University of Reading Department of Agricultural Economics 8c Management

AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVE MANAGERS

A pilot study of the recruitment and training of the managers of U.K. agricultural co-operatives

11:>, F. D. MILLS 40,6 ‘71.

Miscellaneous Study No.65

1978 Price £1.00 University of Reading

Department of

Agricultural Economics & Management

AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVE MANAGERS

A pilot study of the recruitment and training of the managers of U.K. agricultural co-operatives

F. D. Mills

Miscellaneous Study No. 65

1978 Price E1.00

0 7049 0680 5 ACKNOWLEDGal int TS

would like to acknowledge with gratitude, the assistance of the following:-

The Central Council for Agricultura3. and Horticultural Co-operation for their financial support.

Officers of the Central Council - particularly those chiefly responsible for Co-operative Planning, Training and Development.

, The chief executives who together with their colleagues gave so generously of their time in interview and questionnaire completion.

Colleagues in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Management at the University of Reading - for help in data recording, typing and publication of the final report.

Readers will appreciate that the views expressed in this publication are those of the author and. not necessarily to be regarded as those of the Department as a whole nor of the University. CONMNTS Page

I. Introduction

Co-operative Manages as people: education, training and employment history 3

Job Description 18 27 IV. Job Evaluation

V. Recruitment 33

VI. Summary and implications for the future 41

References 46

Appendices A. The Questionnaire and accompanying letters) 47

B. The Sample 55

C. Additional Tables 57

D. Previous occupations 59

E. Special training needs 60

F. Recent updatings or extension of training 63

G. Managerial training given to others 64

H. Adequacy of role definition 65

I. Differences between co-op and non co-op management 66

J. Management Recruitment Policy 69

K. Management Development Policy 70

L. Career Publicity 72

M. Future Changes in Managerial qualifications 75

N. Other likely future changes in the management of agricultural co-operatives 78 I. INTRODUCTION

Managerial ability is a productive resource. Few would disagree with what must seem to many an absurdly self-evident proposition. But how much is known about this resource and its employraent in British agricultural co-operatives? It is now well over half a century since an official enquiry (The Linlithgow Committee Report) published its views on agricultural co-operatives.

"In our interim reports we have set out the various causes of failure in this country such as the tendency for farmers to under-rate the importance of first class management and to pay managerial salaries inadequate to command the knowledge, judgement and. technical ski.1.1\which is necessary for the proper conduct of the societies' business."0)

Despite a growing volume of literature on various aspects of agricultural co-operation in the United Kingdom, there seems to be a general consensus that information about the managers of our agricultural co-operatives scarcely exists and that such information would be useful.* If there -is any truth in the conventional wisdom that any organisation (including a co-operative) is only as good as its managers, it would seem prudent for interested scholars and practitioners alike to find out more about this particular resource.(13).

To define 'management' and 'manager' with the precision expected of scientific investigators is a daunting task. No single universally acceptable definition of either term has so far been produced. One of the underlying difficulties is that those seeking definitive versions have widely differing objectives so that what might be adequate for one may well be unsuitable for others. Nevertheless, in the absence of a universally agreed definition, one must, however crudely, make an attempt to d.elineate the subject matter under investigation. For the purposes of this survey, the terms 'management' and 'managers' are used to refer to those people who by common consent (formal and informal) are responsible for the day-to-day control of an independent business involved in serving farmers either by way of supplying them with 'agricultural requisites' (e.g. seeds, fertilisers, animal-feeding stuffs) or in some way assisting with the marketing of farm produce (e.g.- storage, processing, selling, price negotiating etc.). This is not a particularly rigorous definition.

* Readers wishing to consult a definitive text on the organisation of agricultural co-operatives in the U.K. are referred to MORLEY, J. (7) An Appendix B (describing the sample and the methodology used in the survey) shows, 74 of the 100 managers completing the postal questionnaire are employed in the :traditional 'I and Pt co-operatives registered under the provisions of the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, whilst others (26/o) work for businesses which, though having co-operative constitutions, are registered under the Companies Acts. Moreover, a variety of formally described posts is likely to be encompassed (including e.g. Managing Director, General Manager, Chief Executive' Deputy and Assistant Hanagers, 'Accountant, Secretary, etc.). .Obviously, one also expects widely differing levels of achievement to be found. (amongst the managers -thus defined) - levels of achievement, that is to say, likely to range from utter failure to great and convincing success. Among the possible causes responsible for the varying degrees of success of co-operative businesses, it is a reasonable supposition that quality of management is one of the most significczit influences. Before that hypothesis can be tested however it is necessary to obtain data about the managerial resources in agricultural co-operative businesses. The main purpose of the investigation therefore has been to make a start in obtaining those data. In this largely fact-finding enquiry, information has been assembled about the educational and training background of agricultural co-operative managers; about the nature and extent of their managerial responsibilities, as well as the rewards - monetary and nory-Llonetary associated with their job. Information was also sought on previous posts held,. methods of recruitraent used, together with particular sources of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The full range of the issues investigated may be seen in more detail: from the questionnaire as set out in .Appendix A. Further information about the methods used in choosing the sample, in data collection and analysis is contained in Appendix B. Briefly, however, the bulk of the data analysed stems from the replies to the postal questionnaire. In a few instances this was supplemented by data arising from visits and interviews at some of .the larger co-operatives. - 3..

II. CO-OPERATIVE MANAGERS AS PEOPLE

Is there a typical- agricultural co-operative manager? The evidence assembled by the present survey would suggest otherwise. Variety rather than uniformity has characterised so many of the findings. From the first question about formal titles right through to the final invitation to express an opinion on changes foreseeable in the future, variety has been the key- note. This is perhaps well illustrated in the profusion of formal job titles reported by the managers completing the questionnaire (see Appendix C Table I). 'General Manager' was the most frequently stated title - being reported by 60% of the sample surveyed. The title of 'Managing Director' was used by 11% of the survey managers but a very similar proportion (12%) reported the double title of livianager/Secretaryl. alongst the remaining miscellaneous titles, those of 'Chief Executive' and 'Managing Director/Secretary' were each used by a relatively small proportion (3% in each instance). To the industrial psychologist, the question of title may have some significance in considering such matters as status, and morale and. these in turn may be seen to have some association with the power and influence of industrial managers. The nature of this enquiry however precludes further investigation of the speculative (but nevertheless interesting) sociological/psychological relationships between the posts held by managers and the titles given to them.

Of more practical significance than job titles, is the question of azac For fairly obvious reasons age is associated with qualities such as energy, imagination, caution, responsibility, each of which are clearly significant attributes of any managerial force under examination. A priori, job satisfaction for individual managers is expected to vary with different phases of his life cycle as well as, of course, with the different phases of his (2) career. The age distribution of the senior managers taking part in the survey is shown below.

