Poor cost management of company a

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

LAM THI HAI HAU

POOR COST MANAGEMENT OF
COMPANY A

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2021


UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

LAM THI HAI HAU

POOR COST MANAGEMENT OF
COMPANY A

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUPERVISOR: Dr. Tran Phuong Thao

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2021


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Businesses always have to improve and build themselves constantly to stay
competitive in the market. Competition in businesses especially requires continuous
productivity improvement. For company A, the study analyzes to improve production
and business results by focusing on cost management. Over the years, cost
accounting has been a subject of widespread concern and discussion. Along with the
continuous development of the business market, traditional cost accounting is
gradually moving towards cost management. Outstanding results have been recorded
in the operational efficiency of the application of cost management, businesses
increasingly focus on building and perfecting this management. Company managers
should have a clear understanding of the company's internal costs to make the right
decisions about strategy and sustainable development goals. In addition, the company
must examine and continually improve its internal processes to form the basis for
sound decisions in order to gain and maintain a competitive advantage.
Basically, management accounting provides necessary and important information to
help the management team make decisions for the company's operations. By
providing a wealth of quality financial information, analysis and statistics, cost
management greatly assists managers. Because of the importance and internal
resources of the company, effective cost management is one of the issues that need to
be considered and perfected to improve the company's business results.
A cost management system is complete if it is well built from the steps of planning,
monitoring, evaluating and reflecting the actual costs incurred. The company's cost
management also depends on many internal and objective factors outside the
company. An well cost management process is influenced by company size, culture
and level of technology development.
The study explores the state of cost management in company A. In particular, with
the facts at the company and academic studies, it can explain the limitations of
company A's cost management. Solving and gradually overcoming those limitations
would help company A achieve good performance.

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Tran Phuong Thao for her enthusiastic guidance
and help to complete this thesis. With expert advice and suggestions, the study has
been improved and completed.
Secondly, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to the 10th MBA course of
International Business School, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City. The
school and course provided me with an environment to enrich my knowledge of
corporate governance and real business situations. This contributed largely to the
completion of this final thesis.
Third, I would like to thank company A and colleagues for giving me the opportunity
to research and provide useful information to complete this thesis.

ii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... iii
LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. vii
CHAPTER 1: PROBLEM CONTEXT .................................................................... 8
1.1. COMPANY OVERVIEW ................................................................................... 8
Main objectives ......................................................................................................... 9
Sustainable Development .......................................................................................... 9
Organization chart: .................................................................................................. 10
Business and production activities .......................................................................... 11
1.2. Business symptoms: net loss from tapping latex ............................................. 12
1.3. The importance of symptom ............................................................................. 14

CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION .................................................... 16
2.1 Preliminary analysis .......................................................................................... 16
2.2 Possible problem validations ............................................................................ 19
2.1.1

Poor price competition in the market .................................................... 19

2.1.2

Limited resources .................................................................................... 22

2.1.3

Poor recruitment...................................................................................... 25

2.1.4

Poor cost management ............................................................................ 29

2.3 Main problem validation ................................................................................... 32
2.4 Main problem definition and Consequences ................................................... 35
2.4.1

Main problem definition ......................................................................... 35

2.4.2

Consequences of the main problem ....................................................... 36

CHAPTER 3: CAUSE VALIDATION ................................................................... 38

3.1 Potential causes .................................................................................................. 38
3.1.1

Poor budgets planning............................................................................. 38

3.1.2

Weak cost control .................................................................................... 40

iii


3.1.3

Influential factors .................................................................................... 41

3.2 Justification of causes at Company A .............................................................. 43
3.2.1

Poor budgets planning............................................................................. 43

3.2.2

Weak cost control .................................................................................... 45

3.2.3

Influential factors .................................................................................... 46

3.3 Main cause validation ........................................................................................ 47

CHAPTER 4: SOLUTIONS SELECTION ........................................................... 50
4.1 Alternative solution ........................................................................................... 50
4.1.1

Cost control trainings .............................................................................. 50

4.1.2

Improve the cost control process ............................................................ 52

