Master Degree Capstone

From The Art of War To The Art of Strategic Communication
How Strategic Communication Can Help International Commodity Bodies Regain
Relevancies
Le Han (Oliver)
New York University
School of Professional Studies
MS in Public Relations and Corporate Communications
December 2014
Advisor: Professor Helio Fred Garcia

Abstract............................................................................................................................... 4

Introduction......................................................................................................................... 6

Methodology....................................................................................................................... 8

In-depth Interviews......................................................................................................... 9

Question Framework................................................................................................. 10

Ishikawa Diagram......................................................................................................... 10

Literature Review.............................................................................................................. 12

The History of International Commodity Bodies ......................................................... 16

International Commodity Market and International Commodity Agreements......... 16

The Formation of International Commodity Bodies................................................. 17

Economic Provisions and Market Intervention......................................................... 19

The Change In The Geopolitical Environment............................................................. 20

Free Market Economy............................................................................................... 20

Lift of Economic Provisions and Diminishing ICBs Position in the World............. 21

Case Studies of Coffee, Cocoa and Sugar Organizations............................................. 22

Introduction of International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)....................................... 22

Introduction of International Coffee Organization (ICO)......................................... 25

Introduction of International Sugar Organization (ISO)........................................... 26

Diminishing Relevancy and Value Propositions: Crisis Faced by ICCO, ICO and ISO
....................................................................................................................................... 28

Demand for Strategic Development: Challenges for ICO, ICCO and ISO .................. 29

The Art Of War And The Art of Strategic Communication.......................................... 30

Discussion......................................................................................................................... 32

Overview....................................................................................................................... 32

The Demand for Relevancy and The Need of Strategic Communication .................... 36

Seize The Soul of An Organization .............................................................................. 38

Analyze You and Everything around You.................................................................... 40

Fully Prepared, Forecast Changes: The Future Is in Your Pocket................................ 45

Evaluation and Review: For A Brighter Future............................................................ 49

Time Matters: Do It Fast Or Do It Right?..................................................................... 51

Be Adaptable, Be Invincible......................................................................................... 54

Objectives Are Gold ..................................................................................................... 56

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 59

References:........................................................................................................................ 62

Appendix I – Abbreviations.............................................................................................. 66

Appendix II: Research Instrument.................................................................................... 67

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Abstract
In the 1960s and 1970s, under the auspices of the United Nations, international
commodity bodies (ICBs) were formed as international organizations. They are all
regulated by their respective International Commodity Agreements, which have been
renegotiated throughout the years. Their primary role, when first formed, was to
strengthen the economies in the producing world using market regulation mechanisms.
They also served as “gate keepers” for project financing provided by the Common Fund
for Commodities (CFC). Since the 70s, many changes have taken place in the global
environment, including the broad global acceptance of a free market economy. Further,
the CFC no longer relies on or requires the commodity bodies to recommend projects for
financing. As a result, the ICBs are facing a crisis of diminishing relevancy and a waning
of their respective value proposition(s). Through a literature review and in-depth
interviews with senior officers, consultant, and executives, this study explores the current
state of ICBs and suggests a role communication strategy can play related to regaining
relevancy and strengthening the overall value perception.
To be more focused and pertinent, this capstone targets three ICBs: International Cocoa
Organization (ICCO), International Coffee Organization (ICO) and International Sugar
Organization (ISO). In-depth interviews as well as the employment of an Ishikawa
Diagram and the essence of The Art of War contribute to the identification of the exact
communications challenges these organizations have been facing related to their over

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arching goal of communicating up-to-date value and relevancy to their respective
stakeholders. In the latter part of the capstone, constructive communication practices are
raised in terms of advising these organizations on strategically communicating their
respective value propositions. The purpose of this capstone is to provide reasonable and
actionable strategic communication advice to International Commodity Bodies to
improve both communication and business performance.

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Introduction
The mandates of individual International Commodity Bodies are different, but the fate of
all International Commodity Bodies is the same.
After the Second World War, the discussions over commodity markets had been heated.
In order to strengthen the economies in the producing world and moderate the divergence
over commodity prices between producing countries and consuming countries, the
International Commodity Bodies (ICBs) were established with the permission and
sponsorship of the United Nations (UN). The commodity bodies were also founded to
administer corresponding International Commodity Agreements (ICAs) with economic
provisions, which were designed to artificially prop up prices and minimize price
fluctuation. However, the economic provisions were removed from the ICAs during the
late 1980s and early 1990s due to a shift in political will and a general adherence to a free
market economy. Since then, the ICBs have been going through slow transformation and
grappling with relevancy and redefining their value proposition(s).
Under the terms of the revised /current day commodity agreements, ICBs mainly focus
on providing industry insight and forums for interaction amongst their members.
Compared to their former role in the commodity world, ICBs today are less visible and
challenged in communicating their true value proposition(s) and relevancy.

7
In the business world, an organization’s relevancy is the reason for its existence, which
includes the need for the organization, its influence and the contribution it makes to its
stakeholders. Relevancy alone is not enough, however; an organization also needs to take
advantage of strategic communication to create an institutionalized, two-way channel
between the organization and its audience for the purpose of strengthening value and
relevancy and communicating the same. In other words, the art of strategic
communication both contributes to the building of value and relevancy and to the
communication of that value and relevancy.
After the removal of economic provisions, ICBs have been struggling with reconstructing
their relevancy to the world, notwithstanding that they have revised their respective
agreements a number of times. The communications challenge for ICBs is, in large part,
due to a lack of solid organizational strategies on which to base comprehensive
communication strategies. In fact, ICBs lack clarity about their respective stakeholders
and vision, and, as a result, have vague organizational and communication objectives.
Based on a thorough literature review and in-depth interviews with ICB executives,
senior staff and a private sector consultant, this study sets forth the current state of ICBs
and their challenge of remaining relevant, and explores the relationship between their
business challenges and lack of strategic communication.
With the help of in-depth interviews and an Ishikawa Diagram, the study explores the
possible reasons for the erosion of ICB relevancy, including the lack of comprehensive

8
communication strategy and sound organizational strategy on which to base a
communication strategy. Further, the study discusses potential communication practice
strategies in the light of western communication theories and Sun-Tzu’s philosophies
(The Art of War).
The study concludes that a good communication strategy can help ICBs develop and
define their value proposition(s), and also improve on their overall business performance,
provided they take a strategic approach going forward.
Methodology
This capstone is based on primary and secondary research. The secondary research
consisted of an extensive review of literature available on the formation and current state
of commodity bodies. In addition, authoritative literature on organizational life cycles
and strategy were reviewed. Primary research, in the form of interviews, was also
conducted. Interviews were executed with International Commodity Body executives,
senior staff, and a private sector consultant. Finally, an Ishikawa Diagram was employed
to assist with the identification of the root problem(s) causing the diminished value
proposition(s) and relevancy vacuum experienced by ICBs.

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In-depth Interviews
This capstone is aimed at analyzing the possible reasons for the reduced relevancy and
value of international commodity organizations, specifically the International Coffee
Organization, International Cocoa Organizations and International Sugar Organization.
As such, in-depth interviews with industry insiders were employed to obtain the latest
and the most profound understanding, for the purpose of providing on-target advice and
suggestions.
In-depth interviews with the organizations’ professionals and industry experts were
conducted in October of 2014. Even though the organizations are all focusing on global
issues, the interviewees were based in London.
A former senior executive of a national trade association with global reach, now engaged
as a consultant, was also included in the study. As a major stakeholder of international
commodity organizations, national trade associations, representing the private sector,
continuously work together with ICBs on international commodity issues. It is helpful
and more constructive to build up this capstone with the viewpoints from the private
sector. And, the inclusion of private sector executive knowledge provides for more
balanced perspective.