(N.91) Number of Age Group Managers Under 30 yrs. 5 31 - 40 yrs. 21 23 41 - 50 yrs. 34 37 51 - 60 yrs. 21 23 Over 61 yrs. 11 12

Total 91 100 — 4 —

Given the normal span of human life and conventional notions of status, authority and the development of these qualities, the fact that the largest proportion (TN of the survey managers were in their 40's will perhaps occasion no surprise. The 23% reported as being in the 51-60 years of age group may likewise be not unexpected. More surprising, at least at first sight, is the small (123) proportion of the survey managers aged 61 and over and the number - (4) - of young managers i.e. those under 30 years of age. How far there is in fact a significant relationship between age and other aspects (e.g. job satisfaction) reported by the survey managers needs further investigation but meanwhile we may note that studies elsewhere have confirmed 'a priori' notions that older employees tend to express more job satisfaction than do their younger colleagues. Likewise the same studies have reported that 'employees with the shortest and longest length of service were more Company involved than those with a medium length of service'.(3)

The-70 at -11011 rOagerial xes 0 ibilit es were first unslertan is also of interest. The responses to this question are summarised below. (It should be noted of course that the managerial posts concerned are not necessarily in the agricultural co-operative business currently employing the survey managers).

Age when first appointed Number of to a managerial post Managers (85)*

Age group (Years) Under 20 years 6 7 21 - 30 years 46 54 31 - 40 years 28 33 41 - 50 years 4 51 — 60 years 1 1

85 100

*(6 managers did not answer this question)

These figures are interesting partly because for n. people. so-called success in apart:ler is closely connected with age. Certain steps on the promotional ladder are by common consent readhed by a particular age. It is said to be socially acceptable to "beat onels age -grade and career status . . . • „ and thus have . a reputation as a highflier".(5) Getting there late however is usually, a. cause for anxiety!, .Partly for this reason it is interesting to compare the age characteristics of the agricultural -co-operative managers - in bilis ffum-vey with corresponding data relating to managers in other sectors. Tables 1 and 2 below compare survey data with statistics from a survey made in 1970 by Dr. Legatt- on behalf of the Management Education Training and Development Committee of the N.E.D..C.(4)

TABla 1

Distribution of managers by age and sector

Age Group °6 Total Ember Sector 20's 30's 40's 50's 60's in sample

(a) Agricultural Co-operatives 5 23 37 23 12 91 Food 7 35 34 21 2 95 Retail Distribution 14 30 31 19 6 37 Wholesale Distribution 22 19 36 19 0 37

Source: N.E.D.C. The Training of British Managers H.M. S . 0 . - 1972 (a) Survey Data

111111111WWWW.

TABLE 2

Distribution of_cage on first managerial appointment (Agricultural co-operative. managers compared with managers generally)

A e (years) Agricultural Co-operative Managers (a) zaa2E-1.1.11.1n1:12a e/ io 20 and, under 7 2 21 to 30. 54 56 31 to 40 33 32 41+ 10

Source: N.E.D.C. The Training of British Managers }LEL& . 1972 . (a) Survey D#4

.•

The purvey and other data in Tables 1 and 2 are of course not .s:t_xj.c.ily, comparable. But if due note is made of the different sample sizes, definitions employed, year of investigation and the like, it would appear that there are no particularly startling contrasts. So far as the age structure and age on first being appointed to p. managerial post are • concerned, the managers of Britain's agricultural co-operatives mould — 6 — appear very little different from the managers in other sectors of the economy. The differences, such as they are, tend to appear at either end of the age spectrum. The figures in Table 29 for example, suggest that amongst the managers of agricultural co-operatives in the U.K. there are proportionately fewer in the younger age group (i.e. in their 20's 4nd 30's) and proportionately more in the older age groups (i.e. in their 50ts and 601s). Part of this difference however may well be due to differences between coverages of the two investigations. As explained elsewhere (Appendix. B) the postal questionnaire had been primarily designed for (and addressed to) the chief executives of agricultural co-operatives. The N.E.D.C. survey on the other hand had a wider coverage which included junior and. middle management levels as well as senior managers.

1122_24ucatianalbac1çaund of managers is also clearly likely to be of relevance for a deeper 'understanding of the nature of this particular imput as employed by British agricultural co-operatives. The relevance of educational qualifications for managerial posts is of course something of a contentious Lame. There are grounds for believing the topic to be raised more frequently and with more vigour by people with relatively low formal qualifications than by others. In a recent study,Dr. Cyril Safer has stated that in his view, very often .the debate is associated with the recruitment of graduates into the company.

"On the one hand it was said that academic studies had limited 'Matte for the Autoline company; that the work was a matter of common sense and did not require a particularly high level of education; that the knowledge acquired in formal education was not used; that the company ran on procedures that could be taught on the job; that time spent on the plant, especially on the shop floor is a better investment than formal education when it comes to handling practical problems, especially those involving people. On the other hand there were many expressions of regret, often by the same men about not having gone further with their formal education, and descriptions of attempts they had made or would still like to 1114 to overcome this . felt handicap by some form of part-time. study":0)

It is to be expected that in industry overall the educational qualifications existing in and indeed zeguired of managers would vary considerably between companies, depending on their size, nature of business and the like. The 1972 N.E.D.C. study provided a certain amount of evidence that in general, non-manufacturing industries were "significantly readier to take into management those with no particular educational qualifications".(4) Table 3 summarises the findings of the H.E.D.C. study. — 7 —

241312....2

Bducationaris revired of rnanagr in certain industries None. GCB Uni,v, Sector Professional imgazj o. 'A levels degree mbershi (a) Accelowzalifications Clothing 73 7 — 20 Distribution 61 48 13 4 Printing and Publishing 54 27 27 18 Road Transport 43 24 5 9

(b) Iholgaill&hIgh_gaallfications Oil and Petroleum 11 33 67 11 Finance • 13 40 30 40 Local Government 5 19 38 81

Amaismoloramaromisomm,

All industries sampled 39 20 28 27

(The answers include multiple responses in some instances, e.g. where different qualifications were required of different types of manager)

Source: 17.E.D.C. 1972(4)

The broad division of industries in Table 3 is too crude for most purposes but even so it is interesting in being consistent with "a priori" notions of the extremes one would expect to encounter. Certain industries, as the data in , Table 3 show, require exceptionally high qualifications whilst others expect little or nothing in the way of prior educational qualifications. As one might expect, firms in the clothing and distribution industries came into the latter category whilst oil and finance companies came into the former. The evidence from the survey of agricultural co-operative managers is all the more interesting for being seen in the context of data relating to industrial managers in general. Table 4 summarises the type of schooling reported by the managers of the 91 agricultural co-operatives taking part in the survey. - 8 -

TABLE A

Type of schools ,,ttgniclaciply_aalcalLbural co-o_erativp mana ers N.

Type of school Numbers

Grammar 40 44 Public (or private) 26 29 Secondary Modern 18 20 Technical 3 3 Church 'I 1 More than one type 3 3

Total 91 100

Very nearly two-thirds (.60) of the managers participating in the surv had attended either grammar or public school. Nearly 3c6 had in fact attended either public or private schools - a finding which may surprise sope.

