Abstract

NAVA ROSILLON, Marbelis; URDANETA, Fátima  and  CASANOVA, Angel. Management and Productivity of Dual Purpose Cattle Systems. Revista Venezolana de Gerencia [online]. 2008, vol.13, n.43, pp.468-491. ISSN 1315-9984.

Dual purpose cattle are handled with managerial criteria that have little association with their productive results. The objective of this study is to explain this possible interrelation on 22 farms situated in the Sucre Municipality of the State of Zulia, selected by simple random sampling. Technical and productive information was collected in 2004 using a questionnaire and was processed using multivariate statistical techniques. It was found that the management process lacked formally established business guidelines. Four management groups were established, whose results reflected that most cattlemen are oriented toward managerial practices of organization, execution and control. The best productive and economic results are associated with traditional management, which is based on the cattlemen’s experiences and emphasizes the functions of execution, control and evaluation. Conclusions are that cattlemen should visualize their farms as enterprises, receive training to manage them with formal management criteria and thereby, achieve high productive and economic results which will allow them to be more competitive and profitable businesses.

Keywords : Management; productivity; management groups; dual purpose cattle; management index.