An International Business Education and Export Development Project
An International Business Education and Export Development
Project
"Sustainable Peace and Prosperity through Food and Agribusiness Marketing"
| Project Expansion and New Sources of Funding:
The project continues to expand and to include new scholars and institutions. July 2009: Dr. Evangelos Vergos and Prof. Cliff Shultz will begin a study in Thrace, Greece, to examine crop substitution (away from tobacco) and regional integration. Professors Jim Gentry, Maia Beruchashvili, and Cliff Shultz, and Capt. Matt Pearce have begun a research project examining market recovery in the Republic of Georgia. Initial findings from this project will be presented at the 2009 Macromarketing Conference in Kristiansand, Norway. Professors Cliff Shultz and Don Rahtz, and doctoral candidate Claudia Dumitrescu will present initial findings at the 2009 Macromarketing Conference on Greek and Romanian consumers' preferences for wheat and pasta products, with implications for global trade. Summer 2008: Professor Shultz led an ASU W.P. Carey School of Business site-study course to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Greece. Students immersed themselves in the political economies of these countries and learned best practices from experts and field experiences. Claudia Dumitrescu completed her thesis on US Durum Wheat Exports to Romania and Greece - her thesis was partially sponsored by the USDA grant. Scholars from the Universities of Ljubljana, Zagreb, Rijeka, Sarajevo, Split, Swansea, Nebraska, and ASU, the Aristotle University and the AFS continue to collaborate on active research projects; results will be presented in future conferences and will be published in journals. Several journal articles have emerged from this project, including Manfredo, M. & Shultz, C. (2007), “Risk, Trade, Recovery and the Consideration of Real Options: The Imperative Coordination of Policy, Marketing, and Finance in the Wake of Catastrophe,” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 26 (1), 33-48. Shultz, C., Crnjak-Karanović, B. & Renko, S. (2005), “Evolving Food Marketing Systems in Recovering Economies: Some Lessons from Croatia’s Gavrilović and emerging ‘Oldies-but-Goodies’,” Ekonomski Pregled, 56 (11), 996-1012. Shultz, C., Burkink, T. Grbac, B. & Renko, N. (2005), “When Policies and Marketing Systems Explode: An Assessment of Food Marketing in the War-Ravaged Balkans and Implications for Recovery, Sustainable Peace, and Prosperity,” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 24 (1), 24-37. (Finalist for Thomas Kinnear “Best Paper” Award, 2004-2007). Working papers under review: Shultz, C., Renko, S. & Brčić-Stipčević, V. “Explorations of Three Component Contour Plotting: Store-Choice in Transitioning Economies,” Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, revisions requested. Schmitz, T., Giese, C. & Shultz, C. “Welfare Implications of EU Enlargement under the CAP,” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics. We received a substantial grant from the USDA/CSREES' ISE to expand the project into Romania and to redouble efforts in Greece. Newly funded endeavors will include faculty and student exchanges, field research, and market development. This project has proven to be very helpful to students, faculty and stakeholders of the program. A final report soon to be submitted to USDA also will be made available on this site. A second symposium was held in November. It included Greek and Romanian partners, students, faculty; businesspersons in order to understand better the Balkans and Black Sea Region potential, its market growth, and the opportunities to export in/to there. Research findings are being included/incorporated into lectures, projects, symposia, competitive presentations at national conferences (e.g., NAMA – the National Agro-Marketing Association), course work: e.g., Advanced Agribusiness Marketing, the NAMA Field Project, Agribusiness Finance, etc.
The new ASU members involved in our project are: Shanna Luster, Francesca Muscarello, Kamryn Dorman as undergraduate students and Jeffrey Dekruif and Claudia Dumitrescu as graduate students at the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness. The students have been joined by 2 professors, Dr. Clifford J. Shultz II and Dr. Troy G. Schmitz, also from the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness.
The team explored opportunities of exporting Desert Durum Wheat and Cotton to/in Greece and Romania.
During their Study Tour of 10 days to Thessaloniki and Athens our members tried to understand agribusiness value chains in Greece, being focused on how the Desert Durum Wheat (pasta) and Cotton could be/are marketed there.
Given all the discussions with businesspersons and scholars from Greece engaged in our field work, the team had the opportunity to build/strengthen the Balkans consumer ‘image’ as well as to find the perspectives for food marketing and export development in that part of the world (with concentration in Desert Durum Wheat and Cotton).
Other Developments Romania has joined the project: we welcome Dr. Victor Manole, Professor at Faculty of Agri-food and Environmental Economics, and Daniel Voica, now serving as a Fulbright Scholar at ASU. The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki also has joined the consortium. The AFS, ASU and our new Romanian partners have expanded cooperation to examine food marketing systems in the Southeast Balkans countries. Drs. Shultz, Burkink, Grbac and Renko published their findings on the transitioning food marketing systems in the Balkans in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing; several other working papers continue to evolve and will be submitted for publication. Various members of the project met in Sarajevo, Rijeka and Zagreb to discuss future collaboration among universities, institutes, NGOs and USAID. The objective is to streamline the food retailing sector in the region, to enhance enterprise, brand and export development, and to improve technical capabilities of food marketers in the region. A number of value-added endeavors are currently being discussed. Professors Grbac, Renko, Domazet, Cicic and Shultz recently met to work with faculty, students, businesspersons, governments and NGOs and to discuss future plans for the project. The primary objective is to build brands and businesses and to enhance export development. A new roadmap also was proposed to acquire additional funding from several sources and to ensure project expansion. USAID and EU sources are the latest targets for funding and Professors Shultz, Grbac (University of Rijeka), and Cicic and Domazet (University of Sarajevo) are leading a team in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia to link several universities in these countries to Arizona State University, with the objective to develop food marketing and export development capabilities. The Balkans Project continues to grow and to expand its influence in other ways as well. One outcome is the inclusion of more universities and institutions that seek affiliation, which in turn requires new resources to meet the various needs of participants and stakeholders. Therefore, Professors Antonis Simintiras (European Business Management School), Fuat Firat (University of Southern Denmark) and Cliff Shultz (Arizona State University) are spear-heading efforts to expand the project via EU funding. Professors Grbac, Renko, Damjan, Vida, Rojsek and Shultz, will be working with various universities, institutes and agencies in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia Herzegovina to determine local sources of funding and also will continue research projects and dissemination of findings. More Research and Outreach New research and outreach developments: Various members of the research team around the globe continue to develop manuscripts on a number of salient topics, including risk assessment for export development, field research methodology, consumer decision making for food products, and food value chain recovery and restoration. Special sessions at forthcoming conferences will focus on findings from the project. Drs. Shultz, Burkink, Grbac and Renko have written a manuscript that is now under review at a leading policy and marketing journal; the subject matter is an assessment of the food marketing system in the Balkans at its contribution to economic growth and sustainable peace. Dr. Shultz will return to Europe to present project findings, to meet with member institutions involved in the project and to expand the network of universities contributing to the project. Various members of the research presented project papers in the last few years at university seminars and several international conferences, including the International Conference on Marketing and Development, held in Bangkok; the Marketing and Development Symposium, held in Vietnam; the American Marketing Association Conference in Florida, the World Business Congress at the University of Nebraska, and the annual BIE Conference in Tampa. Other ad hoc presentations are regularly given at universities, research and policy institutes, and for business and civic groups. Contact the project director if you are interested to