agricultural cooperative managers and the business environment.pdfVIP

Journal of Agribusiness 19,1(Spring 2001):17S33 © 2001 Agricultural Economics Association of Georgia Agricultural Cooperative Managers and the Business Environment John L. Adrian, Jr., and Thomas Wade Green Managers of agricultural cooperatives were contacted to determine their know- ledge/capabilities and perspectives of the cooperative environment with special emphasis given to the importance of cooperative principles to the operation and success of the business, division of responsibility between management and the board of directors, and business decision making in the areas of financial analysis plus selected scenarios. Managers showed strong adherence to traditional coop- erative principles and basic decision areas. Self-assessments were positive and consistent with performance measures. The opportunity exists to improve manager knowledge/capabilities related to cooperative principles, division of responsibility between managers and the board, and financial analysis. Key Words: board of directors, cooperative principles, cooperatives (agricultural), leadership, management, managers Cooperatives have been and continue to be an important aspect of rural and farm communities through provision of services, credit, farm and home supplies, and markets or outlets for farm products (Kraenzle, 1996, p. 37; 1998, p. 4). Many agri- cultural cooperatives are small and lack sufficient economies of size and scale to effectively compete with the often larger investor-owned businesses (Fulton and Keenan, 1997, p. 35). Nevertheless, Webb (1990, p. 56) suggests that cooperatives may be the single most cost-effective structure farmers can implement to improve their economic status. In fact, numerous farmers are evaluating and forming cooper- atives to improve their economic plight. Also, existing agricultural cooperatives are using mergers, consolidat