. The need in workforce remains important, and the difficulties bound in working conditions and to the increased cost living trigger social tensions, in spite of the “Union sacrée” respected by labor unions. At the same time, the loss of the main industrial territories represents a chance of a lifetime for the other regions, among which those whose textile industry is on the decline before the war. The high demands of the army and the high prices of private trade yeld important profits, and lead the State to adopt a war tax system and to repress the abuses. The return of the stricken industries at the end the conflict, the question of war damage and reinstatement of Alsace-Lorraine put the textile industries in the face of radical changes.