Cattle producers within each of the nine zones are required to pay a check-off fee on all cattle at the point of sale, this ensures that each producer remains a member within the organization (i.e. a check-off fee is synonymous to a union fee for union membership). The company's structure is as follows: The ABP organization elects seven delegates per zone, thirteen cattle feeder council delegates per zone, six producer association delegates per zone, and a zone director to sit on the organizations" board of directors. Within the board a chairman, vice-chairman, and a finance chairman are elected. Six committees exist and the above delegates are divided up to serve on either one of them, those being beef promotion, the cattle feeder council, government affairs, producer liaison, public affairs and a technical committee (Alberta Beef Producers, 2004). The elected delegates are in power for two years and then an election is held.
The ABP organization is truly linked to its external environment as the Alberta beef industry's products (beef) is a major commodity sold within Canada and exported to other countries, such as the United States, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea (Alberta Beef Producers, 2004). Millions of people nation wide depend on Alberta to supply them with beef as well as the confidence that this supply arrives meeting the highest quality standards. The ABP undoubtedly falls under the category of an open system, a system that must interact with the environment to survive; it both consumes resources and exports resources to the environment. Farm land, which includes streams and grazing pastures, are consumed from the environment and the resulting cattle beef is exported back to the environment as food for citizens within, and outside, Canada. ABP also has to interpret and act on environmental changes, dispose of output and control and coordinate internal activities in the face of environmental disturbances and uncertainty (Daft, 2004).
