A study of group dynamics in the South African dairy industry: A sequential Malmquist approach

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dc.contributor.authorvan Niekerk, Hugh
dc.contributor.authorConradie, Beatrice
dc.contributor.authorPiesse, Jenifer
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-02T07:15:34Z
dc.date.available2016-09-02T07:15:34Z
dc.date.issued2015-08
dc.description.abstractThis study presents a sequential Malmquist index for twenty members of an Eastern Cape dairy study group for the period 2010 to 2013. On average these farms were at efficiency levels of 95% and more during this period. The group’s mean technical progress was 11% per year. This resulted in productivity growth of almost 14% per year. However, these estimates are probably inflated as they were obtained with the combination of a small dataset and a large model. The group is a success because it transfers knowledge and enables innovation. We found weak support for the belief that it is beneficial to operate mixed breed herds and showed that less intensively managed or smaller herds did better than larger herds or herds managed for the maximum amount of milk per cow. Productivity growth was positively correlated with various proxies for knowledge. It increased with self-sufficiency in hay production and expenditure on concentrates, and was inversely related to the unit hay cost. Rainfall was positively correlated with self-sufficiency but not with unit hay cost or productivity. To conclude: study groups could a useful tool for driving innovation in any industry. Innovation can happen quickly but is complex, and therefore it helps to have a single metric of progress. Good data are needed to develop accurate measures of innovation, but if available could be the difference between noting a potential disaster in time and failing altogether.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationvan Niekerk, H., Conradie, B., & Piesse, J. (2015). <i>A study of group dynamics in the South African dairy industry: A sequential Malmquist approach</i> University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Social Survey Unit. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21648en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationvan Niekerk, Hugh, Beatrice Conradie, and Jenifer Piesse <i>A study of group dynamics in the South African dairy industry: A sequential Malmquist approach.</i> University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Social Survey Unit, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21648en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationvan Niekerk, H., Conradie, B. & Piesse, J. (2015). A study of group dynamics in the South African dairy industry: A sequential Malmquist approach. CSSR Working Paper No. 364. Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.isbn978-1-77011-351-0en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper AU - van Niekerk, Hugh AU - Conradie, Beatrice AU - Piesse, Jenifer AB - This study presents a sequential Malmquist index for twenty members of an Eastern Cape dairy study group for the period 2010 to 2013. On average these farms were at efficiency levels of 95% and more during this period. The group’s mean technical progress was 11% per year. This resulted in productivity growth of almost 14% per year. However, these estimates are probably inflated as they were obtained with the combination of a small dataset and a large model. The group is a success because it transfers knowledge and enables innovation. We found weak support for the belief that it is beneficial to operate mixed breed herds and showed that less intensively managed or smaller herds did better than larger herds or herds managed for the maximum amount of milk per cow. Productivity growth was positively correlated with various proxies for knowledge. It increased with self-sufficiency in hay production and expenditure on concentrates, and was inversely related to the unit hay cost. Rainfall was positively correlated with self-sufficiency but not with unit hay cost or productivity. To conclude: study groups could a useful tool for driving innovation in any industry. Innovation can happen quickly but is complex, and therefore it helps to have a single metric of progress. Good data are needed to develop accurate measures of innovation, but if available could be the difference between noting a potential disaster in time and failing altogether. DA - 2015-08 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 SM - 978-1-77011-351-0 T1 - A study of group dynamics in the South African dairy industry: A sequential Malmquist approach TI - A study of group dynamics in the South African dairy industry: A sequential Malmquist approach UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21648 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/21648
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationvan Niekerk H, Conradie B, Piesse J. A study of group dynamics in the South African dairy industry: A sequential Malmquist approach. 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21648en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSocial Survey Uniten_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_ZA
dc.titleA study of group dynamics in the South African dairy industry: A sequential Malmquist approachen_ZA
dc.typeWorking Paperen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceWorking paperen_ZA
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