In this research project, initiated and supported by Dairy Australia and the University of Melbourne, Harris Park Group took the role of managing the project, coordinating design and work plans, liaising with the key players,  keeping the project on budget, and providing a written report.

Achieving Sustainable Improvement (ASI) researched the ways in which technical skills are applied and how workplace change actually happens on farm.

The project investigated a package called Countdown MAX (derived from our Countdown Downunder project) which took a defined process with a skills set in mastitis control and applied it in a cycle of planning and review on farm. The process was embedded in seven adviser businesses and applied on 52 dairy farms. Harris Park Group was involved in assisting these businesses develop their internal resources to build CountdownMAX into their work practices.

The ASI project explored how a group of advisers take their technical skills and deliver them on farm in a way that introduced sustainable risk management to the farm business. The focus was on assessment, planning and review of mastitis management practices. However, it also examined a process that was applicable across multiple management areas on farm.

This project was one of the first to study how change could be achieved within professional service businesses in their daily interactions with farmer clients. 

ASI illustrates Harris Park Group’s solid record for working in a long-term, collaborative relationship with other research organizations. It also demonstrates our breadth of experience which enables us to manage projects that deal not only in the application of a technical area but also consider how this interacts with the social fabric that underpins any work environment. ASI is a substantial project which delved into the junction between risk management, business planning and evolution and industry development.

The ASI report, produced by Harris Park Group, is a signficant planning tool for any adviser business operating in the dairy sector – essential reading for anyone wishing to make a business more relevant to dairy farmers as well as fostering sustainability and growth within their own business.