791-303 Industry Evaluation

Credit Points:

Coordinator:

Prerequisite/s:

Corequisite/s:

Timetable:

Contact:

Objectives:

The objective of the subject is to enable students to:

• gain a thorough understanding of the importance, history, structure, production, economics, marketing and current issues being faced by the industry being studied;

• be introduced to the literature relating to the industry;

• evaluate critical issues being faced by the industry;

• analyse and interpret statistical data relating to the industry;

• recognise the relevance and importance to the industry of issues covered in the remainder of the student's program to complement industry studies and other components of the program.

Content:

Relevant issues dependent on industry being studied, for example; The World Perspective - The world wide importance of the industry, Australian contribution to world production, history of the industry. Industry Structure - Numbers (head hectares farms etc.), distribution, industry organisations. Production - Current levels of production and production trends. Industry Economics - Contribution to the Australian economy, Farm incomes, trends prices/costs etc., important parameters, gross margins. Marketing and Policy - The market system, market alternatives, the final products, consumers, distribution channels, the role of marketing boards, cooperatives etc., quality issues, Government policy, intervention in the industry, levels of assistance received by the industry. Industry issues/problems - The future, technology, political influences/factors, social influences/factors. The report abstract will form part of the documentation available to panel members of the final interview. In preparing the report it will be necessary to refer to industry statistics prepared by Government agencies and producer and marketing organisations. Statistics available by these organisations should be analysed and comment included in the report. Where possible graphs should be prepared from the statistical data. Large amounts of statistical data should not be included in the report without appropriate analysis and comment.

Assessment: