A Path Analysis of Factors Influencing the Development of Entrepreneurship Skills and Innovation in Rural Cooperatives of Alborz Province

Subject Areas : Agriculture Marketing and Commercialization

azita zand ¹ , Masoumeh Arfaee ²

1 - Agricultural Department, Integrated Cropping Research Center, Islamshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Islamshahr, Iran
2 - Department of Agriculture, Assistant Professor, Ashtian Islamic Azad University,Ashtian,Iran

Received: 2021-10-15 Accepted : 2022-05-05 Published : 2022-06-01

Keywords: innovation, Path analysis, entrepreneurship, rural cooperatives, Alborz Province, Development of skills,

Abstract :

This study mainly aimed to identify the factors influencing the development of entrepreneurial skills and innovation in rural cooperatives of Alborz Province, Iran. This purposefully practical research is a descriptive-correlational study considering the fact achieving and data processing. The research measurement tool was a questionnaire. The statistical population of this study consisted of 22,207 members of cooperatives in Alborz Province, with 283 people selected as the sample calculated by Cochran's formula. The simple random sampling method was performed in this study with a proportional allocation. The validity of the research questionnaire through Cronbach's alpha coefficient for its different parts was calculated to be >0.84, indicating its proper validity. According to the results of multiple regression, four variables, i.e., economic factors, psychological factors, managerial factors, and socio-cultural factors respectively included in the multivariate regression equation, together resulted in approximately 40.7% of the dependent variable modifications in the development of entrepreneurial skills in agricultural cooperatives. The results also revealed that these variables affect the development of entrepreneurial skills and innovation in agricultural cooperatives positively. In addition, the results of path analysis suggested that economic factors had the highest impact on the development of entrepreneurial skills and innovation in rural cooperatives of Alborz Province (F = 0.579), indicating the importance of economic factors; while technical factors showed the least impact on the development of entrepreneurial skills and innovation of rural cooperatives in Alborz Province (F = 0.051).

References:

• Ansari, b. Mirdamadi, S.M.,Zand,A.(2013). Sustainable entrepreneurship in rural area.Reaserch Journal of Environmental and Earth Science, vol 5(10.pp26-31.


• Asgarian, F. & Khosravipour, B., (2013). Analysis of Factors Affecting Success and Participation in Entrepreneurship of Agricultural Cooperatives in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province. Knowledge Reference, 2nd International Conference on Management, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Qom, Payame Noor University.


• Haji, L., Valizadeh, N., & Karimi, H., (2019). Investigating the Effects of Contextual Factors on Entrepreneurial Spirit (The Case of Agricultural Cooperatives in Naghadeh Township). Journal of Entrepreneurial Strategies in Agriculture. 6(11): 26-33.


• Khosravi, E., Gholamrezaei, S., Rahimian, M., & Akbari, M., (2017). Analysis of Organizational Entrepreneurship Status in Cooperatives (Case Study: Poultry Farmers' Cooperatives of Kermanshah Province), Journal of Rural Development Strategies, 4(2): 181-194.


• Khoshmaram, M., Zarafshani, K., Mirakzadeh, A., & Alibaygi, A., (2017). Modeling Agricultural Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition in Kermanshah Province: Application of Nvivo Software. Journal of Rural Research. 1(4): 105-122.


• Shirani, R. (2017). Study of the factors affecting the entrepreneurship development of rural women in cooperative companies. Master Thesis, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Research Sciences Branch, 41-67.


• Zand, A. Arfaee, M & Eslami, k., (2020). Studying Effects of Consumed Fertilizer on Sustainable Rural Development by using AHP Method. Agricultural marketing and commercialization Journal.Vol 4 (1).pp 1-12.


• Zand, A. Hosseini, S. F, J. Mirdamadi, S, M. lashgarara, F. (2012). Archives Des Sciences.Vol 65(7).pp462-466.


