The challenges of Marketing Boards

CHALLENGES OF MARKETING BOARDS

Definition of marketing board

When a group of producers come together with the sole aim of marketing their produce and increasing it consumption for prices to go higher, that group can be considered a marketing board. However, a government can also establish an organization with the responsibility of putting down structures to regulate the purchase and sale of produce. In this sense, these are a few examples of marketing boards: Ghana Cocoa Board, Irish Dairy Board, Canadian Wheat Board and Egg Marketing Board.

CHALLENGES

Adjusting to change

One of the challenges confronting marketing boards is the fact that they become reluctant to adapt to changing times. The reason is that they are monopolies of a sort, who control a very large size of the market, if not all, therefore, they could be tempted to throttle down on marketing as a tool. Also since there are no marked challenges in the market, they may be slow in adapting to novel ideas to improve the lot of the farmers they represent.

Government intervention

Another problem of marketing boards is the level of intervention by their governments. In some cases, the board is made up of elected producers who are there to represent the interests of their fellow farmers. The problem, however, is that these elected producers may not have the necessary marketing skill to act as marketing managers. In the end, the duty falls back on the government and he appointees in the public service, leaving control to them.

Bureaucracy

The deep involvement of government in the affairs of the marketing boards could mean that the boards would be affected by some of the ill associated with government processes. One of these ills is bureaucracy. The consequence of this development is that the commercial flexibility of the marketing boards may be lost thereby jeopardizing the very reasons for the establishment of the board in the first place.

Poor remuneration

The marketing boards’ organizational structures follow the structure of most public organization so their salaries and wages are not too dissimilar from other public organizations. The salary levels are low and this may affect the output of the workers.

Caliber of staff

The inability of the marketing boards to pay competitive salaries can result in their inability to attract the highest caliber of staff to the organization. Anybody with a particular skill set may want to receive the highest possible remuneration for his skills. If that individual thinks the marketing boards cannot pay what his or her skills are worth, he or she may never take up an appointment with them though his skills may be very relevant to the fortunes of the board.

Corruption

Another problem of marketing boards is corruption which is possible in any human institution. Audited reports have uncovered some levels of malfeasance in marketing boards. The problem of corruption can definitely affect the success of the boards.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

1. a. What is a marketing board?

    b. Highlight five of the challenges that marketing boards face in your country.

2. Highlight six disadvantages of marketing boards.

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