Al...an...92mLour of graduatesnn professionally qualified people, agricultural co-operatives again seem not to compare unfavourably with otiler, sectors generally. Table 5 summarises the data on the post-school qualifications as reported by the survey managers.

TABLE 5

Post-school sualifications of a iaaltural co-o erative man,..ers N.100

First Degree (mostly on agricultural or related subjects) 17 Professional but non-graduate 39 Short term (less than one year) 14 None 30

Total 100

Wait

The proportion of graduate managers employed by the agricultural co-operatives (17%) can be compared with the corresponding ratios as reported in other similar investigations. Thus the 1972 N.E.D.C. investigation revealed that out of a sample of 89 managers working for firms employing between 500 and 999 workers, 11% of managers had a first degree.(4) — —

Likewise out of a sample of 104 managers of firms employing 100 to 499 workers, a similar proportion (IV) had a first degree. Firms with more than 1 9000 workers however tended to have a greater proportion of their managers with first degrees - over a fifth of such managers were graduates.

The question of graduate employment at managerial level in agricultural co-operatives will be raised again in a later section on recruitment. Meanwhile, it is as well to stress the difficulty of unreservedly accepting individual's responses as representing their real feelings on this, as indeed on a number of other subjects. This has long been a familiar limitation of social survey techniques and is to a certain extent inevitable. R.V.Clerae#ts in his 1956 study - 'Managers', for example, testified to the seemingly (6). defensive nature of many of the derogatory statements about graduates. All too often, he found that after sturdy assertions about- "experience and training got the hard way were best" there would follow statements of regret at not having gone to a university. This regret was not necessarily expressed in terms of education as a direct aid to their careers but rather more as "a culturally broadening experience or one that could impart confidence and ability to deal better with colleagues or with their opposite (6,) numbers in other firms".

It cannot be said that the present survey of agricultural co-operative managers revealed much evidence that the demand for university-trained managers as such was growing. However, with the greater availability of university education these days it would seem more or less inevitable that the agricultural co-operative sector will contain in its managerial ranks an increasing proportion of graduates, an increase that is to say, which is independent of specific changes in the demand by agricultural co-operatives for such people.

Earlier in this report attention has several times been drawn to the variety, of characteristics to be expected of manager and. job requirements alike. Once more this is markedly demonstrated by the non-aduate forms further education revealed by respondents' answers to Question 3a. The following is a list of the main forms of non-graduate further education or training undertaken by the agricultural co-operative managers participating in the survey. Estate Management Land. Agency Business Management Armed Services Technical Agriculture and. Horticulture) and Dairying) Book-keeping Accountancy Farm Management Marketing and Salesmanship Engineering Agricultural Co-operation

These 'courses' varied in duration from one day to several years. Some were given by professional bodies, by correspondence schools, by evening technical institutes agricultural colleges, the C M. (Institute of Corn and Agricultural Merchants), Business Schools, City and Guilds, Central Council - to name but a few. It is of course a moot Point as to whether this variety is to be welcomed as part of the culturally broadening experience mentioned earlier or to be deplored as evidence of the unco-ordinated profusion so characteristic of the training facilities that in the past have, some would seek to say, contributed, albeit haphazardly, to 'producing' today's agricultural co-operative manager. More will be said on this topic in the section dealing with recruitment. Meanwhile the wide variety of types of formal further education and training of Britain's agricultural co-operative managers has been noted.

Formal courses are not the only form of training for a career. Experience or, as it is sometimes put, "the university of life" is regarded by many to be equally if not more important as a factor contributing to managerial ability. The survey managers were accordingly asked to give information about the range a d ex-1jer posts with previous as well as with present employers. Table 6 shows the distribution of the years of service with the co-operative currently employing the survey managers, TABLE_ 6 Years QLsvice with emplo erina. 1 - 5 Years 32 6 - 10 Years 24 11 - 15 Years 14 16 - 20 Years* 21 - 25 Years 26 - 30 Years 31 - 35 Years 1 36 - 40 Years 2 Over 41 Years

100

4111.1MOMMINIOMPRIONI

The data on Table 6 show that well over half (56%) of the agricultural co-operative managers surveyed had been employed with their current employpr for less than ten years. At the other extreme 16% of the survey manage:L.'s had served , for periods of over 25 years - indeed some (6) had served for 41 years or more. Data which are exactly comparable are not available but in his 1970 study of 81 British Managers, Dr. Cyril Sofer reported the following.(5)

TA7T1.2 Number of ven=!service namber of_magzers O5- 6 -10 26 32 11 -15 27 33 16 -20 15 19 21 -25 7

Total - 81 100

As mentioned earlier, the much bigger percentage of agricultural co-operative managers with service in excess of 25 years is presumably mostly accounted for by the survey being designed primarily for chief executives who on the whole are likely to be older men. It is, even so, interesting to note that nearly a third of the co-operative managers liaa been with their present employer for fewer than five years. - 12 -

Of interest also is ta_mportion of manaa.ers who have occupied other pos-bs with their pre_2211.1_22agar Whilst over half (50 reported that they had not occupied other posts, nearly a quarter (23%) had been employed in one previous post and a further 11X) had in fact held two previous posts with their co-operative. Table 8 summarises this aspect.

TABLE 8 Maxima's hay=_previousl held other oats with resent em loyer (N. 9)

Number of diffettsd of 1 23 2 11 3 7

6 7 2 None 52 Not answered 1

100

In short then, just a third (34%) of the agricultural co-operative managers had. experience of one or two previous managerial posts with their current employer - some as office manager, some as sales manager or branch or regional manager.

The type of previous work most frequently reported was concerned with either selling (marketing) or with farming (growing.). An approximately equal number of respondents had been employed in a more technical/professional capacity, e.g0 as accountant, company secretary or office manager. There were three instances of managers who had previously held a directorship with their current employer, and two who had been buyers. These findings would once more seem to testify to a variety rather than to a uniformity of pattern of the previous posts with present employers. Appendix: D lists the full range of types of occupation experienced by survey managers before taking up their present post.

Most (91%) of the survey managers stated that they had one or more jobs with other employers before coming to the co-operative now employing them. Table 9 shows that nearly a fifth OM had only one post but that over a third of them had been employed in three different jobs beforehand. - 13 -

,Number of jobs held by qurve man ers before comm n to •resent em lo or N.100 Number of lobs 26. None 9 19 2 28 38 4 4 10 or more 2

100

These previous posts again displayed the wide variety typical of the attributes already described. School and. college teaching, service in the armed forces, farming, mining, fishing, the police, retailing, accountancy, selling, engineering, insurance, banking, clerical work, company secretaryship, farm management overseas, breed and. show society secretexyships, shipping, au.ctioneering and valuing, transport, MIS creamery work - each figured as areas of previous employment. In addition of course, managerships of vc.,,r4.q4s kinds had been held a-b branch, district or other regional levels together with a variety of functional appointments such as mill or transport manager and. of course the ubiquitous sales or marketing manager. P„uite how one interprets actual responses to these questions, i.e. - how much• to allow for. "modishness" in the terminology and how far jobs with different titles are really very similar are, of course, difficult questions. But due allowance having been made for the possible vagueness of the data, a number of points do emerge.First is the wide range of occupational backgrounds already noted. Secondly the fact.that one of the most frequently reported job categories is that of practical farming - either in the employer or the hired-worker sense. Thirdly a large number of survey mglragers stated that they. had previously held directorships of one sort or another with other firms - some unspecified - others reporting managing directorships and others marketing or sales directorships.