4.2 Solution selection ............................................................................................... 55
4.3 Action plan.......................................................................................................... 56
CHAPTER 5: SUPPORTING INFORMATION .................................................. 60
5.1 Research methodology....................................................................................... 60
5.2 Interview transcript ........................................................................................... 60
LIST OF REFERENCES......................................................................................... 79

iv


ABBREVIATION
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
HR: Human Resource
BOD: Board Of Directors

v


LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Profit of each segment from 2018 to 2020 ................................................... 13

Table 2: Percentage change ........................................................................................ 33
Table 3: Difference of planned costs and actual costs in 2020 .................................. 34
Table 4: Benefits and costs of training ....................................................................... 52
Table 5: Benefits and costs of improving cost control system ................................... 55
Table 6: Difference of two solutions .......................................................................... 56
Table 7: Detailed action plan ...................................................................................... 59

vi


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Organization chart ...................................................................................... 10
Figure 2: Proportion of profits in 2020....................................................................... 13
Figure 3: Profit from exploited latex segment ............................................................ 14
Figure 4: Preliminary Cause and Effect tree .............................................................. 19
Figure 5: Rubber Price ................................................................................................ 21
Figure 6: Classification of resources for the business model ..................................... 22
Figure 7: Land Grade .................................................................................................. 24
Figure 8: Average Productivity of Company A, B, C in 2020 ................................... 25
Figure 9: Amount of workers from 2018 to 2020 ...................................................... 28
Figure 10: Average Productivity of Company A from 2018-2020 ............................ 29
Figure 11: Total latex explotation .............................................................................. 30
Figure 12: General and Administration expense 2018-2020...................................... 31
Figure 13: Exploited and Processing expense 2018 - 2020........................................ 31
Figure 14: Fishbone diagram of potential causes leading to main problem ............... 43
Figure 15: Cost control ............................................................................................... 46
Figure 16: Costs .......................................................................................................... 47
Figure 17: Final Cause and Effect tree ....................................................................... 49
Figure 18: Cost control system of company A ........................................................... 53
Figure 19: Cost control process .................................................................................. 54

Figure 20: Tools of cost control ................................................................................. 54

vii


CHAPTER 1: PROBLEM CONTEXT
1.1.

Company overview
Company A is organized and operated in compliance with the
Enterprise Law, other relevant laws and the Company Charter. Company A
was established under the Decision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development on the transformation into a Joint Stock Company.
The company's office is located in Xuyen Moc District, Ba Ria - Vung
Tau Province, 120 km from Ho Chi Minh city by road, very convenient for
transportation, trade, industrial development and service. Company A is the
first unit in the rubber industry to equitize the garden associated with the
factory. The company manages more than 5,000 hectares of rubber and one
processing factory with a capacity of more than 6,000 tons/year. Annually,
company A exploits over 5,000 tons of rubber latex on average; purchasing
over 1,000 tons.
Product quality is always the top concern of company A. Therefore, its
technical processes and products are always controlled by the quality
management system ISO 9001: 2015. Company A commits to the customer to
always comply with the contract, ensure the quality standards and on time as
prescribed, always create satisfaction for customers when using the company's
products. With a compact, highly qualified and specialized management
apparatus, company A is ready to cooperate in commercial investment with all
domestic and foreign investors.
The company officially went into operation in 2004. The registered

business lines of the company include: planting rubber trees, coffee, cashew;
exploiting, purchasing and processing rubber latex; buying and selling raw
agricultural products, unprocessed; wholesale of construction materials,
installation equipment; transporting goods and passengers by road; wood
gathering; real estate business; growing fruit trees, cashew trees, vegetables,
beans, flowers of all kinds; plant trees every year afforestation, forest care and
forestry seed nursery.

8


The company grows and takes care of rubber trees with an area of
5,089 ha in Xuyen Moc district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. In addition, the
company has contributed capital to planting rubber in the country (Lai Chau)
and abroad (Laos, Cambodia). The company organizes the purchase of rubber
plantation from households and establishments in Ba Ria Vung Tau province
and neighboring provinces such as Dong Nai, Binh Thuan.
Main objectives
-

Planting and exploiting rubber latex, creating jobs for workers and
contributing a part to socio-economic development;

-

Apply technical measures to stabilize production and improve rubber
latex tapping productivity;

-

Joint investment and business cooperation Industrial Park - Service Resettlement, agriculture with high technology application;

-

There is a reasonable dividend payment policy to ensure the interests of
shareholders, and at the same time, have accumulated profits to
supplement business capital.

