"Perceptions as Reality" on Large-Scale Dairy Farms

Recent psychological research supports the claim that decision-makers respond to their perceptions of uncertainty in their businesses. Using large-scale Arizona dairy operations as a case study, this analysis indicates that operators of large industrialized farms perceive their business environments in a unique manner. Farm size, age, and ownership variables were particularly significant in explaining perception and management response rankings. Efforts to correlate perceptions to management responses produced mixed results.