It is of course well known that some (though by no means all) of the larger companies in the U.K. either have their awn internally organised coume_a_Loxiazaa..,.....ders or arrange for their managers to attend external courses. In seeking further insight into the employment background of the survey managers it seemed relevant to enquire further into the inciaance and nature of training reported as being provided in this way. The majority of - 14 --

the respondents (61%)---t) ated-that-they had had no such courses. Lmongst those managers who had undergone (and supplied details of) such training, many seemed- to want to emphasise that experience of actually doing the job was the most valuable form of training. Stress was also laid on individual attitudes of keenness leading to private initiatives by way of reading in general and keeping themselves informed. The following response illustrates this kind of approach:

"To a considerable extent in the employ (sic) of a large farming and marketing company in South Lincolnshire. Plus a keen personal interest leading to much reading of trade, accountancy, costing and management books etc."

As would be expected, a number of nationally (and internationally) known companies (e.g. Tvlarks & Spencers, General Electric, British American.

Tobacco, Regent Oil, Du. Pont, Geia9 Unilever, I.C.I. Shellstar,9 Fisons, J.Bibby) were cited as having in various ways provided managerial training courses to the respondents whilst in their employment. The courses varied in length from one day to three .months. Co-operative agencies and. co-operative businesses themselves were sometimes (but far less frequently) quoted as either financing or making directly available courses for the respondents. The C S. was mentioned more than once, as were East Kent Packers, The Federation of Agricultural Co-operatives, and S.C.L.T.S. (Southern Counties Agricultural Trading Society). The educational and training institutions who provided these courses included the Plunkett Foundation and Brackenhurst College. Other agencies included in respondents' answers included the C• C A.11.C,, City and Guilds Institute, British Institution of Management, Ashridge College, and the Royal College of Agriculture.

Whether further formal training of managers is essential and if so what kind of training seems to be most appropriate are of course familiar areas of contention. That this is so can be seen from the pattern of answers to Question 3c which asked whether respondents thought formal training for management was "essential", "desirable but not essential", •or "unnecessary". Over half (53%) of the responses thought that such training was "desirable but not essential". Those who thought otherwise included some (38%) who deemed managerial training to be "essential". A very few (3%) stated that they believed such training to be unnecessary. "Only experience necessary", stated one manager, whilst another wrote, "There is nothing to compete with practical ex-perience •;- specialist training is a short cut". - 15 -

• One of the objectives ,of the survey, was to try to find. out how far at all) the management' of agricultural co-operatives was different -(im general aims and structure) from that of Qther _forms of business organisations. There are those, for .example, .who believe that the difference .between a co-operative and an ordinary company is not "properly,understood" : _ancl. "is a.- source of continual confusion and misunderstanding" leading to go-operatives .being""set tasks .which it .is.' not appropriate that they 'should undertake", a.nd to being "judged by criteria which are not -properly •applicable to •their circumstances". (7) . The': survey revealed that there axe number ..of agricultural co-operative-managers who would agree with this statement. Question 3d. Invited respondents to give their views on whether or not the 'management of*. co--,operative. societies as such called. for particular _specific training.,in some respebts. Whilst just under a third (30/0) gave replies indicating that they did not, think any particular training (specific to the. co-operative form of the -organisation) was necessary, amongst the -remainder there was obviously a significant number who took the .contrary view: Appendix E contains a selection of the verbatim. replies, to this question. Illustrative. of this point of. view .are such statements .as 'So long as the . difference between co-operative society and private company •is -known. and • appreciated" - and "to the extent of emphasibing the difference between tie co-operative business and !private' or "capitalistic business". • Another manager with similar views wrote that particular and specific training was 'called for' so as "to bring out the difference in Co-operative Marketing as against Private commercial trading"... . But the replies ta Question 3d were also interesting for'the light thrown on the difficulties 'some managers experienced in answering this question.* - Responses included "Equating commeimial and co-operative thinking difficult" and. "the art (sia). . of being commercial but still maintaining the interest of its members", and "the need to motivate members to Co-operate as opposed to 'accepting commercial authority". One chief executive even went so far as to write "Co-ops (sic) have a natural tendency to be loosely structured. and hence under-organised. To be successful this must 'be countered by a strong oi?gani.sational skill at the top".

The selection of replies to qu.estion- 3d contain a number (15) of references to the problems centering on member/society relations - presumably arising out of the fact that. in the agricultural co-operative

. . * These difficulties seem to be partly in knowing what to think- but partly also perhaps in expressing what they thought. - 16 - form of business it is the members themselves who are either its suppliers or its customers or both. Thus "Society/Member relationship requires special skills" or "In dealing with member suppliers" or "To balance growers-member interest with long term company interest" may be token as an indication of the tensions sometimes arising out of the triple role played by many farmers/growers vie-a-vis their co-operative, i.e. of being a shareholder/ member (with voting rights) at the same time as either supplying or buying (or both) from the same orgrmisation. Emphasis on the training in the special membership relations aspects of co-operative businesses figured as frequently in the responses, as did. the need for knowledge of and sympathy with, the "basic structure and philosphy of co-operatives", as one respondent put it. By far the most frequently observed single topic in this Quest for what agricultural co-operative managers themselves thought was the most urgent training, concerned the essentially commercial approach deemed to be so desirable. Reference has already been made to this aspect. Perhaps (for the moment) the last word on this may be allowed from one of the respondents who did not believe that the nature of co-operative societies called for particular specific training for its managers. His reply was "No - other than normal commercial training plus some legal. They are essentially comercial concerns as are their constituent parts (members) with whom one should deal as both managers and consultants".

The survey managers were also asked to give brief details ...on.„ extension or up-dating of their training that they may ,have undergone. The majority (65$) stated that they had .n.ot undergone any such extension or up-dating. Eleven managers did not answer this question, but as Lppendix P shows, apart from one respondent who acquired a post-graduate Diploma in Ivirmagement Studies, most of the managers who had experienced further training instanced the one or two-day short courses organised and/or given by the Central Council. The Central Council was indeed far and away the most frequently mentioned source of further training - nearly half (45/) of the 24 u te-rs who provided details of such training referred to courses organised by this inItitatiOn. Other institutions mentioned in this context were the ilsricultural Training Board and the Manchester Buainess School. One interesting aspect of the replies was that a number of the courses mentioned seemed - from their title to be.more concerned with Director training, e.g. two replies referred to the C.C.A.H.C.'a new (sic) Director's Course - and one reply mentioned "Video". "How to be on effective Chairman". -

On the question of whether or not they were involved in giving mamEq,li.alW to others formally or, informally iiithin or outside their co-operative, about a third (34. of the respondents. replied. that they were not involved in this activity. Nearly two-thirds of.the .managers however reported that :they were involved in giving this kind, of.. training,- mostly to employees within their own co-operative..and mostly on an informal basis. Only two of.the respondents mentioned that they gave some extelup.1. training via lecturing at e.g. A.T.B. courses or assisting on "C.C.A.H.C. Courses"; Appendix G contains a selection of the more detailed replies. III._ JOB DESCRIPTION

In order to obtain. a clearer picture of the nature and setting of their particular jobs, 'survey mana6rs were invited to draw a simple organisational chart to illustrate the main lines of command, numbers of sub-ordinates, direction of aupervisional responsibility etc.. Clearly the detailed elements of any managerial hierarchy are likely to vary according to size, type of product(s) (or processes), number of employees and other similar factors. Not every respondent answered this particular question (Question 4e) and amongst the charts that were produced there were the inevitable ambiguities. By and large however, the evidence collected from the questionnaires confirms the existence of a reasonably typical (and to be expec-ted)pattern.