10
Question Framework
Interviews focused on current ICB performance related to aspects of business and
communications; the strengths and weaknesses of ICBs; stakeholder identification; core
value propositions of ICBs; the changing role of ICBs after economic provisions were
removed in late 1980s and early 1990s; communication strategies and practices;
communication challenges for ICBs; and ICBs’ relevancy and communication of
relevancy. All the questions were open-ended, in order to discover deeper understanding
as the conversations progressed.
Ishikawa Diagram
Einstein once made a famous statement on the importance of problem identification - “if I
had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the
first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper
question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” Consistent with this
premise, an Ishikawa Diagram is introduced to explore the nature of the problem(s)
confronted by ICBs, for the purpose of gaining a fuller understanding of the nature of the
root problem(s) on which to base strategic communication recommendations. Indeed, the
nature of strategy guides an organization or leader from point X to point Y. If point X is
where an organization is facing a problem and point Y is where an organization solving a
problem, problem identification will be the bridge between the two points (Nelson,
2014). Unfortunately, most organizations or leaders do not realize the importance of

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investing in root problem identification. When they are struggling with a problem or a
challenge, they often are simply trying hard to develop a strategy instead of figuring out
what the challenge is and why the challenge surfaced. Therefore, in the capstone, another
part of the methodology is the use of problem identification skills to help ICBs explore
the reasons for facing current challenges.
The Ishikawa Diagram, also known as fishbone diagram (See Figure 1 as an example), is
a diagram used to determine the causal relationship behind a problem (Best, M., &
Neuhauser, D., 2008). The diagram was originally created by Kaoru Ishikawa to help him
explore the causes of a specific event (Nelson, 2014). Till now, the Ishikawa Diagram is
one of the most important and widely used methods for organizations to identify potential
factors causing one specific phenomenon (Stefanovic et al. 2014)
(Figure 1)

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As it seems, the Ishikawa Diagram looks like a fish skeleton, with the initial problem
being the head and possible root cause categories represented by the rib bones, under
which root causes are listed (Nelson, 2014).
In the capstone, this problem identification method is used to help ICBs explore the core
reasons for diminishing relevancy.
Literature Review
International commodity bodies (ICBs) are international organizations, based on United
Nations sponsorship, that have historically provided research, data, expertise and project
funding related to the respective commodity within their mandate. ICBs are formed by
the implementation of International Commodity Agreements (ICAs) to deal with
commodity issues of importance to consumer and producer nations. There are currently
13 specialized commodity bodies (Burger, 2011), including international commodity
organizations and international study groups (ISGs). They are:
International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), 1939
International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), 1944
International Wheat Council (IWC), 1949
International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG), 1959
International Olive Council*
(IOC), 1959
International Coffee Organization (ICO), 1966
*
Formerly the International Olive and Oil Council (IOOC).

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International Cocoa Organization, 1973
International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), 1986
International Nickel Study Group (INSG), 1990
International Sugar Organization (ISO), 1992†
International Copper Study Group (ICSG), 1992
International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), 1993
International Jute Study Group (IJSG), replacing the International Jute
Organization established in 1984, 2002
Also, the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) provides a forum
as an intergovernmental group to conduct discussions about other commodities, such as
bananas, tropical fruits, citrus fruit, grains, oils and fats, hard fibers and meat and dairy
products, etc. (Burger, 2011).
Generally, these organizations undertake work along the following four major
responsibilities:
Providing a forum for discussions by conducting meetings and seminars
Collecting and publishing data for commodity markets
Garnering market information and conducting respective studies
Contributing to improvements of the commodity through the dissemination of
information
†
Note: the first International Sugar Organization (ISO) was established as International Sugar Council in
1937 based on International Sugar Agreement (ISA) 1937. Under the agreement of 1968, the International
Sugar Council was replaced by ISO (Osmańczyk, 2003). Currently, the ISO has been administering the
agreement of 1992.

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The agricultural International Commodity Bodies (ICBs)‡
, consisting of
ICO [International Coffee Organization], ICCO [International Cocoa
Organization], IGC [International Grain Council], ISO [International
Sugar Organization and IRSG [International Rubber Study Group] in
London, and IJSG [International Jute Study Group], INBAR International
Network for Bamboo and Raton], ITTO [International Tropical Timer
Association], ICAC [International Cotton Advisory Committee] and IOOC
[International Olive Council, Previously International Olive and Oil
Council] elsewhere, jointly have 136 countries (Inc. the European
Commission) as members. Of these countries, 33 are members of just one
ICB and the membership of 2, 3 or 4 ICBs is held by around 27 countries.
Only two are members of eight of the ICBs, namely the European
Community and India. Three countries are members of seven of these
ICBs, namely Switzerland, Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon. Of the major
other countries, USA and Russia are member of 5 ICBs, Japan of 4 ICBs
and China of 2 ICBs.
Their representatives serve in the Councils of the organizations, and in the
executive committees of half of these. These Committees and the councils
are often helped by other targeted committees, typically focusing on
economic issues (5 ICBs), Finance (4), Statistics (3) or Promotion (3).
‡
See Appendix I for complete listing of abbreviations

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The independent ICBs have in most cases a special forum for contacts
with the private sector. Seven of the ten ICBs have this, with IGC, ISO
and INBAR doing so without such special committee. They do have a
council, consisting of all member countries. Their Council meetings are
held once every two years; the independent ICBs meet at least once, and
some (ICO, ICCO, IGC, ITTO and IOOC) twice a year.
The goals of the ICBs are formulated in their respective agreements. The
newer agreements have many objectives, the older organizations do with a
lower number. Major objectives are to provide a forum for consultations;
collect and disseminate market information; promote trade, transfer of
technology and sustainability.
In the light of these objectives, the ICBs hold their council meetings.
These are mostly bi-annual occasions where the commodity community
can meet. They also devote substantial efforts to the collection and
dissemination of statistics and market information. Many ICBs organize
workshops and conferences. And they engage in projects aiming at
research & development, transfer of technology, and market development.
Their human resources, totaling 212 persons, range from 7 to 45 persons
per ICB, with IOOC being the largest, followed by ITTO and ICO with 33
persons. IRSG has the smallest in number of staff.
The ICBs appear to have found their own niches regarding statistics and
market information. The IGC and the ISO have a particular focus on very

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short-term (price) data, which obviously serves the traders among their
clientele. They and most other ICBs publish statistics with a less short-
term perspective, such as monthly or quarterly data. The same holds for
the other market information. Few ICBs, notably IJSG and until recently
INBAR, do not publish statistics.
The ICBs are to a varying degree engaged in projects. The IGC has none
at the moment, while the ITTO distinguishes more than 100 projects.
INBAR runs many projects too. Typically, the other ICBs have a few
projects. Most of the ICBs rely on the CFC for funding of their projects,
with INBAR and ITTO as exceptions. These ICBs have other sponsors for
their many projects that frequently have an environmental focus (Burger et
al. 2007).
The History of International Commodity Bodies
International Commodity Market and International Commodity Agreements
If the issue of international trading system was a heated discussion, the price negotiation
between nations would be the sharpest noise. The instability of the world commodity
market has been a major issue in international conversation for almost three quarters of a
century, the reason for which is based on the inconsistent price fluctuations.

17
After a few decades of debate, international commodity market professionals and
government officials concluded that the best option for confronting market fluctuation
concerns was the creation of commodity agreements that contained economic clauses.
Before and during World War II, the noted economist, John Maynard Keynes had
suggested that the UK treasury set up a series of buffer stock arrangements to contribute
to reducing the trade cycle and to promote orderly marketing (Herrmann, Burger and
Smit, 1993). Unfortunately, his thoughts did not become popular, but the raw interest in
commodity agreements was shown to the world, as it was mentioned in the Havana
Charter of 1948. In the Charter, the initial concept of international commodity
agreements was formed, and international agreements were allowed to aim for price
stabilization and the elimination of burdensome surpluses (Herrmann, et. al., 1993).
The Havana Charter envisaged the creation of a United Nations Conference on Trade and
Employment, and it saw the negotiation of sugar and tin stabilization agreements in 1954
(Gilbert, 1987). Subsequent agreements with “economic clauses” were the International
Coffee Agreement (ICA) in 1962, the International Cocoa Agreement (ICCA) in 1972
and the International Natural Rubber Agreement (INRA) in 1980 (Gilbert, 1996).
The Formation of International Commodity Bodies
Most efforts related to the development of international commodity agreements occurred
under the auspices of the United Nations. The establishment of the United Nations

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Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva in 1964 and the periodic
sessions of the Conference contributed greatly to the discussion and future formation of
the commodity body concept. The Conference was initiated to provide a forum where the
developing countries could discuss the issues relating to their economic development
(UNCTAD, 2014). And, International Commodity Agreements, till now, are a main
policy issue of UNCTAD.
For the purpose of administering international commodity agreements, the auspices of the
UN empowered the formation of commodity organizations. Their respective
memberships are made up of consuming and producing countries. The organizations’
primary role was initially to strengthen the economies in the producing world using
market regulation mechanisms.
In 1974, the General Assembly of the United Nations recognized the need for an
Integrated Program for Commodities (IPC). In terms of the IPC, UNCTAD accepted the
intention to “create stable conditions in commodity trade and to protect developing
countries from commodity trade” at its Forth Session in Nairobi in 1976. Also, UNCTAD
agreed on the need for creating a financial institution, which was the framework of
Common Fund for Commodity (CFC), to support the IPC (Hermann, et al. 1993). The
Agreement establishing the Common Fund for Commodities was negotiated from 1976 to
1980 and became effective in 1989. With the CFC coming into force, the commodity
organizations were designated International Commodity Bodies (ICBs). The designation,
as Schechter (2014) mentioned, added a new function for the ICBs: to process project

