In one case, a board member has interfered with the manager by enter- 

 ing into salary discussions with employees. In other cases, irate 

 producers ask and get directors to intervene with managers with 

 respect to the movement of and the prices established for their produce. 

 In another case, directors nitpick over the telephone bill or inhibit 

 the purchase or rental of office equipment that is essential to effi- 

 cient operations. 



We suggest, therefore, that the associations adopt and operate under 

 some sort of budgetary control. By using and evaluating comparative 

 periodic balance sheet and operating statements, directors and hired 

 management would: (a) Establish reasonable performance expectations, 

 and (b) be equipped to use logic and reason to the continued challenge 

 of applying knowledge gained from past experience not just to the 

 problems of tomorrow and next month, but also next year and 5 years 

 from now. 



Eight, existence of a parent -subsidiary arrangement indicates, among 

 other things, the need for the parent cooperative to go beyond its 

 membership for adequate volume. Another section of this report dis- 

 cusses the possibility of forming a cooperative joint sales arrange- 

 ment by the fiirms included in this study. 



Finally, some means should be found to improve services to members 

 over that provided by many small brokers. We strongly suggest that 

 the associations use marketing contracts. They would provide legal 

 support and evidence of membership commitment to their cooperatives 

 and thus enable growers to present a solid front to broker-buyers. 



CHANGES NEEDED IN MARKETING PATTERN - . • '; 



OF INDUSTRY 



The eight organizations face serious problems in marketing programs » 

 They lack the volume of business to be a factor in the market. Their 

 aggregate share of the State's volume of fruits and vegetables has 

 decreased. 



Managers receive relatively low salaries, averaging under $10,000 a 

 year. There has been little change in salaries over the past decade 

 in spite of the considerable rise in the cost of living. This close 

 monetary policy on wages reflects in part the general decline or 

 stagnation in marketing and services. 



In 1968, seven of the eight firms sold produce through the auction 

 method with their combined auction sales totaling less than one-third 

 of the total fruit and vegetable auction sales in New Jersey. In 

 contrast, one relatively large cooperative not included in the study 

 handled about two-thirds of the total auction sales. 



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