Most of the agricultural co-operatives' managerial hierarchies that were outlined showed, as one would expect, the supreme policy-making function as being the prime responsibility of the Board of Directors. (The former term, "Committee of Management", was used by only one or two respondents.)* The organisational 'tree' then usually started by showing the Chief Executive as being responsible to the Board via (usually) its Chairman. Below the level of Chief Executive however a wide variety of chains of command were outlined, varying, one suspects, not only with size and type of business but with the appetite for detail and organisational blue-prints possessed in greater or lesser degree by survey managers. At one end of the spectrum, for example, extreme simplicity was the keynote. In one small and relatively recently established co-operative company the managerial hierarchy was presented thus:-

Manager

Account and Invoice Clerk

By way of contrast however the organisational chart drawn for a large and long-established co-operative, with an annual turnover in excess of E20 million, has (and obviously needs) a much more complex division of managerial responsibilities. The Chief Executive is also the secretary and has a Deputy (in both capacities). Other colleagues in the same co-operative work at the same hierarchical level e.g. Chief Accountant and Computer Manager. Immediately responsible to the Chief Executive (and his Deputy)

* It would appear that the statutory tern "Committee of Management" is used these days mainly by Welsh co-operatives. In England it has been largely superseded by "Board of Directors". - 19 - axe three assistant general managers whose responsibilities are partly regional, partly functional - e.g. Sales, and partly on a Commodity basis (e.g. grains or fertilisers or fuels). The next rung comprises mainly branch managers, shop managers, machinery managers. At this level of authority however the wealth of detail submitted precludes further analysis. Given the variety (and vagueness?) of the terminology used there seems little point in attempting to reproduce the full range of organisational charts submitted in answer to qu.estion 4e. Moreover it is well known that however clearly and unambiguously a particular organisational chart has been drawn, the extent to which it truly represents the actual lines of division currently operative is uncertain.

It is almost a truism that all successful business. organisations need to establish an effective communications mechanism by which the various elements of the management team are co-ordinated. Most would agree that a .....s.i„,pagea non in this respect is close and frequent contact between a society's chief administrator and its policy makers. In part this is achieved by having the chief executive present at Board. Meetings - either in his own right because he has a seat on the Board (e.g. those chief executives who were managing directors) or because such a practice is seen to be a sensible element of good communications. This would seem to be the view (and the practice) of the bulk of the co-operatives surveyed.. All but one of the chief executives stated that they attended meetings of the Board. Moreover the vast majority (97/3) stated that they influenced the preparation of the agenda for such meetings.

The co-ordination of any large group of individuals however is not solely a matter of formal meetings between policy-makers and senior officials. Informal contacts - the unscheduled as well as the scheduled have a part to play in the mechanism whereby "left hands know what right hands are doing" (or thinking of doing). The nature and frequency of such contacts is of interest to those seeking to understand more of the inner workings of an organisation. Managers were therefore invited (Question 4i) to indicate the extent of their business contacts with their Board Chairman, with other members of the Board, with ordinary members of their co-operative. The answers ranged from "daily" to "occasionally". Seven per cent of chief executives reported that they saw their Board Chairman daily whilst for a further 19/) such contacts occurred more frequently than once a week. A further 41% wrote that they met their Chairman weekly on business matters. Those managers who net their Chairman less frequently were clearly in the minority. Nevertheless, the 10% of cases in which such meetings were described as occurring only. 'occasionally' must give some cause for concern. - 20 -

Meetings between managers and other members of their Board were (by definition almost) likely to be less frequent than those between Chief Executive and. Chairman. The majority of Managers stated that in the main they met the other members of their board. once each month (presumably mostly at Board meetis). A nimbei. of the responses to this question however were • couched in (uncle.=3.bande.,b1y) imprecise terms such as "as frequently as required" or "when the occasion demands it".

Contacts between a Society's Chief Executive and its ordinary members is clearly, in the nature of things, not likely to be anything like as frequent as with Board members. The evidence collected from the questionnaire is that over three-quarters (76%) of the managers reported that their contacts with ordinary members, though 'regular' in some cases, were mostly 'occasional' or 'limited'.

More detailed data about particular managerial responsibilities were naturally enough one of the main themes of the _Job Description section of the questionnaire. In an ideal world of course these responsibilities are always clearly defined by the Board of Directors. In practice however the question of proper delineation between what is the function of the Board and what are the responsibilities of the managers is frequently not at all clear. This has been said many times by a number of authorities over a long period. of years. The Co-operative Independent Corinission Report (1958) observed, "Tie have been surprised to discover in how few Societies is there any clear definition of the responsibilities respectively of the Board and its Chief Officials". More recently the Central Council published the results of an investigation (9) undertaken on their behalf by Wye College. According to the "Wye Study", "Role definition has been left particularly obscure in the case of the co-operative managers. Board supervision is most often asserted by limiting his discretionary -powers". This finding however does not seem consistent with the replies of the managers participating in the present investigation. Predictably perhaps, the great majority (81%) abpeared. to think that their role had been adequately defined by their organisational supervisors. • Three managers did not answer the relevant question (5d). Out of the whole sample only sixteen stated that they did. not believe that their role (i.e. in terms of specific responsibilities, channels of communication etc.) had been satisfactorily delineated.

Appendix H contains a selection of the verbatim replies to question 5d i.e. by those managers who claimed their role had been inadequately defined. The responses are puzzling. Some are generally approving but others indicate dissatisfaction. Quite a number see no particular disadvantage - 21 - inherent in ill-defined _managerial responsibilities. This perhaps was most colourfully put by. the respondent who wrote ".It has only been defined in the loosest manner - but :this allows scope for initiative - and brickbats". Much the same point was put by another who asserted "1 happen not to believe in too rigid definitions of either responsibility. or communications". The sane respondent continued however with the revealing statement "1 look upon this business as my own and too much rigidity can freeze action".