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funding applications for commodity-related projects submitted by their members.
Normally, members submitted funding applications to ICBs, and the ICBs would review
the projects to decide whether or not to recommend project approval to CFC. It should be
noted, that until recently, CFC would not provide funding unless initial project approval
was granted by on of the international commodity bodies.
Economic Provisions and Market Intervention
The economic provisions were the essence of International Commodity Agreements.
These provisions were used by the International Commodity Bodies to regulate supply
and demand, therefore moderate price fluctuations.
When the international commodity bodies were initially formed, their prime objective
was stabilizing commodity prices through market intervention. Up to the end of Second
World War, the world of commodities was filled by the prospects of excess production
and low prices. Therefore, the commodity markets longed for government intervention.
When the commodity agreements were finally agreed upon after numerous international
discussions, the concept of supply management was unsurprisingly included through the
official economic provisions contained in the agreements. And, supply management
became the principal implement of the ICAs.
Theoretically, supply management, which includes export controls and buffer stock
intervention, is the ability of government to control either production or exports. In the
commodity world, a large number of small producers are typically responsible for

20
production, and governments can step in to control production via quotas (livestock and
dairy products), acreage controls (crops) or dredger capacity, although yield variability
can translate into substantial output variability for crop commodities. Therefore,
governments have found it more effective to control exports than production. Based on
such understanding, the economic provisions in terms of supply management were
permissibly written in the commodity agreements. In coffee, cocoa and sugar agreements,
the interventions were always implemented by monopsony-monopoly marketing boards
(a feature of many ex- British colonies) or caisses de stabilisation (standard in many ex-
French colonies) (Gilbert, 2011).
The Change In The Geopolitical Environment
Free Market Economy
The term “free market economy” has been in the economic lexicon for a long time.
Primarily, the free market is a market that can freely perform trading under good
competitive market conditions – the buyers and sellers are fully responsible for the
decisions they make without the intervention of the governments or governmental
institutions. To some extent, the free market delegates the complete privilege of prices to
determine the distribution and allocation of products and services. The theory of free
market economy is implemented throughout the commodity markets and the production-
wise markets. Dr. Kepoglu (2013) explains that the free market economy is “a structure
in which the vast majority of the decisions that will affect the economic activities and

21
transactions are made by the actors encountered in the relationship between supply and
demand in the market rather than the state.”
Lift of Economic Provisions and Diminishing ICBs Position in the World
As mentioned, the ICAs, with the “economic clauses,” were negotiated by countries,
especially exporting countries, to push the price stabilization issue forward. However, the
economic clauses go against the essence of the theory of free market economy in terms of
price and production distribution. As the negotiations amongst commodity markets were
increasingly politicized, rather than driven out of commercial / economic concerns,
through the latter half of the nineteen seventies and into the eighties, the ICAs started
facing a crisis:
(1) According to the research of Gilbert (1987), the International Sugar
Agreement (ISA) had never successfully overcome the trading issues between
United States and Cuba, then the largest sugar-exporting country, raised
in1962. Thus, the market intervention clauses were finally removed when the
forth ISA was terminated in 1984.
(2) Also based on the research from Gilbert (1987, 1996), the market intervention
clauses in ICCA were implemented through unspecified production
management measures instead of official buffer stock. And, the ICCA “never

22
had either the financing or the country coverage to be able to have more than a
small effect of the cocoa market.”
(3) Anderson and Gilbert (1988) mention in their research that the International
Tin Agreement did not work out and finally abolished in October of 1985 for
defending an unrealistic floor price with insufficient finance.
(4) With a the long-existing serious disagreement on quota systems and lack of
flexibility of market share, the member nations of the International Coffee
Organization found it impossible to negotiate a new agreement, which led to
the suspension of the economic provisions in July of 1989.
As the economic provisions in almost all of the ICAs were discharged one after another
through the late 1980s and early 1990s, the era of market intervention for ICAs also
tended to recede. As a result, the ICBs that administrate respective agreements started
losing their quota management power. With this key role gone, the commodity bodies
have been frustrated by their diminishing value and relevancy to the world.
Case Studies of Coffee, Cocoa and Sugar Organizations
Introduction of International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)

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The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) was established in 1973 to administer the
first International Cocoa Agreement (ICCA, 2010), which was negotiated in Geneva at a
United Nations International Cocoa Conference. There have been seven agreements since
the first one was generated. The Seventh International Cocoa Agreement, negotiated in
2010 in Geneva, came into force provisionally in October 2012. As of March of 2014,
ICCO had 47 member countries. Dr. Jean-Marc Anga is the current executive director
(ICCO, 2014).
ICCO’s main principle, especially in more recent agreements without economic
provisions that provided for market regulation for the purpose of moderating price
fluctuations, focuses on promoting the development of the world cocoa economy as well
as contributing to cocoa market stabilization (ICCO, 2014).
As specified in the latest ICCA (2010), ICCO’s objectives are:
To promote international cooperation in the world cocoa economy;
To provide an appropriate framework for discussion on all cocoa matters among
governments, and with the private sector;
To contribute to the strengthening of the national cocoa economies of Member
countries, through the preparation, development and evaluation of appropriate
projects to be submitted to the relevant institutions for financing and
implementation and seeking finance for projects that benefit Members and the
world cocoa economy;

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To strive towards obtaining fair prices leading to equitable economic returns to
both producers and consumers in the cocoa value chain, and to contribute to a
balanced development of the world cocoa economy in the interest of all Members
To promote a sustainable cocoa economy in economic, social and environmental
terms;
To encourage research and the implementation of its findings through the
promotion of training and information programs leading to the transfer to
Members of technologies suitable for cocoa;
To promote transparency in the world cocoa economy, and in particular in the
cocoa trade, through the collection, analysis and dissemination of relevant
statistics and the undertaking of appropriate studies, as well as to promote the
elimination of trade barriers;
To promote and to encourage consumption of chocolate and cocoa-based products
in order to increase demand for cocoa, inter alia through the promotion of the
positive attributes of cocoa, including health benefits, in close cooperation with
the private sector;
To encourage Members to promote cocoa quality and to develop appropriate food
safety procedures in the cocoa sector;
To encourage Members to develop and implement strategies to enhance the
capacity of local communities and small-scale farmers to benefit from cocoa
production and thereby contribute to poverty alleviation;

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To facilitate the availability of information on financial tools and services that can
assist cocoa producers, including access to credit and approaches to managing
risk.
Introduction of International Coffee Organization (ICO)
The International Coffee Organization (ICO), in collaboration with United Nations (UN),
was established in 1963 to enhance cooperation between nations that consume, distribute
and produce coffee. The first International Coffee Agreement (ICA) was a five-year
agreement, signed into force in 1962 at the UN in New York. The Agreement was
renegotiated in 1968, 1976, 1983, 1994 and 2007 at the ICO in London.
As of 2014, its 45 members (72 nations) consist of 39 exporting nations, 5 importing
nations and 1 importing community (the European Union, 28 nations). Its Member
governments represent 94% of world coffee production and over 75% of world
consumption. Its current Executive Director is the Brazilian Robério Oliveira Silva.
The ICO’s mission (ICO, 2014) is to strengthen the global coffee sector and promote its
sustainable expansion in a market-based environment for the betterment of all
participants in the coffee sector. ICO also, according to its latest agreement (ICA, 2007),
makes contribution to the development of a sustainable world coffee sector and to
reducing poverty in developing countries by:

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Enabling governments and the private sector to exchange views on coffee matters,
market conditions and trends, and coordinate policies at high-level meetings;
Developing and seeking finance for projects that benefit the world coffee
economy;
Promoting coffee quality through a Coffee Quality-Improvement Program;
Promoting market transparency by providing a wide range of statistics on the
world coffee sector;
Developing coffee consumption and markets for coffee through innovative market
development activities;
Encouraging the development of strategies to enhance the capacity of local
communities and small-scale farmers;
Promoting training and information programs to assist the transfer of technology
relevant to coffee;
Facilitating information on financial tools and services to assist producers;
Providing objective and comprehensive economic, technical and scientific
information on the world coffee sector.
Introduction of International Sugar Organization (ISO)
The International Sugar Organization (ISO) has been headquartered in London since it
was founded as the body responsible for administering the International Sugar
Agreement. It has 88 members and according to its 2012 data, its member states represent
86% of world sugar production, 69% of world consumption, 95% of world exports and

27
41% of world imports. It is the body responsible for the implementation of the
International Sugar Agreement (ISA), 1992. According to the ISA (1992), ISO is charged
with contributing to the world sugar sector by the achievement of the following
objectives:
To ensure enhanced international cooperation in connection with world sugar
matters and related issues;
To provide a forum for intergovernmental consultations on sugar and on ways to
improve the world sugar economy;
To facilitate trade by collecting and providing information on the world sugar
market and other sweeteners;
To encourage increased demand for sugar, particularly for non-traditional uses.
In accordance with its Agreement (ISA, 1992) objectives, the ISO contributes
significantly to improve market transparency through its long established and widely
recognized statistical and analytical activities. The Market Evaluation, Consumption &
Statistics Committee (MECAS), which meets twice a year, allows a serious and in depth
debate of the short term market perspective based on the ISO Secretariat's independent
view, longer term perspectives and studies carried out by the Secretariat and others of
issues and problems of common interest to members (ISA, 1992).
Finally, ISO is tackling issues like sugar and health, sugar and the environment,
fortification of sugar with Vitamin A, Organic Sugar and the promotion of sugar (ISO,
2014).