have a presentation delivered to your organization. Students continue to gain valuable international experience! Students from ASU and various countries in the region have cross-registered to take courses and to gain invaluable international education experiences. Congrats to Kim Dalby for an excellent slide show on her experiences in Greece and to Micah Wheeler for being awarded a scholarship to serve as an intern in Greece,. Croatian Ministry extends financial support for the Project! Drs. Bruno Grbac, Anthony Pecotich, Tim Burkink and Cliff Shultz have been awarded a stipend to expand the project, to study phenomena that enhance enterprise development and in turn augment economic growth and social and political stability in the region. In September, 2002, Drs. Burkink, Manfredo and Shultz traveled to Greece, Macedonia and
Kosovo, to collect data and to disseminate findings from context-relevant research
streams. The project was co-administered with AFS and our good friend, Dr. Vangelis
Vergos, Dean of AFS, and new associates from IFDC and ACDI-VOCA. Scholars and agribusiness practitioners from the Balkans and other European countries visited Arizona, to work with food and agribusiness enthusiasts and to explore mutually beneficial projects for trade and collaboration. The Balkans Symposium was held to discuss important and timely issues as well as to present research findings to the Arizona business community. Video footage of the events are available upon request. Please contact Dr. Clifford Shultz, at atcjs@asu.edu or 480 727 1242. Drs. Burkink, Grbac, Manfredo and Shultz visited food production, processing and marketing venues in Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Specific efforts targeted entrepreneurial, multifaceted organizations in Herzegovina (e.g., Lijanovici), restructuring/privatizing firms in Sarajevo (e.g., Klas) and new start-ups in Bosnia (Vegafruit). The team also visited the famous "Arizona Market" in northern Bosnia and met with marketing faculty in Ljubljana, Sarajevo and Rijeka. Special thanks to Drs. Muris Cicic, Ivan Mencer and Ica Rojsek and Professor Janez Damjan. In July, Drs. Burkink, Seperich and Shultz recently visited Greece,
Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Austria and Germany to build links with various
academic and government institutions, and corporations, with interests in agribusiness
marketing vis-à-vis project goals. Alumnus Demetrios Vlahos joined the team. The meetings
will result in institutional linkages, exchanges and collaborative research. Drs. Shultz, Burkink and Seperich will soon travel to Greece, Croatia and Slovenia; Drs. Shultz and Burkink will then travel to Bosnia-Herzegovina, to form new relationships with universities and companies, and to collect new data. Drs. Shultz and Burkink to present project- findings at 26th Annual Macromarketing Conference, in Williamsburg, Virginia; they also recently presented some of the project-findings at the Arizona Marketing Consortium. Drs. Shultz, Burkink and Grbac seek additional funding to expand project: new proposals for funds have been submitted to USDA, US State Department and Croatian Ministry of Science for various endeavors to enhance trade, export development and business education. Drs. Shultz, Burkink, Brcic-Stipcevic, Mencer, Grbac, Keller and Pavicic presented project- related research findings to AZ Marketing Faculty Consortium; this presentation is an overview of a forthcoming paper to be presented at the 26th Annual Macromarketing Conference, to be held in Williamsburg, Virginia, August 2001. Dr. Bruno Grbac, Professor at the University of Rijeka and a member of the BBSR project,
recently made a presentation to the academic and business communities in Cleveland. The
title of his presentation: "Marketing, Development and Transition: The View from
Croatia and Implications for Business Education and Export Development." Dr. Grbac
discussed transition and globalization, trade in food and agricultural products, with an
emphasis on eco-production and eco-tourism and their collective effects on Croatia and the
region. The following research endeavors were begun: * Primary field work to determine the dynamics of the food
marketing system; Outreach and information dissemination: * The multinational team will present findings from phase
one at the 2001 American Marketing Association, Winter Educator's Conference. Project expansion * Additional funding is being sought to expand the project and participants, throughout the Balkans and Black Sea Region. Phase 2 Croatian scholars and businesspersons visited Arizona, in February 2001, to co-present paper at AMA, to engage field work, to develop working papers, to participate in seminars, and to initiate further discussions on the synergies between agribusiness and eco-tourism, and policy changes to enhance these synergies. |