Cassava root purchasing strategies for consistent cassava supply to starch mills :a case study of Corn Products Thailand Ltd (CPT) | |
| Author | Adisak Suvittawat |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no. DBA-SOM-13-04 |
| Subject(s) | Corn Products Thailand Ltd (CPT) Cassava |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration, School of Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Cassava is one of Thailand’s most important economic crops and exports. In the past, cassava was a subsistence crop for individual families, but today the country exports more than six million tons of cassava products a year, worth about 48,000 million THB (1 USD=33 THB approx.), making Thailand the third-largest cassava producer in the world. Approximately 1,120,000 ha of land are dedicated to cassava, to produce about 20 million tons a year, which is used to produce dry chips, pellets and starch. The following three distinct end-user groups are now competing against each other to attract cassava suppliers: starch and modified starch producers; cassava chip producers; and ethanol producers, who turn cassava into fuel. Cassava purchasing is challenging today because there is high demand for cassava from competing end-users as a source of food, starch and bio-fuel. The overall objectives of this study are to study current cassava farming practices to identify new cassava purchasing strategies that Corn Products Thailand (CPT) can apply to ensure a consistent cassava supply. The study considers how better production methods can reduce costs without sacrificing efficiency, shows how to reconfigure the cassava supply chain (Farmers and Brokers) to comply with the proposed strategy, and reveals the current CPT purchasing strategy execution context. The results suggest that experienced cassava farmers are more efficient than farmers who have only been farming for a few years. Some cassava farmers still lack the capital required for farm inputs which leads to poor crop management, lower yields and less starch content. Cassava farmers in Thailand tend to rely mainly on past farming experience and cosult with neighbours for guidance which means farmers tend to follow the same iv practices. Cassava purchasing pricing strategy depends on 2 systems, buying based on starch content and buying based on a mixed root system. In the areas that can produce high starch content, cassava prices are based the amount of starch content. In other areas, prices are based on a mixed root system. Contract farming is a strategy that ensures a consistent cassava supply for the starch mill, so starch mills that have contract farmers can increase their competitive advantage in terms of price, cassava root quality, and transportation costs. The development of a cassava growth model plays an important role in the future of the important crop. This study explores how the following parameters affect strategy execution: Informal Influential Person; Leadership Pattern of Functional Leader; People’s Willingness and Abilities; and Communication. The Informal Influential Person parameter is very influential in the Thai context because Thai people rely on informal leaders in their organizations as role models. The cassava root is like any other biological system; its growth system is very complicated. A good understanding of the process involved is very important for the correct development of an empirical model, particularly in the case of developing a computer-simulated model. To reap the full advantage from a computer simulation, the model should be applicable to a general, rather than a specific, environment. |
| Year | 2013 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Management |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (Publication code = DBA-SM, SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Soni, Peeyush; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Igel, Barbara;Do Ba Khang;Banwet, Devinder Kumar ; |