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Diminishing Relevancy and Value Propositions: Crisis Faced by ICCO, ICO
and ISO
Since the economic provisions were successively removed from the Agreements of the
three commodity bodies, ICCO, ICO and ISO have been struggling with how to remain
relevant and deliver value to the world. As discussed before, the ICAs and their
respective ICBs were initially formed with the intent to avoid price fluctuations. Now that
the central principle of market intervention is gone, the ICBs have transformed into
platforms for member nations to negotiate non-price issues in the commodity world;
however, the attention and spotlight that the bodies now get are apparently less than
previously experienced.
Another potential reason for ICBs, including ICCO, ICO and ISO, facing fading
relevancy and diminished value propositions are related to the Common Fund for
Commodities (CFC). When the ICBs were originally formed, they acted in conjunction
with CFC to fund commodity projects submitted by member nations. Theoretically, the
CFC only approved project-funding applications from member nations for their
respective commodity projects after the projects were submitted to and received initial
approval and a funding recommendation from the respective commodity body so that
CFC could make sure that the projects were applicable. CFC no longer requires an
International Commodity Body approval or recommendation. Recently, CFC has started
giving member nations low-interest loans directly to support their projects, instead of

29
requiring approvals / recommendations from ICBs, Undoubtedly, the CFC’s new funding
process has reduced ICB value proposition and relevancy to the world.
Demand for Strategic Development: Challenges for ICO, ICCO and ISO
According to nonprofit organization experts, Judith Sharken Simon and J. Terence
Donovan (2001), five factors, which are “age, size, growth rate of the industry, external
environment and primary leader characteristics,” influence where an organization is at in
its life cycle. Alike human beings, an organization’s life cycle can be viewed as: birth to
infancy [stage one], childhood [stage two], adolescence [stage three], adulthood [stage
four], and senior to death (dying) [stage five]. Moreover, the characteristics of each stage
can be defined by seven factors, which are “governance, staff leadership, financing,
administrative systems, products and services, staffing and marketing. (Simon &
Donovan, 2001)”
One might think that ICO, ICCO and ISO, which have been in existence and influential
in the world for decades, would be categorized as the organizations in their “middle-age”
[stage four], where organizations are productive, well established and secure in their
structure and services. However, the performance of the three organizations does not
match this expected life stage; this has been especially so after the economic provisions
were removed from their respective Agreements. In reality, the organizations are facing a
crisis of relevancy and are in the “dying” stage; they have lost their vitality and have
become stagnant. During the past two decades, the three organizations have struggled

30
with relevancy and value proposition loss, unclear objectives and strategy deficiency. On
one hand, they are the organizations with a long history of being influential in the world;
on the other hand, they are currently in great need of developing comprehensive
organizational strategies, which are needed to then develop sound communication
strategies.
The Art Of War And The Art of Strategic Communication
Often, people tend to make a comparison between building an organization and a battle.
Luke Johnson (2012) once mentioned in an article that “for those hardy characters
engaged in building an enterprise, life can often feel like a constant battle.” Having
considered that, there are some similarities between the business world and the military
world, for instance the importance of being strategic. In fact, military strategy principles
have historically underpinned corporate strategy theory. Likewise, military strategy
theory can be used to shape the art of strategic communication.
One of the most respected military strategists is Sun Tzu. An ancient Chinese military
sage, Sun Tzu certainly thought highly of the necessity of strategy. He believes that
strategy is the soul of a troop and defines whether or not one will win a battle. Although
not diminishing the importance of developing sound strategy, he also emphasized the
importance of properly executing strategy. Such insights can be found from his
masterpiece, The Art of War.

31
The Art of War (Sun-tzu Ping-fa) is ancient Chinese military protocol attributed to Sun
Tzu, an ancient Chinese strategist. The 13-chapter work was completed between 515
A.D. and 512 A.D. and it has been one of the most famous and influential military
masterpieces since then (Sawyer, 2007).
Like New York University Professor Helio Fred Garcia (2012) mentioned in his book
The Power of Communication, military treatises always focus on building up goal-
oriented strategies to make armed forces more effective during wars; this can be applied
to the leadership discipline of public communication. In fact, it is also the major reason
why The Art of War has remained a prominent resource to the world - not only the world
of military arts, but also the world of business and politics. Many leaders with
international influence, such as Mao Zedong, Japanese industrialist Konosuke Matsushita
and General Douglas MacArthur, have found inspiration from the work (Ames, 2010).
Alike these leaders, this capstone can benefit from the essences of The Art of War,
because it is not only a work of war arts, but also a work of strategies and tactics, which
is the connection between war and communication. In ancient Greek, the word strategos,
which is the origin of the word strategy in English, was developed from the words:
stratos (army) and agein (to lead) (Garcia, 2012). Today, the “art of war” is the “art of
strategy.”

32
Discussion
Overview
“Our organization works, [as] you can see from our mission on the website, as a
forum for our members, which is our main value proposition; for enhancing the
stability and transparency of the industry, encouraging the development and
promoting the sustainability of sector. And, we are going to keep following the
mission strictly.”
– An ICB senior operations director, October 20, 2014
The commodity world has been constantly changing since the Second World War. As the
global discussions and negotiations have evolved, the role of the ICBs has been tailored
correspondingly. As mentioned previously, “ensuring price stabilization” was the major
reason for establishing ICBs by the United Nations, and their fundamental objective. As
stabilizing commodity prices is no longer the prime principle, since the economic
provisions were removed from the ICAs, the mandates of ICO, ICCO, ISO and other
commodity organizations have subsequently shifted. Hence, most commodity
organizations, including ICO, ICCO and ISO have started to reshape their objectives.
Although the interviewees are from different commodity bodies representing different
sectors, they seemed to reach common agreement, although unilaterally, on the new
objectives of the ICBs – a forum for members to negotiate commodity issues; enhancing

33
the stability and transparency of the industry; providing latest research and data;
encouraging the sustainability of the sector, etc. It appears as though ICBs have found a
brand new path for themselves after the removal of the economic provisions. Today, an
ICB can be characterized by a number of objectives; paradoxically, the voices and
perceptions of ICBs remain weak. As a matter of fact, on one hand, declining relevancy
has progressed since ICBs stopped controlling price fluctuation; on the other hand, the
new objectives do not have any clear hierarchy (Burger, Daviron & Alby-Flores, 2007),
which is problematic for both managing and evaluating an ICB’s activities.
Could any other reasons be involved in ICBs’ diminishing relevancy issue? Based on the
Ishikawa Diagram technique and the content of the interviews, the potential reasons for
diminished relevancy are analyzed below (Figure 2):
(Figure 2)
Strategy
Non-member Stakeholders
Member Nations
Lack of Effective engagement /
communication with the ICBs
Retailers, consumers: lack of
awareness of ICBs role / value in
world
Farmers: often poorly-educated
with lower social status,
multilingual
Private Sector and other
organizations: Lack of
effective cooperation, lack of
effective input mechanisms
Organizational:
Lack of sound organizational
strategy;
Objectives:
Unclear communications
objective(s)
Secretariat
Failure To
Communicate
Relevancy And
ValueStaffing structure and
working efficiency:
dedication of adequately
trained staff
Ill-defined
stakeholders
Priority Setting:
communications not seen
as a high priority focus
View of
communications as a
strategic priority
Mechanism for broad and
consistent input into ICBs,
actively used
Coordinated
communications
efforts
Communications:
Lack of supportive
Communication strategy;
lack of effective
evaluation and
measurement

