Vera Bitsch was appointed in December 2000. Her research focuses on the management of personnel in agriculture and small business. More specifically she studies how to attract, motivate, evaluate, and retain employees, and how to make them feel empowered, and encourage them to be innovative at work. She is also looking at entrepreneurship, strategic planning, and organizational development. She is an expert in the application of qualitative research methods and data analysis.

Professional Interests

• People at work
• Attract, motivate, and retain employees
• Empowerment and responsibility
• Creativity and innovation at work
• Training and development of personnel
• Negotiation and conflict resolution
• Agribusiness management
• Strategic planning and scenario writing
• Organizational development
• Entrepreneurship
• Qualitative inquiry and evaluation

Selected Publications

Bitsch, Vera and Nicole J. Olynk 2008. Risk-increasing and risk-reducing practices in human resource management: Focus group discussions with livestock managers. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 40 (April, 1), 185-201.

Bitsch, Vera 2007. Job satisfaction in horticulture: New insights. Acta Horticulturae 762, 431-8.

Bitsch, Vera and Nicole J. Olynk 2007. Skills required of managers in livestock production: Evidence from focus group research. Review of Agricultural Economics 29 (Winter, 4), 749-64.

Bitsch, V. and E. Yakura (2007): Middle management in agriculture: Roles, functions, and practices. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 10(2):1-28.

Bitsch, V., Getachew Abate Kassa, S.B. Harsh, and A. W.Mugera 2006. Human resource management risks: Sources and control strategies based on dairy farmer focus groups. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 38(1):123-36.

Bitsch, Vera (2005): Qualitative research: A grounded theory example and evaluation criteria. Journal of Agribusiness 23(Spring):75-91.

Bitsch, V. and M. Hogberg 2005. Exploring horticultural employees’ attitudes towards their jobs: A qualitative analysis based on Herzberg’s theory of job satisfaction. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 37(3):659-71.

Mugera, A.W. and Vera Bitsch 2005. Labor on dairy farms: A resource-based perspective with evidence from case studies. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 8 (July, 3), 79-98.