The more critical comments made by survey managers concerning the adequacy of their Board's definition of specific managerial responsibilities merit some attention. For example the comment "Ily organisational supervisors are my Board and Chairman. .Insofar as they are inexperienced in corporate commercial matters they do not understand their role and therefore cannot define mine", will perhaps be echoed by more than one manager. Other comments included: "Never been defined" or "I had to write my own job description". Such statements as "Does not apply" or "This took some time" or "But- irrelevant as I have to see evinp. and can delegate as necessary", whilst not always clear, do at least provide food for thought. One wonders how far agricultural co-operatives are different in these respects from most other kinds of comparable business organisation. To keep a proper sense of perspective however it is as well to recall again that over four-fifths (81) of the responding managers stated that they thought their role had been adequately defined by their organisational supervisors. On a lighter note, perhaps the last word should be left with the manager who completed this part of the questionnaire (Question 5d) by stating,"It would be most difficult for them to deScribe me as anything but the bloke in charge in

As part of an attempt to obtain more specific information about managerial responsibilities, a series of questions (Section 4h(i) to (iv)) were designed to throw light on how far and on what aspects managers had. complete discretion and how far they had to seek formal Board approval for their actions. Four main areas of decision-making were delineated, viz personnel, innovation, capital expenditure, and trading (i.e. buying and selling).

^

• * In order to avoid identification of individuals some data have been deliberately withheld. - 22 -

Managerial discretion over personnel matters (mainly recruitment and dismissal of staff) mostly conformed with expectation, tbat is to say near37 two-thirds (634) stated that they had entire responsibility. Most of the remainder (reporting only a part responsibility for personnel matters) recorded that for management-level appointments other colleasues (including Directors sometimes) were (and needed to be) consulted. One Chief Executive (possibly a little more explicit in his replies than most) explained that whilst his Board. placed no restrictions on him, colleagues were always consulted as a matter of course. Another respondent replied thauchtfully "One must appreciate that functions are inter-related and there is dependence on other people e.g. personnel but the ultimate responsibility is to the M.D. via the Director concerned".

Responsibility for innovations and longer tern development matters generally was reported by the majority (700) as being a part responsibility. Of those managers claiming entire responsibility in these matters a number admitted that although 'thinking' innovations was their 'entire' responsibility - they were as managers only 'partly' responsible for the implementation of new ideas.

As one would expect, the responsibility for capital expenditure was an area where the majority (73%) of the managers reported only a part, responsibility. Typical of the replies to Question 11(iii) in Section 4 are "Apart from replacement (capital items) Board always consulted". "Board ratifies large capital expenditure". "Major capital projects require Board approval". Not many referred to an actual limiting figure for unratified capital expenditure but amongst those that did the range of limits ouoted was wide. One manager for example stated that he had entire responsibility for capital expenditure only for achemes not exceeding 6:50 in value. For others figures of EMI and E300 were mentioned whilst at the other extreme "New expenditure over E5,000 would be a Board decision".

• It will surprise few that for the trading type of decision (choosing supply sources, channels of output distribution etc.) the bulk of replies showed that most (79%) had entire responsibility. One suspects however that there is a danger of artificially forcing an unreal strait jacket, of labels on matters which are too varied to be meaningfully slotted into neat mutually exclusive categories. The following comment from the chief executive of a second tier co-operative illustrates thus - "1 would like to point out that this Society is unique and many of the answers may not coincide with single society situations with profit motives". - 23 —

As part- the attempt to understand what is involved in co-operative management the respondents were invited to estimate the number .of hours worked • • • in an average week (Question 6f) and to indicate an approximate breakdovm of the main elements of that. week (question- 4d). The range of answers to both questions are interesting. ,The number of hours rep.orted as an average working week was as follows:-

Hours worked Number of Manapers N.100

Up to 30 hours 2 31 to 35 hours 0 36 to 40 hours 8 41 to 45 hours 8 46 to 50 hours 31 51 to 55 hours 19 56 to 60 hours 18 Over 60 hours 12 Not answered 2.

' Total 100

It can be seen that at one extreme two respondents reporteci an i'.veree.,ge working week of under 30 hours. These however, in the words of one of them, found the question "difficult because this group (sic) would seem to be atypical". (Needless to say, their gross salaries were not in the highest income bracket, and in both cases each stated that they enjoyed earned-income from other sources). At the other extreme, there were five instances of an average working week claimed to be in excess of 70 hours. One or two of the more considered replies differentiated between. seasons, (e.g. for sin months of the year an average working week of 100 hours was combined with the other six months averaging about 45 hours per week). Others were careful to point out that their estimate included evening meetings of one sort and. another - mostly referred to as members 'evenings'- but sometimes including evening meetings of Directors. Still others were honest (and realistic) enough to note that their estimated hours included travelling plus "thinking" time off the job whilst pursuing maw other interests. One obvious enthusiast accompanied his estimate of 65 hours per week with the comment "My own fault but I love it".

question 4d, as already indicated, was one of a number in Section 4 designed to throw light on what agricultural co-operative managers actually do, i.e. how their week went in terms of time spent on the various things they did. Regrettably however there were more "ilia's" and. "blanks" to this 24 question than to most others. One or two respondents even went so far as to answer "not possible" or "it is really not possible to define an average working week with this breakdown". Some differentiated between seasons. In general however the undefined terms used (in what way, for example, does 'budget projection' differ from 'financial planning', and to what extent does 'marketing' differ from 'selling'?) meant that the responses to this particular question were one of the least satisfactory parts of the whole investigation. Amongst some of the less ambigiaus answers the following may however be of interest:-

"15% studying management information, 65% talking with senior managers responsible to me, 10% negotiation, 10c/ investigation future opportunities". 25% 750% preparation for meetings and sending out information, negotiating, Iqi.) accounts, 1CP/0 budgets, 5% drinking and lunching".

"Finance 10%, keeping everyone happy - growers 303/3, staff 60/)".

For the purpose of this survey the term 'job description' includes the terms (or conditions) of the appointment e.g. salary, holidays, pensions etc.. It would obviously be naive however to expect a completely definitive examination of all the factors motivating individuals in their work - the incentives and disincentives - monetary and non-monetary. In setting out below the visible and the measurable elements of agricultural co-operative managers' rewards it is as well to remember that these are only a part and not necessarily the most significant part of the total explanation.

Salaries perhaps come first to most people's minds when describing and comparing jobs. Survey managers were asked (Question 6g) to indicate in which of eight income brackets their gross salary fell in the last complete financial year (1976/1977). One senior and one assistant manager failed to complete this part of the questionnaire. The replies of the remainder are summarised overleaf. Gross Sal of A icultural Co-o erative Nana,ers in the U.K. Survey

•• • . . Last complete Financial ear fall

Gross Salabracket All Survey Asst.Managers Senior Managers Managers No. No. No. ° 0/ Over £15,000 p.a. 6. 7 Between £12,500 and £159000 p.a. 2 2 2 Between £10,000 and. £12,500 p.a. 5

Between £7,500 and E109000 p.a. 15 13 14 Between £5,000 and 07,500 p.a. 37 33 37 Between £39500 and £5,000 p.a. 22 21 23 Between £2,500 and £3,500 p.a. 6 Below £2,500 p.a. 5

Total 98 8 ,0 loo

Over a third (37%)- of the Senior Survey Managers stated that their gross salary in 1976/77 came somewhere within £59000 to £7,500 bracket. Less than a tenth (V) reported a gross salary in excess of £15,000 p.a. At the other end of the salary range five managers reported a gross salary of less than E2,500 p.a. Factors likely to influence the level of gross salary wo-uld obviously include the responsibility carried by individual managers of differently sized businesses, the extent of other (non'-cash elements) of the rewards and. the hours of work. Some of these 'other' aspects are the subject of comment in the following paragraphs.