34
Using a systems approach, underpinned by an analysis of interview responses, the
application of Toyoda’s 5 Whys concept and consideration of Sun Tzu’s work, the
application of an Ishikawa Diagram, reveals four root cause categories behind ICB failure
to communicate their respective relevancy and value proposition(s): secretariat, member
nations, non-member stakeholders and strategy.
Staffing structure and capacity play an important role in an organization’s ability to
develop and execute strategy. Generally, the ICBs have relatively small staffs, which
challenges their ability to dedicate adequately trained staff to engaging in the design and
development of sound strategy. For example, they lack the internal capacity to engage in
comprehensive stakeholder analysis. Further, the heavy workload combined with limited
staff resources causes priorities to shift to the most pressing issue of the day and away
from longer-term strategic thinking. Finally, it appears as though communications is not
positioned as a high priority focus.
Although select member nations engage regularly and constructively with the
organizations, many members don’t, which puts the organizations at a disadvantage for
developing solid strategy. Although mechanisms are present for members to provide
input, they are often not used. When they are used, the input is rarely strategic in nature
and often pertains to short-term tactics, exasperating staff attempts to remain strategically
focused. Over all it appears that members may not have a strategic mindset when

35
engaging with the ICO, therefore making it difficult for the organizations to maintain
organizational and communication strategy development as a high priority.
Non-member stakeholder engagement and characteristics also contribute to ICCO, ICO
and ISO challenges in creating value and communicating relevancy. At the heart of this,
in some cases, is a failure to recognize the importance of engaging with non-member
stakeholders and the failure to undertake comprehensive stakeholder analyses. Even more
basic is the reality that some ICBs view stakeholders from a very narrow lens and don’t
consider all entities that they can impact and those that can impact them as stakeholders;
for instance, farmers, and private sector entities throughout the supply chain should be
considered as ICBs’ stakeholders, but often the organizations don’t identify them as such.
Finally, the widely disparate characteristics and needs of ICB stakeholders challenge the
ability of ICBs to develop sound strategy. Also, ICBs should take advantage of
consultations from private sectors
As far as strategy is concerned, ICO, ICCO and ISO are at a serious disadvantage in the
development of sound communication strategy because they don’t have sound
organizational strategies on which to base a succinct and powerful communication
strategy. Furthermore, the three organizations need to redefine their strategic objectives
and evaluation systems in order to create a healthy and well-running communication
system.

36
The Demand for Relevancy and The Need of Strategic Communication
“The ICBs are facing a quite critical yet awkward situation – on one hand, they
are trying their best to play the role of being a forum for their member countries;
on the other hand, they are losing their relevancy to both their member countries
and the whole respective commodity sectors.”
– A former executive of a trade association of the United States of
America
For ICO, ICCO, ISO and other commodity bodies, strengthening relevancy is crucial,
because relevancy is related to demand, which is the basis for an organization’s
existence. Therefore, being relevant, no matter if it is a for-profit or not-for-profit
organization, is a basic factor for developing one’s business. Before the economic
provisions were removed, the relevancy for ICO, ISO and ICCO was clear; it was to
stabilize commodity prices. In the world of commodities, price is important, so nations
joined ICBs as members and negotiated price controls and other issues. When these needs
were raised, the importance of ICBs was lifted. Furthermore, as member organizations,
the main source of revenue for ICO, ICCO and ISO is member dues, making relevancy
even more important.
In order to reach their business goals, the three organizations, as well as other ICBs, need
a comprehensive, strategic communications program that supports those goals, as

37
indicated by Garcia (2012). More so, the ICBs are in need of engaging in a
comprehensive strategy development process to artfully develop strategic initiatives
designed to enhance their respective value propositions and relevancy.
“……故上兵伐谋……
… the best military policy is to attack strategies… (Ames, 2010)”
– Sun-Tzu (Chapter 3: Planning The Attack, The Art of War)
Thousands years ago, this ancient Chinese strategist already realized the importance of
strategies in war fighting – strategies are the soul of the military. If attacking strategies
can help troops win a war, developing solid communication strategies can help an
organization win its business. Being a strategic communicator has become one of the
most important executive / management skills (Nelson, 2014). Garcia (2012) also
mentioned that communication is a powerful tool for an organization or a leader, and it
needs to be used effectively and strategically.
“We are the only organization in the world providing useful information on the
global sector. We are very important to our members and the industry, and this is
our core value to the world.”
– An Chief Executive Officer of an ICB, Oct. 23, 2014

38
However, the misunderstanding of the role of communications and the lack of a solid
communications strategy create real challenges for the ICBs. For instance, one of the
interviewees, an executive of an ICB, emphasized the organization’s relevancy to his
organization’s members during the interview by mentioning what it can offer. It is
important for a leader to know what an organization has in the first place, but merely
telling what it has is not strategic communication. As for communicating an ICB’s
relevancy strategically, the leader also needs to take other factors into consideration, such
as the external challenge or opportunity, the goal that one wants to accomplish, who the
stakeholders are, how to connect with one’s stakeholders, and so on.
Seize The Soul of An Organization
“All the actions we are taking and all the decisions that our organization has
made are based on the latest agreement. We follow the agreement strictly, but
speaking of a written strategy, no, we don’t have one.”
– A Chief Executive Officer of an ICB, Oct. 23, 2014
“Speaking of strategy, our organization, accordingly, plays the role of forum to
represent our members, enhances the sustainability of the market, provides the
latest research and report on commodity data and price, and ensure the benefits
for farmers, and so on. You can find the details from the latest agreement on our
website. ”
– A Senior Information Officer of an ICB, Oct. 22, 2014

39
Some leaders misunderstand the concept of strategy. As it is for the leaders of ICBs,
some of them do not realize the difference between the commodity agreements and an
organization’s strategy. Like Sun-Tzu indicated, strategies can be as crucial as the soul of
an army, and so are they for organizations. Regarding the ICBs, the commodity
agreements were hammered out through considerations and discussions amongst
countries, which made the major roles and missions. However, an organization’s strategy
is not its mission and pointing out the role that it should play to the world is not strategic
communication. Strategy is a process of ordered thinking (Garcia, 2012) -- of taking all
aspects into consideration. Glassman, Zell and Duron (2005) expressed that the process
of strategy making should be rational and step-by-step to reach consensus decision,
which needs to include (a) the assessment of the organization’s internal and external
environments, (b) the mission, core value propositions and goals, (c) target audience, and
(d) corresponding tactics to implement.
With the many aspects needing consideration, a comprehensive strategy development
process would help ICBs define and deliver on their missions. The process of strategy
making is also the process of defining who the ICBs are and where ICBs are going.
Furthermore, the process can also help ICBs interact with the external environment and
stakeholders to reconstruct their value proposition.
“I think the answers to most of your questions can be found on our website.”
– Senior Information and Media Officer of an ICB, Oct. 22, 2014

40
Another reason why strategy is the soul of an organization is that strategy can re-develop
an organization’s message. In the case of ICBs, the absence of solid organizational
strategy has made them “lazy;” the overlapping substance between the International
Commodity Agreements and most commodity bodies’ “strategy” obstructs efforts to
develop powerfully impactful messages to the world, since the missions, objectives and
the roles of most ICBs are extracted from respective agreements and not crafted from
sound strategy. Therefore, it is hard for ICO, ICCO, ISO and other commodity bodies to
speak out loud to the world strategically, which is why their voices have remained weak.
Analyze You and Everything around You
“故曰：知彼知⼰己，百战不殆；不知彼⽽而知⼰己，⼀一胜⼀一负；不知彼不知⼰己，
每战必殆。
Thus it is said:
He who knows the enemy and himself, will never in a hundred battles be at risk;
he who does not know the enemy but knows himself, will sometimes win and
sometimes lose; he who knows neither the enemy nor himself, will be at risk in
every battle. (Ames, 2010)”
– Sun-Tzu (Chapter 3: Planning The Attack, The Art of War)