Sustainable Development
-

Constantly improving product quality to meet customers' requirements;

-

Well implement labor policy, take measures to improve production and
business efficiency, improve the material and spiritual life of workers;

-

Implement environmental policies, annually have a plan to renovate
and upgrade the wastewater treatment system of the Plant,... to ensure
the criteria of environmental sanitation according to the State's
regulations;

-

To well implement social policies, annually support the "Child
Protection" Fund, "Flood and Storm Prevention" Fund according to the
program of Ba Ria Vung Tau, love and gratitude activities in the

locality.

9


Organization chart:

Figure 1: Organization chart
(Source: Internal document)
Organizational apparatus of the company with the highest authority is
the General Meeting of Shareholders including shareholders with voting rights
and authorized persons. The General Meeting of Shareholders elects the
highest management body, the Board of Directors, and elects the Supervisory
Board of the company. The Executive Board is elected by the Board of
Directors including one General Director and two Deputy General Directors.
The company has six functional departments, production teams and processing
factories. Functional departments are in charge of major specializations. The
production team and the processing plant are the workforce that produce the
main product.
Production team: including six production teams, managing an average
of 850 hectares of rubber/production team. The structure of the production
team includes team leader - vice captain, statistic staff, worker group
10


exploiting and taking care of basic construction, and security team. Processing
factory: capacity of 6,000 tons/year, an average of 70 employees.
Business and production activities
In addition to cooperation activities and other financial investments, the
company has business activities, exploiting and processing natural rubber.

Exploit:
The company has six production teams spread over four communes:
Hoa Binh, Hoa Hung, Hoa Hoi, Phuoc Tan. The total exploiting area is more
than 5,000 hectares, the annual exploiting output is about 6,000 tons of rubber
latex.
Processing:
The processing factory was put into operation in 1995, with a designed
capacity of 6,000 tons, advanced wastewater treatment technology, and stable
production of the plant's products. The factory has been accredited with the
quality management system standard ISO 9001:2000. The company's
manufactured products conform to Vietnamese standards. In addition, the
factory was certified by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to
meet Vietnamese standards on the environment. Products processed by the
company to be sold to the market include: SVR 3L, SVR10, SVR 5, SVR CV
60, SVR CV 50.
In addition to processing the company's products, the processing
factory also processes for other companies, and buys latex from rubber
households in Xuyen Moc area. The vehicle has a time of use of less than 15
years, 15 units, carrying capacity 200,000 liters/day, good loading, fuel
economy. The company's production process will be in the following order:
Exploiting/Purchasing natural rubber -> Inspection and processing ->
Processing finished products -> Consumption

11


1.2.

Business symptoms: net loss from tapping latex
Data collected from 2018 to present, the company has witnessed a bad

change in profit from main production and business activities. Specifically, the
profit from main business activities of the company tends to decrease to
negative. Meanwhile, the total final after-tax profit of the company is still
positive. However, with the negative results of the company's main production
activity is an important issue to consider.
Profits from production and business activities come from three
segments: self-exploited latex, latex purchased from raw materials, commodity
latex. In which, two small segments, latex purchased from raw materials, and
commodity latex have achieved positive profits over the years. The latex
exploitation segment, which accounts for the largest proportion in the structure
of profits in production and business activities has had a strong decline and
negative trend recently. Therefore, the self-exploiting latex segment should be
reviewed and improved.
In particular, the proportions of the three main parts of production are
shown in the graph below. From the graph, it can be seen that production from
tapping latex accounts for a larger proportion (more than 95%) compared to
the other two production activities. Therefore, the study would focus on
researching and analyzing production activities from exploiting latex.