Age of expected retirement and pension arrangements affect- this general (overall) picture of the 'sticks' and. 'caxrots' associated with different occupations. Most managers (74%) reported 65 years es being the expected retirement age, but 10/ were:unsure of the exact age. "Have not considered this" or 'Tot specified" are examples of the vagaeness,, perhaps deliberate, of a proportion of the responses. Pension arrangements of some kind, were reported by the large majority (84%) of survey managers. Amongst the various schemes described,, the following figured most favourably: Top Hat, N.F.U. Mutual Life Assurance and. Superannuation Scheme -.often linked with the corresponding Agricultural Organisation Society according to region (60 g. S.A. O. S" W.11.0.S. ) . Some managers pension arrangements were also linked with their own (privately orgeanised.) insurances but with :their co-operative paying (typically 5% of gross salaxy). The levels of pension most frequently stated amounted to two-thirds of final salary but, as is well known, individual pension arrangements vary widely 7 in terms of employer/employee contributions as well as in type of benefit accruing.

•••• 26

Period of notice to be given by the Survey Managers varied from one to six months. Two managers reported that they slid not _know what period of notice was expected of them. "Contract still awaited!" was the response from one senior manager who had been with his co-operative for three years. "At my own discretion" was the reply given by an already elderly manager of a relatively small co-operative. The most frequently stated period of notice was three months - reported by 40ro of the survey managers. Those managers required to give (and to be given) .as much as six months' notice or more accounted for 2% of the total.. A further 9'-/ reported an expected period of notice as not having been actually defined in writing.

Holiday entitlements were varied in extent and type of arrangements. The bulk (59%) of managers reported an =1 holiday of four weeks, compared to the three weeks allotted to over a fifth (22%) and the five to six weeks reported by nearly a tenth (v). Four managers stated that their co-operative had not specified any partidoular holiday entitlement.

The various other elements of =numeration (mostly the non-cash of fringe-benefits) enjoyed by survey managers are summarised below:

Numbpr of -benefit' en,ired e of 'fringe Senior Manv:ers (17,91) 1. Free (or assisted) housing 8 2. Provision of car 65 71 3. Car running costs (in whole or in part) 81 89 4. Life insurance 57 63 5. - Discount purchases 43 47 6. Luncheon vouchers 7. Others 10 11

It can be seen that a large proportion (89/i) of the survey managers (chief executives) had their car running costs paid either wholly or in part. Nearly three-quarters of them stated that they were provided with a car. The additional benefit of life assurance (reported by 63%) was frequently closely bound up with their s pension arrangements. Discount purchases (most frequently quoted as 20% off) were also available for nearly half of the managers. Luncheon vouchers figured hardly at all, being mentioned by only four respondents. Free or assisted housing was also only infrequently (V) cited - mostly in the form of low interest-rate loans for assisting with house purchase. One manager explained that he had "free life rental for himself or wife". In addition the miscellaneous "other category of fringe benefits was used by a few respondents (10,1 to include sickness schemes( e. g. B.U. ), reimbursement of home telephone bills (either wholly or in part), out-of-pocket expenses, low price canteen lunches and even help towards Men's Club subscriptions. No attempt was made to place a money value on these benefits. - 27 -

IV. JOB EVALUATION*

-.. SuX.v.ey managers were invited (Section 5) to explain what they liked about their jobs and. especially what-(if anything) they *found, particularly interesting and rewarding. . ,Before assessing these replies one needs to bear in mind the bias likely -to -characterise answers to such questions. pcholars, in the U.S.A. and elsewhere have confirraed what many would have expected - that "people .commonly feel some pressure to find something positive, to .sa,y.about social,,axrangements..in which they are implicated and

indeed to which they have boranitments".(10). In short it will be as well to- remember,that . the survey managers .7 particularly the older and more • established, 'may tend to see theirS careers as their "personal destinies" and to make the best of their current posts - without necestha.i.ily believing that they fit closely into them.- The three most frequently mentioned 'reward aspects' were:

(1) those concerned with the freedom to act, (2) those concerned with the variety of tasks involved., • (3) those concerned with :the satisfaction of being successful in developing and improving.,members' interest.

, A summary of the full range of replies is contained in Lpperiii± C Table 11. Typical of the emphasis on the 'freedom of action' type of satisfaction are the following 'comments:-

"The freedom of action it offers when compared to a large bureaucratic company. • .Only the general: policies are..contro13.ed by. the Board and I have some influence there also".

, ..- "The freedom I am given in my, job"

"Almost entirely in control of one's destiny".

"Being entirely responsible for the successful running of the enterprise with the Board"

• "The freedom to run the" business as -if it was my own and the changing nature of the work". .

On job variety they say:-

"Challenge of an ever changing situation"

"Size, scope, diversification etc."

"The wide range of contacts - growers, staff, wholesalers, supermarkets and general trade contacts".

"Variety of commodities/the agricultural connection"

"Complexity of the business brings considerable variety td1 my work" 28..-

"A good mixture of business and dif.f.Qrent business people"

"Me continual variation presented by varying throughput". •.•

On the sense of satisfaction in getting and seeing results, in moving towards their co-operative's objectives:

"Building a successful team; managing a successful co-operatiiie, providing a useful service to members"

"Mainly satisfaction of being able to satisfy growers in growing, •producing and marketing a given crop" e "Satisfaction in creating an environment in which people 'con*be motivated, developed tandaan.succeed"

"Correctly judging 'the vital factor of correct time Of marketing; successfully developing a. management team; .making money, out of seasonally spare facilities" •

"Sales and profitability - service offered to members"

Question 5b asked survey managers what they regarded as the most 'demanding aspect of their job. Once more it will be as well to bear in rind the findings of other investigators in this fi4d. There is a good deal of agreement that "causes of dissatisfaction are gore apt to be concentrated on (ii) factors in the work environment". Large organisations, after all, provide plenty of evidence for the delays and diffusiveness inevitable in a bureaucratic structure and thus allow employees to protect their elf-esteem by attributing the causes of particular problems and difficulties to factors other than themselves.

A number of points emerge. The most frequently mentioned areas which

the 111 •• ers found demanding were:

(1) various problems attributed (rightly or ,ronly)' to tile co-operative form of the organisation; (2) personnel and industrial relations matters; (3) the increasing extent and complexity Of U.K. and E.E.C. regulations; (4) cash flow, coping with inflation and. financial problems generally; (5) trading and having to adjust to sharply fluctuating markets.