41
A significant factor in the process of strategy making is rigorously appraising the
organization’s internal and external environments. Regarding the business of an ICB,
both internal and external environments can impact their performance, and profound
understanding of the organization and its environment is the key to influencing its
relevancy to the world. For ICBs, it appears as though they fail to engage in rigorous
environmental scanning, including comprehensive SWOT (strength-weakness-
opportunity-threat) analysis, let alone engage in comprehensive environmental scanning
to detect trends. As presented in The Art of War, Sun-Tzu believes that a clear
understanding of both internal and external environment can help a troop obtain greater
advantage and increase the probability of winning in battle. His framework also makes
the point clear that ICB’s limited analysis of the environment puts their success at risk.
“…The strength of our organization is, I think, [that] we are the only
organization to provide all the statistics, research and data to the world, 75% of
consuming countries are currently our members, and the market is keeps growing
and the demand is growing all over the world. Speaking of the weakness, I think,
we are dealing with the slowness in terms of organization development, because
of, you know, the nature of politics and organization…”
– Senior Operation Officer of an ICB, Oct. 20, 2014
Theoretically, strengths are attributes that an organization holds and abilities that one has
developed, which can be used to dedicate to its performance; while weaknesses are
characteristics and abilities in which an organization is deficient, which can potentially

42
prevent an organization from developing sustainable and competitive performance.
Strengths and weaknesses are assessments of the internal environment.
During the interviews, all of the interviewees from ICBs were requested to clarify the
strengths and weaknesses of their organizations; their answers, however, did not
demonstrate that they completely understood the meanings of strengths and weaknesses
in terms of an organization. Similar to the interview quotation above, most of
interviewees mixed strengths and weaknesses with opportunities and threats (elements of
the external environment). Environmental analysis inaccuracy can disturb an
organization’s development from both short-term and long-term perspectives and
certainly can be a fatal blow to an international organization’s efforts to strategically
reshape its business in a manner that ensures relevancy. Environmental scanning is
equally important component for the development of sound communication strategy.
“The members are our stakeholders, and that is all…
But other groups and organizations also have potential impact on our
organization’s performance, such as producers, farmers, facilitators,
coordinators, other national trade associations, private sectors, etc.”
– Executive of an ICB, Oct. 23, 2014
Stakeholder analysis, which begins with identifying stakeholders, is another area in
which ICBs are struggling. For organizations like the ICBs, “stakeholders are defined as

43
anyone or any organization that could be impacted by one’s organization and anyone or
any organization that could impact or influence an organization or its outcomes.” (Nelson,
2014) The theory of stakeholder analysis is an important factor in strategic management:
it helps an organization define who matters and to whom an organization’s message
should targeted. Furthermore, understanding stakeholders helps an organization
determine what the organization needs its stakeholders “to think, feel, know, or do in
order to accomplish [its] goal,” and figure out what one’s stakeholders “need to see one
do, hear one say, or hear others say about one to think, feel, know, and do what one wants
them to (Garcia, 2012).”
Reflecting on the stakeholder issue at ICBs, most interviewees from ICBs did not succeed
in clarifying the structure of the stakeholders in their organizations. Since the members
are the major source of funding for ICBs, the interviewees emphasized the role of
members to every organization. Although some of ICBs officers did mention other
groups and institutions as stakeholders, the understandings of their organization’s
stakeholders’ structures were still not apparent. With a lack of clarity around stakeholders
and audience, ICBs will find it hard to understand their audiences’ needs, and to tailor
their messages, so as to meet whose needs, which will drag ICBs even farther from
achieving their business goals..
“[ICB] has a relatively small office in London but carries very important
international responsibility, so we ask all of our employees to be very excellent in

44
our sector. I think they are very experienced and wonderful at work, since we only
have 20 people; all employees are always multitasking on different projects. ”
– Executive Officer of an ICB, Oct. 23, 2014
The third component for ICBs to analyze is the secretariat.
Employees are to an organization are as important as soldiers are to an army. If strategy
is the soul of an organization, employees should be the flesh and bones of an organization
– they are in charge of implementation of strategy and somewhat defining the direction of
an organization.
Hiring experienced and masterful employees is crucial for an organization, even more so
for ICBs, due to the responsibilities of handling international commodity issues as well as
contributing to building up relevancy. According to the interviews, ICO, ICCO and ISO
all have limited staffing volumes§
, which requires most employees to often work as
generalists outside of their field of expertise. However, the truth is that multitasking is not
good for an organization’s development in both short term and long term. The nature of
the ICO, ICCO and ISO’s work mandates that their projects are highly exclusive and
expertise-related, and multi-tasking will result in ineffectively carrying out the
organization’s work. In the cases of ICO, ICCO and ISO, in fact, multi-tasking might be
harmful for them and hinder their ability to develop strategies to ensure their respective
relevancy. This being said, the dilemma these organizations face, is that without a
§
Note: during the interviews, writer did not ask the situation of hiring volunteers for projects.

45
comprehensive, sound organizational strategy it is difficult, if not near impossible, to
create an ideal staffing structure.
Another reason why employees are important to ICBs is because they play multiple roles
in the organizations – task-takers, stakeholders, spokespersons and so on. Therefore, not
only do the leaders of ICBs need to assign work to them, but also need to work for them.
It is important to figure out both short-term and long-term needs. Organizations always
need to put their employees front and center, however the ICO, ICCO, ISO and other
ICBs must pay particular attention to this as they face the critical challenges on relevancy
construction; confidence and caring from the leaders is crucial at this time to keep
employees focused and self-driven on projects.
Fully Prepared, Forecast Changes: The Future Is in Your Pocket
“夫未战⽽而庙算胜者，得算多也
It is by scoring many points that one wins the war beforehand in the temple
rehearsal of the battle…(Ames, 2010)”
– Sun-Tzu (Chapter 1: On Assessments, The Art of War)
In ancient China, generals or leaders always had temple rehearsals before wars. On one
hand, they believed that the higher spiritual power in temples would bring fortunes to
them and help them foresee the results; on the other hand, the rehearsals were meant to

46
pre-examine the strategies and tactics. Normally, ancient leaders would go through a few
rounds of rehearsal with different possible situations, so that they could also be prepared
for the potential changes during the real war fighting. In Western countries, temple
rehearsal has evolved into Sand Table Exercise (s) that are still being used for many
contemporary armies and war fighting.
The point that Sun-Tzu emphasizes here is that the changes and results can be forecasted
based on being fully prepared and having a strategic plan based on the rational and
objective estimation of the internal and external environments. In the first chapter of the
Art of War, Sun-Tzu clarifies the importance of completely understanding the internal
and external situations. He mentions that the temple rehearsal is based on the comparison
with one’s enemy on objective possessions, which are way (tao), climate, terrain,
command and regulation; while the forecast during the war is dependent on
implementation of strategies, which is why he believes that “if one can anticipate the
place and the day of battle, he can march a thousand li**
to join the battle.” (Ames, 2010)
In terms of ICBs, the current relevancy loss is related to their response or lack of
response to predictable changes in the past. As mentioned previously, ICBs were
established based on corresponding commodity agreements to mainly handle price
fluctuation issues. Their focus on price instability, as we look back from now, was a
double-edged sword. The agreements provided privileges and references for ICBs to
settle price issues and other negotiations amongst the sector, which made ICBs
**
Note: Li is an ancient Chinese measurement noun for length. 1 li≈ 70 meters.

47
accustomed to the role of being a forum for negotiations. Unfortunately and possibly due
to a lack of an institutionalized strategy development processes, when the disagreements
over commodity price management systems between consuming and producing countries
surfaced in 1970s to 1980s, most ICBs did not realize the potential collapse on economic
provisions, let alone prepare for the drastic change.
Showing great foresight has always been one of the most wanted characteristics in
business world, and now it becomes even more so. In fact, ICBs had opportunity to
regain their relevancy two decades ago had they started to realize the power of being
fully prepared; now it is time for the leaders to save their organizations’ lives.
Spencer Johnson (2002) has told leaders how to manage current benefits and potential
changes in his bestseller Who Moved My Cheese. Regarding ICBs, they once possessed
the right to influence international price rates, which can be treated as the “cheese” by
them. As their major value proposition and relevancy creator, the economic provisions
were too important to the ICBs to lose, just like Spencer (2002) mentioned “the more
important your ‘cheese’ is to you, the more you want to hold on to it.” However, ICBs
neglected the underlying changes when they started dealing with divergence between
nations, which means they ignored the prime time to get prepared for the changes. In
Spencer’s story, he mentioned that one should know when the “cheese” is getting old if
one smells it often (Johnson, 2002). In relation to Sun-Tzu’s philosophy, an
organization’s possession will not last forever; on the contrary, the possession should

