Strategic Analysis of Production Cooperatives Contribution to Microfinance and Job-Creation in Fars Province

Subject Areas : Agricultural Economics Research

زکریا Farajzadeh ¹ (استادیار بخش اقتصاد کشاورزی دانشگاه شیراز)
صمد Zarei ² (دانشجوی دکتری اقتصاد منابع طبیعی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی مرودشت)

Received: 2016-10-01 Accepted : 2017-08-22 Published : 2017-07-23

Keywords: Employment, Fars province, cooperative, Microfinance,

Abstract :

 The Objective of the present study is to examine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats concerned to Fars province agriculture and nonagricultural production cooperatives in providing goals of microfinance and job creation (employment). The data used for SWOT analysis comes from a survey of 40 cooperatives’ executive directors. Main and secondary factors were determined using Analytic Hierarchy Process. Internal and external factors evaluation matrix showed that cooperatives were in a moderate position in attaining the above mentioned goals. Pair-wise comparison revealed that opportunities with weight of 37 percent were the most important factors followed by weaknesses with weight of 31 percent. Strengths considered less important with weight of 9 percent and threats got weight of less than a quarter. Final scores obtained for secondary factors were used to determine strategy priorities and their contribution to strategy implementation. Based on the attractiveness score, an insignificant difference was found among strategies. Opportunities received the highest contribution to all strategies while the lowest contribution was assigned to strengths. It was also discovered that weaknesses were comparatively more important than threats. Among the opportunities’ “well-educated- experienced labor” and “government support for cooperatives and job creating activities” showed the highest contribution to strategies. The most significant factors of weaknesses and threats were “fluctuating and low output prices” and “lack of mechanism to accumulate cooperatives members’ saving”, respectively. 

References:

- Ahlin, C. & Jiang, N. (2008). Can micro-credit bring development?, Journal of Development Economics, 86: 1–21.

- Akpalu, W., Alnaa, E. S. & Aglobitse, B. P. (2012). Access to microfinance and intra household business decision making Implication for efficiency of female owned enterprises in Ghana, The Center for Environmental Economics Research & Consultancy, (CEERAC) Working Papers No. 003.

- Augustine, D., Wheat, C.O., Jones, K. S., Baraldi, M. & Malgwi, C. A. (2016). Gender diversity within the workforce in themicrofinance industry in Africa: Economicperformance and sustainability. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1365.

- Bauchet, H. & Morduch, J. (2013). Is micro too small? Microcredit vs. SME finance. World Development, 43: 288–297.

- Chagwiza, C., Muradian, R. & Ruben, R. (2016). Cooperative membership and dairy performance among smallholders in Ethiopia. Food Policy, 59: 165–173.

- Chin, K.S., Chan, B.L. & Lam, P.K. (2008). Identifying and prioritizing critical success factors for competition strategy. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 108(4): 437-454.

- Deininger K. & Liu, Y. (2013). Economic and social impacts of aninnovative self-Help group model in India. World Development, 43: 149–163.

- Delbono, F. & Reggiani, C. (2013). Cooperative firms and the crisis: evidence from some Italian mixed oligopolies. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 84: 383-397.

- Develtere P., Pollett I. & Wanyama F. (2008).Renaissance of African Cooperatives in the21th Century–Lessons from the Field,Chapter 2 in Cooperating out of Poverty: TheRenaissance of the African CooperativeMovement, Governance and SocialDevelopment Resource Centre.

- Folsom, J. (2003). Measurement of cooperative impact in Minesota state. Research Report, Rural Cooperative, Washington, D. C. 

- Imai, K., Arun, T. & Annim, S. K. (2010). Microfinance and household poverty reduction: New evidence from India. World Development, 38: 1760–1774.

- Jia, X., Xiang, C. & Huang, J. (2013). Microfinance, self-employment, and entrepreneurs in less developed areas of rural China. China Economic Review, 27: 94–103.

- Karnani, A. (2007). Microfinance misses its mark. Stanford SocialInnovation Review, pp. 34–40.

- Kurttila, M., Pesonen, M., Kangas, J. & Kajanis, M. (2000). Utilizing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in SWOT analysis- a hybrid method and its application to a forest certification case, Forest policy and Economics. 1: pp. 41-52.

- Lebovics, M., Hermes, N. & Hudon, M. (2015). Are financial and social efficiency mutuallyexclusive? A case study of Vietnamesemicrofinance institutions. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 87(1): 55-77.

- Ma, W. & Abdulai, A. (2016). Does cooperative membership improve household welfare? Evidence from apple farmers in China. Food Policy, 58: 94–102.

- Mazumder, M. S. U. & Lu, W. (2015). What impact does microfinance have on rural livelihood? A comparison of governmental and non-governmental microfinance programs in Bangladesh. World Development, 68: 336–354.

- Montgomery, H. & Weiss, J. (2011) .Can commercially-oriented microfinance help meet the millennium development goals? Evidence from Pakistan. World Development, 39(1): 87–109.

- Saaty, T. L. (1980). The analytic hierarchy process. McGraw-Hill, New York.

- Saaty, T. L. (1996). Decision making with dependence and feedback: the analytic network process, RWS Publications, Pittsburg.

- Saaty, T. L. (2005). Theory and applications of the analytic network process: decision making with benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks. RWS Publications, USA.

- Saaty, T. L. & Vargas, L. G. (2001). Models, methods, concepts and applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA.

- Ulgen, H. & Mirze, S. K. (2004). Strategic Management, Istanbul: Literature publication.

- Valmohammadi, C. (2010). Using the analytic network process in business strategy selection: a case study. Australian Journal of basic and applied sciences, 4(10): 5205-5213.

- Vigano, F. & Salustri, A. (2015). Matching profit and non-profit needs:how npos and cooperatives contribute togrowth in time of crisis: A quantitativeapproach. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 86(1): 157-178.

- Weber, O. & Ahmad, A. (2014). Empowerment through microfinance: Therelation between loan cycle and level of empowerment. World Development, 62: 75–87.

- World Bank UN, (2007). Cooperatives inSocial Development, Report of the ProvidingFinancial Services in Rural Areas: A FreshLook at Finance Cooperatives Washington,Governance and Social DevelopmentResourceCentre, Lesson Learned on Cooperatives.

- Yami, E. (2002). Agricultural Cooperatives in Europe and Asia,http:/www. Bc.fc. gov/ inc/indu.htm.

- Yunus, M. (1999). Banker to the Poor. New York: Public Affairs.

- Zarafshani, K., Rostamitabar, F., Hosseininnia,G.H., Akbari, M. & Azadi, H. (2010). Areagricultural production cooperativessuccessful? A case study in Western Iran,American – Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci.8(4): 482-486.