AGRIBUSINESS EXECUTIVE EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE: NEW MECHANISMS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT INVOLVING THE UNIVERSITY, PRIVATE FIRM STAKEHOLDERS AND PUBLIC SECTOR

M. Jatib et al. / The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review Vol 5 Iss 3 2003

1. Problem Statement

In recent years the Argentine agrifood sector has proved to be competitive in the
production and international trade of grain and food. The key to success lies in
harmonising business strategies and public policies with competitive advantages.
The capacity of creating knowledge and innovating is key to building
competitiveness. In that context, it is essential to form human resources capable of
adapting to the dynamics of the times. Companies involved in the agrifood system
and aiming at competitive reengineering, require changing the professional profile
of their professionals and reconverting their human resources.

In response to that specific demand, the School of Agronomy of the University of
Buenos Aires (FAUBA) reaches out to the private and public sectors by offering two
postgraduate courses: Food & Agribusiness Executive Management (face-to-face)
and Quality-Oriented Food & Agribusiness Executive Management. Both are
alternatives to the master's course in food and agribusiness approved by Resolution
CS 1766/99.

The master's course in food and agribusiness and the food and agribusiness
executive management postgraduate courses make up the Food and Agribusiness
Programme (FAP). The Programme, created at the end of the 90s, was to become
“an excellent opportunity for the development of human resources -at the service of
the agrifood revolution¹- within the framework of institutional changes occurring in
Argentina in the last decade.”² The strategy of enhancing competitiveness in the
Argentine food sector generated the need to train human resources. To meet that
need, the academic sector joined forces with the private and public sectors and
created the Food and Agribusiness Programme.

The executive management postgraduate courses in food and agribusiness are
targeted to professionals and practitioners. These courses focus on skills and
knowledge to do business, while the master's course focuses on academic research,
teaching and business from an academic standpoint.

1.1 Innovations in the Argentine Agrifood Sector and the Public University.

The 90s witnessed the boom of the Argentine agrifood system. Primary production,
agroindustrial production, and food production flourished hand-in-hand with
exports. Changes in the rules of the game and transparency in trade, together with
the introduction of new technologies that increased efficiency and productivity and
allowed farmers to accumulate greater management powers, resulted in the
enhancement of international competitiveness.

¹ Castro, 1998

² Cetrangolo & Ordonez; 1999

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