48
keep the organization’s leaders informed with the small changes in order to “adapt to the
bigger changes that are to come.” (Johnson, 2002)
“The change in CFC’s funding project is definitely affecting our organization,
and I think a lot of commodity bodies. So we are going to discuss the issue next
March.”
– Chief Operations Officer, an ICB, Oct. 20, 2014
As mentioned, CFC no longer relies on ICB pre-approval and recommendations for
project funding decisions. Instead, they directly offer low interest loans to nations to fund
national commodity projects all over the world, which worsens the current situation for
ICBs regarding the value they previously provided as gatekeepers to funding. Likewise,
their relevancy is further diminished. During the interviews, most ICB interviewees
expressed their concern about CFC’s new policy, yet they have not developed any
strategies or plans to react such change. According to the interviews, corresponding
negotiations and discussions about respective agreement revisions will take place next
year. It has been more than 20 years since the economic clauses were removed, which
means ICBs have had enough time to work on organization strategy reconstruction or
getting prepared for potential modifications.
In conclusion, forecasting change is necessary for an organization in order to be ready for
underlying challenges. The forecast for an organization is based on thorough

49
understanding and analysis of internal possession and external environment, which also
helps an organization build confidence and competency to react to crises or challenges.
Evaluation and Review: For A Brighter Future
“夫战胜攻取，⽽而不修其功者，凶，命曰费留
To be victorious in battle and win the spoils, and yet fail to exploit your
achievement, is disastrous. The name for it is wasting resources. (Ames, 2010)”
– Sun-Tzu (Chapter 12: Incendiary Attack, the Art of War)
In Sun-Tzu’s point of view, the victory against an enemy during war fighting is not the
final victory. How to take advantage of the opportunities after wars defines whether the
victory is long lasting and far-reaching. In ancient China, at every beginning of dynasty
change, management was always the best, because the new emperor had experienced the
hardship of taking over the power from the previous dynasty, but they also knew the
reasons why the previous management failed and learned the lessons from such failure.
Therefore, they kept exploiting the victory, consolidating the management and strategy,
etc.
In the modern business world, an organization can still learn from Sun-Tzu’s principle.
For an organization with good performance, after the success of implementing strategy,
one should review the success and determine the reasons and advantage, and then keep

50
developing accordingly; while for an organization with decent /poor performance, the
“exploitation” needs to be immediate and constantly examined, reviewed and evaluated
to determine performance shortcomings, and revise one’s strategy to avoid the
shortcomings.
For ICBs, the performance review and evaluation can be treated as a “rewind”
opportunity for them, since the organizations can take advantage their successes and learn
from their failures. However, ICBs are not doing well when it comes to evaluating past
performance for the purpose of crafting future strategy. In fact, it appears as though most
ICB managers don’t have systematic review processes in place that measure key
performance indicators.
“We’ve just opened the communication department last year, everything is still
under further development, so currently we haven’t figured out the post-
performance evaluation. At least we don’t have a systematic evaluation system for
corresponding performances.”
– Chief Operation Officer, ICB, Oct. 20, 2014
There is sometimes a misunderstanding by some managers, that post-performance review
or evaluation of strategy /strategy execution is only used by larger organizations.
According to the interviews with ICB senior staff, ICO, ICCO and ISO don’t have full-
developed evaluation systems, which means that there is no systematic system to

51
examine performance and obtain immediate feedback, the outcome of which will be, as
Sun-Tzu says, a waste of resources.
Another layer of Sun-Tzu’s “exploitation” is related to the building up of a healthy
internal communication environment between managers and employees / members. An
organization is an organic body that needs every part dedicated to its performance.
Timely evaluation of a communication’s strategy will keep internal communication and
interaction in a healthy state. Further, such evaluation facilitates keeping internal
stakeholders regularly updated on the organization’s performance.
Time Matters: Do It Fast Or Do It Right?
“昔之善战者，先为不可胜，以待敌之可胜
Of old the expert in battle would first make himself invincible and then wait for
the enemy to expose his vulnerability. (Ames, 2010)”
– Sun-Tzu (Chapter 4: Strategic Dispositions, the Art of War)
To act fast or to act right – that is the question.
It seems as though one needs to act both fast and right in most cases. However, being fast
and being right can be in conflict with each other in the world of business and
communications.

52
Garcia (2012) suggests leaders should act fast if they encountered challenges or crisis, so
that they can remain proactive in both business and communication processes. While in
ancient Chinese culture, as Sun-Tzu mentioned, being patient and waiting for the right
time are important for implementing military strategies. On the other hand, being reckless
and hasty is dangerous. In Sun’s point of view, troops cannot successfully engage in
warfare until they are prepared inside out, which includes the internal preparation and
external forecast. Coincidentally, another Chinese philosopher, Confucius said “to do a
good job, one must sharpen one’s tool first” to emphasize the importance of investing
time in preparation.
Time matters significantly for business and communication, especially in the today’s fast
paced world. Sometimes, being patient and waiting for the right time can be viewed as
conservative. For most western companies, they believe that they can benefit from fast
action in order to gain advantages, however, fast actions will increase the risks of losing,
since leaders will have less time to consider strategies, tactics, messages, media,
audiences, and so on.
For ICBs, timing is important. For ICO, ICCO, ISO and other commodity bodies that are
facing relevancy loss, taking fast action may not the best strategy regarding the
communication of their value propositions. As one of the ICB interviewees mentioned,
his organization started a communications department a year ago, and its communication
strategy is still under development. However, being patient and effectively spending time

53
on developing a sound organizational strategy and defining and refining ones’ value
propositions is more important for ICBs than directly taking actions to promote their
value and services.
The fact is, determining the appropriate speed in which to act is a balancing act. On one
hand, if ICBs wait to long to aggressively communicate their value proposition(s) their
relevancy may erode to a point of no return, on the other hand, without a sound
organizational strategy they will likely misfire on the creation and execution of a
comprehensive communication strategy.
For some organizations that are struggling with crisis, taking action as soon as possible to
rebuild trust, value and reputation in a short period of time, is required and advisable so
that they can minimize the damage to their business. However, this isn’t the case for
ICBs in the current situation. As mentioned above, the major issue for ICBs is seeking
new relevancy by enhancing their respective value propositions; therefore, it will be
virtually impossible for ICBs to communicate their relevancy and value proposition(s)
until they engage in a comprehensive strategy development process.
Based on current realities, it would be advisable for ICBs to immediately design and
engage in comprehensive strategy development processes. This would enable the
organizations to tangibly demonstrate to stakeholders that the organizations are serious
about recreating relevancy and strengthening value. At the same time, effective
communications tactics could be employed to inform stakeholders of the positive action

54
the organizations are taking. Parallel to the development of organizational strategy, ICBs
could give thought to a communication strategy development process and engage in some
initial research, including an environmental scan specific to communications.
Caution, of course, is warranted in two areas:
ICBs still have to take efficiency into consideration. Even though the process of
building value is time-consuming, the world is changing fast. Readying for the
potential opportunities from the outside world should be done at the same time. It
does not mean that ICBs should take their time and move forward slowly.
Spending time developing value propositions requires ICBs to take advantage of
all the tactics mentioned above– clear and reasonable analysis of itself and
stakeholders, the prediction of potential opportunities and strong organizational
strategy.
Be Adaptable, Be Invincible
“夫兵形象⽔水，⽔水之形，避⾼高⽽而趋下；兵之胜，避实⽽而击虚。⽔水因地⽽而制⾏行，
兵因地⽽而制胜
The positioning of troops can be likened to water: just as the flow of water avoids
high ground and rushes to the lowest point, so on the path to victory avoid the
enemy’s strong points and strike where he’s weak. As water varies its flow

55
according to (yin) the fall of the land, so an army varies its method of gaining
victory according to the (yin) the enemy. (Ames, 2010)”
– Sun-Tzu (Chapter 6: Weak Points & Strong Points, the Art of War)
Doorley and Garcia (2007) define communication strategies as ways in which the
communication goals will be achieved. In their opinions, communication strategies and
tactics answer the “how” questions. And the “art of how” needs to be adaptable and
flexible during the execution phase.
When Sun-Tzu consulted troops before war fighting, he always compared them with
water to emphasize the importance of strategies being adaptable to different situations,
which can be deduced from an organization’s communication strategies and tactics. It is
hard for an organization to create a communication strategy to fit in all scenarios, and it is
harmful for an organization to use merely one strategy to deal with all situations. Even
Doorley and Garcia (2007) describe communication strategies as ways; the utilization of
the “ways” can be kaleidoscopic, because communication is the art of thoughts
exchanges, and strategies are the guidelines for organizations to achieve its goals.
Regarding ICBs, the only “strategies” for most of them have are the commodity
agreements. During the interview, most of the interviewees asked me to turn to their
agreements for further information. It seems as though the commodity agreements are the
major guidelines/references/strategies/objectives for most of ICBs. However, ICAs are
not panacea for ICBs to solve every situation, not to mention that international

