Walking the fence of your business

I spend a fair bit of time thinking about the strategic context of the industry and the role that GIA has in that environment.   What do I mean about strategic context?   Before you spit your coffee over the screen, just stick with me on this - it’s a useful exercise to conduct in your own business.  

Strategic planning organises the internal and external “context” of an organisation and  help us make sense or meaning of the environment we operate in.  This type of thinking helps us understand the operating environment and “what has changed”.   Planners often call it “ walking the fence of your business” and looking outwards to see what is likely to impact on it and then looking inward to see whether you're ready to respond.   Let me use 6 contexts and let’s walk the fence together:

• Political Environment – There’s a lot going on domestically with the federal and state government’s response to the corona virus.   Opportunities exist for the industry in incentives in manufacturing, agriculture, energy efficiencies and  workforce development.  Internationally, I note the EU is talking about applying tariffs to trading partners who aren’t pricing carbon emissions.  We need to watch for the potential effects on energy pricing and production in Australia.  
• Economic Environment -  Macroeconomic factors such as GDP,  inflation, and industry growth rates are worth noting, but are generally favourable.   Current economic conditions are making it more likely that companies will launch strategic initiatives focused on growth.   Low interest rates will continue to support government infrastructure initiatives that will support our industry.  
• Social Environment– There are differences in generations that have far-ranging affects upon the organization and its strategy.   How do we attract the next generation into our industry?  
• Technical Environment– The technical environment gives us constraints, as well as new tools.   Our strong technical base with the Australian Plant Production Standard will continue to provide us with a strong technical base, however, I remain concerned that we do not have a national grower register and this “may” have a serious impact on the industry should we have a significant biosecurity threat.  
• Legal Environment – The legal environment is closely associated with the political environment when we are considering the impact of new regulations or laws.  Issues such as new labour laws, national and state biosecurity regulations continue to challenge GIA and this requires a lot of effort. 
• Environment.   Fundamentally our industry must adjust to a changing environment, but what I’m really talking about here is getting ahead of the game.   We have made considerable inroads into the government perception of our industry as an essential industry.  We need to double down on water regulation discussions while there is plenty of it around.   

There you have it, my little walk around the fence.  I recommend it to you!  Under the industry data project (NY17008) a PESTLE analysis of our industry has been undertaken by ACIL Allen Consulting in consultation with a broad group of industry stakeholders.  The report is due for release later this month and it will be very interesting our industry’s immediate challenges.

I want to congratulate NGIQ in the delivery of Green Expo last week. Not only was it well attended, it is great to see live industry events back on the agenda.  I am aware that a number of interstate operators were able to enjoy the expo with the QLD Premier opening the boarders only days before the event. 

I am also pleased to advise that this week both the Sustainability Committee and Insurance Working Group met this week advancing the policy areas in interests of our Members.  The GIA Board will receive the recommendations from these groups at our board meeting this month. 

Finally, the GIA Board is regularly reviewing the strategic context of the industry to focus the work of the office to meet our objectives.  We don’t have the resources to do everything at once, so it’s critical to understand what’s important.   

I’m always open to feedback and suggestions!