12


Proportion of Profits in 2020
Self-tapping
latex
Purchased latex
Latex goods

Figure 2: Proportion of profits in 2020
(Source: Drawn by author)

Profit from latex exploitation accounts for the majority over the years.
Absolute figures of profits from each segment are shown in the annual profit
table. The specific profit data for each activity in the main production and
business activities is shown in the table below. The proportion of production
activities from exploiting latex has both accounted for the majority but it had
negative results in the last three years, leading to losses for the main
production and business activities.
Unit: VND
Profit from selftapping latex
Profit from
purchased latex
Profit from latex
goods

2018
2019
5,890,979,191 (5,646,850,848)

2020
(5,616,601,734)

733,207,317

317,694,091

243,065,906

94,510,080

43,770,384

28,427,616

Table 1: Profit of each segment from 2018 to 2020
(Source: Summarized by author)

13


The graph below shows the trend of net losses from tapping latex.
Profit from production activities from exploited latex plummeted nearly 10
billion VND from 2018 to 2019, and slightly decreased in 2020. The study
would analysis the loss symptoms of production and business activities from
exploited latex.

Billions

PROFIT FROM EXPLOITED LATEX SEGMENT
VND 0.00
VND 0.00

5.89E-09

VND 0.00
Profit from
exploited latex
segment

VND 0.00
VND 0.00

VND 0.00

2018

2019

2020

VND 0.00
VND 0.00

-5.65E-09
-5.62E-09

VND 0.00

Figure 3: Profit from exploited latex segment
(Source: Drawn by author)
1.3.

The importance of symptom
The company was established and registered with the main production
and business activities about exploiting and processing natural rubber latex.
Although the total profit after tax of the company is still profitable in the past,
it does not come from the main production and business activities. In the long
term, if the profitability of production and business activities is not improved
and is still negative, it would largely affect the performance of the company as
well as the main business function.
With the main industry of exploiting and processing natural latex
products, the majority of investment activities are in this segment. Therefore,

if the main business results cannot be improved, the related costs are not
compensated and the capital of the company would be difficult to develop.
This is an important issue for companies with state capital contribution. It also
affects the assessment of the company management.
14


More specifically, with state-owned enterprises and the management of
the Parent Company, the issue of capital preservation always comes first.
Therefore, if the results of the main business activities fail for a long time, it
will affect the cash flow. In addition, the loan to invest in the garden under
construction and associated costs of fixed assets.

15


CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
2.1

Preliminary analysis
The profit of an activity is the result of the revenue generated and the
costs involved. With the above company's symptoms, loss business results
come from low sales and high costs. More specifically, the author conducts indepth interviews with key persons of the company to find out the problems
leading to the current losses.
According to the share from the Chief Accountant and the Supervisor
in charge of the financial affairs of company A, the loss of the business from
exploiting latex comes from objective and subjective issues. First, the market
price for rubber products in recent years has dropped sharply since the golden
age of 2011. The price has signs of recovery at present and in the coming time,
but not high. In addition, the company faces difficult conditions in terms of

resources such as climate, and the land is not highly suitable for the growth of
rubber trees. This leads to low output of exploited natural latex products, so
revenue affects. In the past two years, the company has been affected by the
development of industrial zones in the area, thereby reducing the number of
workers serving the exploitation. The recruitment of workers has not solved
this problem in a timely and thorough manner. Moreover, in difficult times,
the company realizes that the cost management is not really effective. This
leads to losses in the business results from the latex exploitation segment in
the last 3 years.
Based on information received from in-depth interviews, the author
raises potential problems that develop in the preliminary cause and effect tree
and lead to symptoms of losses from latex exploitation activity. Particularly,
according to Mr. Hoang Quoc Hung, controller of company A:
―The rubber business's profit in recent years has tended to decrease,
even with loss results. On a big side, due to the market in recent years, the
price of rubber fell sharply compared to the peak time, the price recovery was
not high. This affects the company's revenue a lot. Rubber selling price like
16


other agricultural products is influenced by the world price market, supply
and demand market. Secondly, company A is in a position that faces
disadvantages in terms of resources for the development of rubber products.
Therefore, low volume leads to low revenue. ‖
Conducting follow-up interview with Mr. Nguyen Chon Cuong, Chief
Accountant of company A:
―The unfavorable conditions of the general market and the company's
resources have made it difficult for the company to create a great business
collection. In the last two years, the worst results also came from the sharp
decrease in the number of workers serving the latex extraction, reducing the

