Aurora A. Saulo, Department of Tropical Plant & Soil Sciences, University of Hawai`i at Manoa; Rochelle A. McArthur, Pacific Asian Management Institute, College of Business Administration, University of Hawai`i at Manoa; Louie Divinagracia, Departments of Business Management and Marketing, De La Salle Professional Schools, Manila, Philippines.
USDA Award #2006-51160-03402
The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) is the Land Grant College and only college at the University of Hawaii (UH) that is federally mandated to teach, conduct scientific research, and provide outreach to address State agribusiness needs. CTAHR contributes significantly to support business growth and development by addressing agriculture that has a vital contribution to Hawaii economy, specifically the food processing industry which alone contributed $1.07 billion in sales or 55.3% of total agricultural sales in 2010. Many of the small businesses that make up more than 80% of the Hawaii food processing industry are small and need to utilize promotional programs effectively, try novel methods, develop new markets, improve business operations, or maximize product exposure to become competitive globally where full potential is possible.
To address their internationalization needs, instruction and outreach were integrated through partnerships with the private sector, the Hawaii Food Manufacturers Association (HFMA), and other institutional units, the UH Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) and the De La Salle University in the Philippines aiming to strengthen students, faculty, staff, and the private sector’s awareness of the global dimensions of agriculture. The partners developed an instructional online course that provided basic and current information on the requirements of global competitiveness, addressing the specific needs of the Hawaii food processing industry that were also relevant to other Hawaii agribusiness. The course provided a unique link to international business and trade not currently available in any food course but integrate well with existing food and agricultural programs on the different campuses of the University of Hawaii. The outreach section involved a two-day workshop that discussed issues important to the advancement of their business to compete in the international marketplace aimed to enhance their business performance and increased their global competitiveness, and ultimately the US international competitiveness. The talks of most of the speakers may be found on the website of this conference http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/foodprocessing/index.asp under Speaker Bios & Slide Presentations. The manual for food businesses entitled “Some Guidelines for Participating in International Food and Agribusiness Trade Shows” (Entrepreneur’s Toolbox, April 2007, ET-7 was also developed to extend technical help to food industry businesses during trade shows and may be accessed at http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/ET-7.pdf
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