56
commodity agreements are not strategies. Indeed, ICAs have been the structure against
which ICBs have created opportunities and historically built relevancy, for example,
providing industry forums and research data for member nations. However, the
agreements have also acted as a crutch that has impeded the organizations enthusiasm for
creating real, sound strategy. On the other hand, the historic reliance on the agreements as
strategy can be viewed as a silver lining in terms of ICBs’ current situation; the
organizations have been forced into a life stage that demands immediate strategic action.
But the challenge for ICBs is how to make the silver lining brighter and shinier, and more
flexible. The answer lies in the development of sound communication strategy based on
a comprehensive organizational strategy.
In the meantime, acting as forums for member nations and providing research and data,
which are mentioned in commodity agreements, are and can be used to deliver baseline
value to stakeholders and create limited relevancy to some of their sectors. However,
after two decades, it seems that ICBs are still far from reaching their ideal state of
relevancy. Therefore, there is no reason for ICBs to keep insisting on using the same
“strategy.” Embracing the current realities, such as technologies, new management tactics
and so on, coupled with the institutionalization of strategy development and execution
processes will be necessary to ensure future relevancy and value delivery.
Objectives Are Gold

57
Objectives are addressed last in this study because they are most important for an
organization. For ICBs, discussions about their objectives have been constantly raised
throughout their histories, ever since the first ever clearly written objective on
international price stabilization was mentioned in Chapter VI of the Havana Charter
(Burger et al. 2007). When the objective of preventing or moderating price fluctuations in
primary commodities was reconfirmed by the first UNCTAD conference in 1964 (Burger
et al. 2007), the role of ICBs was respectively defined. Since then, the prime objective of
international price stabilization had made ICBs less relevant, as the world now operates
in a free market economy and political will for inserting economic clauses back into
agreements does not exist. In the late 1980s, more and more existing ICBs became less
interested in price intervention, which led to the complete withdrawal of price moderation
provisions from the ICAs in the1980s and 1990s. According to the interviews, now some
of the ICBs, including ICO, ICCO and ISO, have shifted their objectives from price
intervention to sustainable development (Burger et al. 2007).
Here is the question: what is the exact definition of “sustainable development?” Doorley
and Garcia (2007) have made it clear that an organization’s objectives are the basis of its
strategies, tactics and activities. However, interviewees could not clearly define
sustainable development in the realm of their organizations. Therefore, if sustainable
development is the current major thrust of ICBs, they need to clarify the specific
objectives related to sustainability and how they fit into the overall organization strategy.
Until this is accomplished, ICBs will continue to struggle with relevancy related to

58
sustainability and be at a disadvantage in the creation of sound organizational strategy
and communication strategies.
For different commodities, sustainability has different meaning, which is why it is
important that ICBs adapt a meaning that has relevancy for their respective audience.
With sustainable development strategy being mentioned as one objective in International
Commodity Agreements, International Commodity Bodies should think about how each
organization can clarify its respective meaning related to each sector in order to create
sound organizational strategy and a communication plan.
On one hand, ICBs are facing unclear mandates or lack a well-defined value proposition;
on the other hand, ICBs are characterized by too many objectives without hierarchy
(Burger et al. 2007). After economic provisions were removed from ICAs about 20 years
ago, there has been a vacuum with regard to a major objective that drives relevancy.
Equally important, the organizations have not engaged in robust strategy development
activity to fill this vacuum. During the past 20 years, a lot of small objectives have been
made, such as promoting international cooperation, providing a forum for members
negotiation and consultation, and so on. However, most of their “objectives” are
problematic; a large number of “objectives” mentioned by ICAs and ICBs are aims and
means instead of objectives, including “to provide forums” and “to collect and provide
information,” according to the research of Burger et al. (Figure 3) (2007).

59
(Figure 3)
The confusion and misunderstanding about objectives and the current ICB relevancy
challenges can be viewed as a domino effect. In another words, objectives, especially
clear and logical objectives are fundamental for an organization. For ICBs, the need for
clarification on objectives is critical for a vibrant future.
Conclusion
In large scale, because of the inevitable conversion to a free market economy, the
International Cocoa Organization, International Coffee Organization, International Sugar
Organization and other commodity bodies have lost a significant portion of their
relevancy and experienced an erosion of their respective value proposition. Since the

60
removal of economic provisions from their Agreements in the late 1980s and early 1990s,
the three organizations, along with others, have been struggling to define and deliver
value, and therefore lacked in relevancy. Lately, ICO, ICCO and ISO have shifted their
focus from price stabilization to sustainable development, although many details of their
new objective are still pending and under development.
There is no doubt that the three organizations express a desire to ensure their respective
relevancy and a strong value proposition. However, in order to achieve these goals, they
need to clearly define their roles and objectives in a manner that aligns with their
audiences’ needs. For this to occur, the organizations must develop sound organizational
strategies by engaging in comprehensive strategy development processes, that include
internal and external environmental scans and comprehensive stakeholder analyses, upon
which comprehensive communication strategies can be developed to communicate their
respective value proposition(s) and demonstrate their relevancy in today’s world.
Simply having a sound organizational strategy will not guarantee a vibrant future for the
organizations. In fact, relevancy and value are not simply created by the existence of
sound strategy. Relevancy construction and value proposition perception are dependent
on the masterful execution of strategy, including the value delivery scheme and the
organization’s interaction with their respective audiences and sectors. In other words, a
vibrant future will be highly dependent on the organizations’ ability to communicate their
respective relevancy and value propositions to their stakeholders and institutionalized
conduits for information and feedback to flow back from stakeholders. As such,

61
comprehensive communication strategies will be needed. Such strategies should address
incoming and outgoing communications.
For ICO, ICCO and ISO, in order to achieve their ultimate business goal, they need to be
experts on strategic communications. This study has offered seven mechanisms that can
be employed for them to achieve their goal of delivering value and being relevant:
Seize the soul of an organization – build a sound organizational strategy
Analyze the organization itself and everything around it
Fully prepare for the probable and plausible futures
Evaluate along the way
Timing is important, taking action fast is not enough, they need to waiting for the
right time and take the right actions
Adaptation is important while they are implementing organizational and
communication strategies
Objectives are only the basis to develop their relevancies and value propositions,
comprehensive strategy development processes need to be employed.
In Chinese culture, Tao is one of the most important concepts for all philosophies. It
stands for the truth, the way and the method. As the initials of the seven points reflect, S-
A-F-E-T-A-O, being strategic and masterful in communication is a safe way for ICBs to
regain their relevancy.

62
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Appendix I – Abbreviations

CFC Common Fund For Commodities
EC European Commission
ICA International Commodity Agreement
ICAC International Cotton Advisory Committee
ICB International Commodity Body
ICCA International Cocoa Agreement
ICCO International Cocoa Organization
ICO International Coffee Organization
ICA International Coffee Agreement
IGC International Grain Council
IJSG International Jute Study Group
INBAR International Network for Bamboo and Rattan
INRA International Natural Rubber Agreements
IOC International Olive Council
IPC Integrated Program for Commodities
IRSG International Rubber Study Group
ISA International Sugar Agreement
ISO International Sugar Organization
ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization
IWC International Wheat Council
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

67
Appendix II: Research Instrument
In-depth interviews with organization professionals
1. Does your organization††
have a specific, well-defined organizational strategy?
2. What are the organization’s strengths and weakness?
3. Who are your organization’s stakeholders, and how do you think about the
relationship with the organization?
4. Except for the groups that you just mentioned, are there any other groups or
organizations that could potentially have an impact on your organization?
5. What has been the organization’s core value proposition since economic
clauses were removed from the agreement, and what has the organization been
doing to maintain its value proposition?
6. How has the CFC’s decision to no longer require that development projects be
submitted through international commodity bodies impacted your
organization?
7. Does the organization have a written communications strategy? If so, how
does it tie into the overall strategy for the organization?
8. What are the organization’s biggest communication challenges? (Be specific,
barriers?)
9. Why does your organization encounter such challenges?
††
The organization refers to the three International Commodity Bodies the Capstone researches on: International Cocoa
Organization (ICCO), International Coffee Organization (ICO) and International Sugar Organization (ISO).

68
10. How could communications help the organization in terms of ensuring
relevancy and communicating the organization’s value proposition to its
stakeholders and member countries?
11. How do stakeholders contribute to the organization’s communications
performance?
12. ‡‡
How do employees contribute to the organization’s communications
performance?
13. §§
How does the organization engage technology for communications purposes?
14. How does the organization evaluate its communications performance, and
how can the evaluation contribute to the organization’s development?
15. What have been your observations regarding the organization’s relevancy and
how does your organization communicate it with your stakeholders?
‡‡
If it is mentioned
§§
If it is mentioned

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