total output from the gardens. As a result, the reduction of input materials
leads to a decrease in the number of final products produced. ‖
In terms of poor price competition market, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan,
Sales Deputy who shared that:
―The current losses of rubber latex is due to the low rubber price.
Rubber is one of the agricultural products of our country. In essence, rubber
product quality is a raw product, so it does not create high value to compete
on selling price. Meanwhile, the current rubber price market is in a downward
trend from economic crises. The selling price cannot be changed by the
company itself like other market products. ‖
Limited resource factor is demonstrated by Mr. Vo Hoang Anh, an
expert of Technical Management Department who shared that:
―Company A has a low climate and soil type in the conditions for
rubber to grow well latex at high yield. The climate is close to the sea, wind
and dry weather much year round unlike other regions in the Southeast. Soil is
the lowest of the most suitable soil types for rubber cultivation. The
unfavorable natural conditions have made it difficult for the company to
increase output in order to increase revenue. If compared with other
companies in the same region, the company area suffers great disadvantages
17


in soil conditions so the company's output is low leading to losses in the
period of low selling price.‖
For poor recruitment process, Vu Thi Hai Yen, an expert in the
organization and management department said:
―The latex exploitation business has suffered losses due to the decrease
in the number of workers exploiting rubber latex. The decrease in rubber latex
price has caused a shift in jobs among workers working in natural rubber
latex exploitation. When prices, revenue and profits decrease so the bonus and

welfare regimes are not like the golden period. The decline in the number of
workers made it difficult for the company to maintain and fully deploy the
garden. The company's recruitment policy remains the same and has not
changed according to the current shift. It is difficult to meet the required
number of workers. ‖
The number of workers taking leave is not enough to exploit the
productivity of the existing garden. As a result, the low 2-year output resulted
in bad business results. This is considered a symptom leading to the study
mentioned.
Regarding cost management, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, accountant of
company A shared:
―Business activities from exploiting latex have been at losses in recent
years due to lower selling prices and low garden productivity. The factors that
have a great influence on revenue are the external environment. Meanwhile,
the company's costs for this production activity are also high. The company
has not really strictly managed the expenses so that it is not effective. If better
cost control reduces the burden on sales, the end result would improve.‖
Thus, ineffective cost management makes costs increase while low
revenue. It is considered a problem that has led to the losses symptoms of
business operations being analyzed.

18


From the initial interview, the research came out Preliminary Cause and
Effect tree.

Figure 4: Preliminary Cause and Effect tree
(Source: Drawn by author)
In summary, there are four potential problems identified from the in-depth

interviews. These problems are:

2.2

-

Poor price competition market

-

Limited resources

-

Poor recruitment

-

Poor cost management

Possible problem validations
2.1.1 Poor price competition in the market
Pricing decision is one of the important decisions that companies must
make, because the final price decision will have a direct and indirect influence
on the results and goals of the company. In the economic market, no matter
19


what industry the business is in, profit maximization is always an essential
factor to be considered (1).

Every business organization is founded with the desire to make a profit,
and their profit goals are considered when the selling price of their goods is
determined. Whether the business is small or large, simple or complex, private
or public, pricing decisions are made to provide competitive pricing (2).
Price competition is part of a pricing strategy. Specifically, it includes
setting prices on the basis of competitors' performance. To use this strategy, a
company must be sensitive to market changes. However, the price of natural
rubber products is not the same as that of other consumer products. Rubber
price depends on market supply and demand, world commodity prices, and
exchange rates (3). These factors make the selling price only predictable in a
certain small range, making it difficult to set a competitive price like other
products. Moreover, the low quality latex results in low prices for the passive
producer. In particular, it does not yet create value for rubber products that can
compete with suppliers (4).
The rubber products produced on the market are still raw products.
Therefore, the price of the product is greatly influenced by the supply and
demand markets of major countries in the world, especially from China. The
price change depends on the production and consumption of major countries.
Vietnam's rubber price is heavily influenced by the world rubber
market because it only accounts for about 10% of the export market share.
Selling price is an important factor in generating revenue. In previous years,
the rubber price peaked at 90-100 million/ton, creating great revenue and
profit for rubber companies.
First, company A is a subsidiary of the Parent Group. The selling price
for long-term contracts or periodic contracts must always be according to the
price floor issued by the Parent Company for rubber products. Price floor is
based on price fluctuations and supply and demand in domestic and foreign
markets, the situation of rubber exploitation in the country. The member
20