• Piran, J.O. Zand, A. Hosieinzadeh, A & Mohamadi M. (2018). The Impact of Environmental Management on Rural Poverty in Ghahan Villages of Ghom Province. Agricultural marketing and commercialization Journal.Vol 2 (2).pp 41-37.


• Ghasemieh, R., Neysi, A., & Hardani, Y. (2020). Assessing the Mediating Effect of Innovation and Organizational Entrepreneurship on the Relationship between ICT and Improving Organizational Performance (Case Study: Ahvaz Industrial Town No. 1). Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, 13(3): 401-419.


• Nora, A. (2020). Study of the Impact of Organizational and Strategic Entrepreneurship of Khorasan Razavi Dairy Companies on Their Orientation to Internationalization, New Research Approaches in Management and Accounting, 4(39): 41-60.


• Valai, M., Abdolahi, A., Manafi Azar, R., & Safari, N. (2015). Analyzing The Factors Affecting Rural Constant Development By Emphasis On Entrepreneurship (Case Study: Northern Marhamat Abad Rural District-Miandoab County). Journal of Regional Planning, 5(19): 149-162.


• Yazdani, R., Khayrandish, M., Mohammadi Khyareh, M., & Amini, H. (2020). Study of Factors Affecting Rural Development with a Focus on the Role of Agricultural Entrepreneurship (Case Study: North Khorasan Province). Journal of Entrepreneurship Strategies in Agriculture, 7(13): 63-77.


• Azami, M., A. Yaghobi Farahani, E. Mousavi and A.H. Pirmoradi. 2014. Developing of organizational entrepreneurship in cooperatives. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Agriculture, 1(1): 1-18 (In Persian).


• Bashirahsan, M. and R. Ghorbaninejad. 2017. The role of entrepreneurial women in economic development (case study: Khoramrod rural district of Tuyserkan city). Geographical Territory, 14(53): 93-108 (In Persian).


• Farahani, A., H. Ghasemi and N. Mohammadi. 2013. Investigating environmental factors affecting on entrepreneurial spirituality of students graduate in physical education. Applied Research in Sport Management, 2(3): 61-74 (In Persian).


• Haji, L., Chizari, M. and Choobchian, Sh. 2016. Structural analysis of factors affecting the sustainabledevelopment of agricultural production cooperatives in rural areas Naghadeh Township. Journal of Rural Research, 7(1): 195-216 (In Persian).


• -Rezaei-Moghaddam, K. and Izadi, B. 2019. Entrepreneurship in small agricultural quick-impact enterprises in Iran: Development of an Index, effective factors and obstacles. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 9 (17): 1-21.


• -Saiz-Alvarez, J.M. 2020. Entrepreneurship: Concept and Theoretical Framework.


• In Encyclopedia of Organizational Knowledge, Administration, and Technology (pp. 1394-1412). IGI Global.


• Toosi, R., A. Jamshidi and A. Tagdisi. 2013. Rural entrepreneurship and determining the factors affecting it (case study: villages in Minoodasht county). Journal of Rural Research and Planning, 3 (8): 2-12 (In Persian).


• Pereira, V. J., Martinho,D. (2020). Agricultural Entrepreneurship in the European Union: Contributions for a Sustainable Development, Journal of Apllied Science, Appl. Sci. 2020, 10, 2080; doi:10.3390/app10062080.


• -Yunis,M., Tarhini,A.,  Kassar,A. (2018). "The role of ICT and innovation in enhancing organizational performance: The catalysing effect of corporate entrepreneurship”, Journal of Business Research, 88(1), 344-356.


• -Zhu, Q., Wachenheim, C.J., Ma, Z., and Zhu, C. (2018). Supply chain re-engineering: a case study of the Tonghui Agricultural Cooperative in Inner Mongolia. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 21 (1): 133-160.


• Lawrence, C., & Ganguli, D. (2016). Entrepreneurial behaviour of dairy farmers in Tamil Nadu. Indian Research Journal of Extension Education, 12(1), 6670-6682