companies would rely on the price floor issued by the Parent Company to
carry out their commercial transactions. Annually, the price council of the
Parent Company would develop a price formula for long-term contracts in the
year for the companies to follow. Therefore, the selling prices of products are
generally low and there is not much difference between members in the
industry.
As Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Sales Deputy shared:
―The company's selling price must be based on the price floor that the
Parent Company periodically issues. The company relies on it to set prices on
long or short-term contracts with customers.‖
Natural rubber prices have remained low in recent years, partly
affecting the consumption market of China. Rubber prices in the period of
2018-2020 fluctuate sharply in each period of the year, but still in the range of
29 million - 35 million VND/ton. According to the council of rubber prices,
the year 2020 and so on. The price of rubber in the market is very difficult to
increase due to the excess supply of rubber over demand.

Rubber Price

Unit: USD/ton
2000
1458

1500

1500

1440

1450 1430

1320

1280

1250

1289

1495

1000

1300

1220

500
0
T1

T2

T3

T4

T5
2018

T6

T7
2019

Figure 5: Rubber Price
(Source: Drawn by author)

21

T8
2020

T9

T10

T11

T12


According to Mr. Vu Quang Khai, Deputy General Director of
Company A, said:
―The low rubber selling price recently has caused losses results for the
self-exploited rubber latex production business. With the current situation and
the future, it is difficult for prices to spike and return to the golden age as in
2010. Therefore, prices are part of the low business results, it is not easy to
overcome this difficulty.‖

Therefore, low price does not create competition in the market is a
problem leading to the study's symptoms. This is a problem influenced by
objective factors, so it is difficult to improve bad business performance for
company A.
2.1.2 Limited resources
According to a study, because of the close link between decisions and
actions, resource allocation is central to strategic management. In addition, to
be able to make positive long-term decisions, an organization's prosperity is
the result of resource allocation. This process has many levels and is
distributed within the business entity (5). Resources for the business model
consist of many parts. The model below will bring up the detailed sections.

Figure 6: Classification of resources for the business model
(Source: Internet)
22


Company A has limited physical resources including geographical
location and soil. These factors are very important to the agricultural sector.
Specifically, for the planting and exploitation of industrial crops of company
A. Rubber is the main crop grown in the tropics, hot and humid climate and
nutritious red soil (6). Company A in a geographical location has a great
disadvantage for growing high-yield rubber trees.
According to Mr. Vo Hoang Anh, an expert of Technical Management
Department, said:
―Company A does not have good conditions for planting rubber trees.
Bad soil is in the bottom groups of the soil that is not suitable for rubber trees,
although they can still be planted. The latex yield in these places will not be as
high as in good soil. In addition, the climate is close to the sea, dry and sandy.
Wind is not suitable for rubber trees.’’

The company replanted rubber trees on 5000 hectares. Company A has
a smaller garden scale than companies in the East region. In the years 20182020, the area of the rubber garden will be put into operation in the range of
1,900 ha – 2,500 ha. However, the location of the company has unfavorable
conditions for its main industry.
First, the company’s soil quality is based on a nutritious lowland soil
for rubber trees. According to the technical management process document
issued by the Parent Company, the suitable soil types for rubber plantations
are divided into four categories ranked according to soil nutrients from low to
high, including type I, II, III, and IV (7). However, more than 50% of the
company’s land area is grade III and IV soils with poor nutrition suitable for
rubber trees. Therefore, this has a great impact on the latex produced by the
company. The chart below shows the types of land allocated to the rubber tree
planting areas of company A.

23