For some managers however, it wasn't so much the co-opera#ve form of organisation that came first to mind when they responded to question 5b, but as one of them put it "People": Others elaborated on the sane theme:

"Currently the most demanding aspect is fitting roundpins into round holes"

"Man-management'. - 29 -

"Personnel selection, motivation of people, staff as well as customers"

"Ensuring middle-management work together as a team"

"Staff relationdhips at senior and middle levels and delegating as fully as possible to them"

"Personnel management"

"Industrial Relations"

Having a 'go' at the bureaucrats is of course a familiar way of "letting off steam". To judge from some comments however there may be more than the 'safety-valve' aspect involved. One instinctively feels for those respondents who replied thus to Question 5b:-

"Keeping myself up-to-date with new legal matters such,as transport law, Employments Acts, Weights and Measures, Consumer Protection, Health, Fire etc."

"Keeping abreast with Government Regulations"

"Uncertainty when planning, trading, pricing etc. due to Goverment and E.E.C."

"Legislation on employment and Industrial Relations"

"ilardnistration and legal formalities"

The problems of financial management during a period of rapid inflation were also a source of frequent comment:

"Cash flow"

"Financial control and planning"

"Control of cash and striving for efficiency whilst having to accept the constraints on the agricultural supply 'industry"

"Accounts"

"Periodical accounts and the financial year end"

"Production Balance Sheets"

"Credit Control"

"Keeping pace with inflation; cash flow projection/control-margins"

It is interesting, if somewhat =scientific, to compare these responses with the findings from other similar investigations. The comparison is admittedly a crude, one for like is definitely not compared with like. The (5) investigation by Dr. Sofer has already been mentioned. Broadly speaking, - *30 -

the responses of• Dr. Soler's managers were similar to those of agricultural co-operative managers with respect to those aspects of their jobs which they found most rewarding and interesting. The main points, (of freedom, of total responsibility, of..challenge etc.) seem to be common to both investigations. "Problems in colleague relations" were in fact mentioned in both investigations - a predictable enough comment in any organisation where large numbers of human-beings are involved. Dr. Sofer's respondents however had a pattern of dislikes in relation to their job which only barely resembled the responses of agricultural co-operative managers. "Routinization of job", "lack of variety","inability to get job done", "excess number of persons at own level" were rarely mentioned by the co-operative survey managers.

Some evidence that a number of managers believed that the most demanding aspects of their job could be attributed to the essentially 'co-operative' form of their business orgrinisation may be seen from the following selection of verbatim replies:

"Constant communication of the principles of co-operation"

"The non-co-operation of members - everyone's price is lower than ours according to our salesmen"

"The large number and frequent meetings that a co-op seems to have"

"Convincing Board and. members of the need to run a society on commercial lines even though a co-op"

"The restrictions of the co-operative ideology that the profit motive is alright for the members but not for the co-operative"

A further question (c,5e) was directed towards identifying characteristics which may distinguish co-,operative management from the management of other businesses. Over half (5%),.of the sample stated. that they did not believe there were substantial differences. The full list of responses has been set out in Appendix I. Even a cursory examination would reveal the great preponderance of comments on the theme (with variations) of flour suppliers/our customers are also .our members/our. shareholders". A selection of replies to this effect is set out below:-

nocietybppber .relationship is unique (or should be)"

"Co-operatives are weak sellers and do not appreciate marketing techniques as a,private company does"

."Dealing - with member/suppliers" to be employer" • "Each member does at times consider himself - 31 -

The indivic1i,n,1 farmer as a shareholder feels he has the absolute right to personal'access to the G.M." General Manager)

"There are, at times restrictions Which inhibit commercial development, particularly in regard to one corr5tment to members and their lack of commitment to the Society"

"Being answerable to 'X' number of members rather than vrt number of shareholders requires greater concentration and leads to far greater involvement in individual, personal and business problems. This commitment leads to greater heart-ache in different trading tines"

Question 50 listed a number of detailed aspects of job characteristics (e.g. pay, promotion prospects, status" etc.) and asked managers to state how far they were satisfied with these aspects of their present posts. The replies have been summarised in the table below:-

Summary of replies to Question 50

Extent of managers satisfaction with their s ob's characteristics #N100) Moderately' Not Not Satisfied Job Characteristic Satisfied Satisfied laiswered

, The kind of Work done 88 10 - 2 The rewards (monetary & non-monetary) 42 48 The job security offered 64 28 3 The freedom in decision-making 89 9 1 Working relations with subordinates 87 13 - - The job's status 75 20 3 2 outside & inside 49 26 9 16 Promotion prospects co...operatives) Professional contacts 45. 34 18 3 (between co-operative) (managers) Contact with Board Chairman 90 - 7 2 1 Contact with other Board members 82 13 4 1 Contact with ordinary* members 59 29 11 , 1

The pattern of these responses is interesting. Taken at face value the replies suggest that whereas the bulk (88%) were quite satisfied with the kind of work they did they were far from satisfied with their rewards. at all Over half (570/3) of the respondents stated that they were either not emoluments satisfied (9%) or only moderately satisfied (48%) with their total the total job (including non-opnetary benefits). The 'rewards' element of proportion of characteristics was in fact the element which had. the lowest substance in the 'satisfied' responses. Does this mean that there is still 32

- bearing often heard observation that co-operative mangers are underpaid in in mind their responsibilities and what their counterparts might earn Clearly, more similar jobs outside (i.e. in non-co-operative businesses)? the most facts are needed and more thought given to this. question. About to be that can be said is that in the evidenae collected, there would seem cause for concern on this aspect.

is the Another item of interest in the general 'satisfaction' picture managers. relatively poor picture of the promotion prospects of co-operative aspect of Less than half (49/0) replied that they were satisfied with this 'not their job. It is also interesting to note that the incidence of less than 13% answered' was the largest for this particular question - no failed to respond - though wha, this was so, can only be conjectured.

of The need for more professional contacts between the managers Less than agricultural co-operatives would also seem to cause concern. Indeed it half (45%) reported that they were satisfied with this aspect. that was the professional contacts element of the answers to 0Aestion 5c Again, recorded the highest proportion (1 %) of 'not satisfied' responses. this finding prompts further questions about the significance of this institutions particular source of dissatisfaction and about how far existing may wish (and. be suitable) to cope with any adjustments that may be proposed.

On a more positive note it is equally relevant and interesting to note the areas of satisfaction reported by the survey ...zero. Contact with Board Chairmen, and with other Board members seemed reasonably satisfactory - WA and 82% respectively being the proportion of respondents racking' indicating that this was so. So too was the 'freedom in decision and 'working relations with subordinates',each of which was 'sported by nearly 90,4 of respondents as satisfactory. - 33 -

V. RECRUITMENT

The recruitment techniques used by business organisations in looking for potential managers are one of several factors likely to influence the quality of that management. L. variety of more or less formal recruitment methods may be employed - newspaper advertisements, recruiting campaigns - including the annual 'milk rounds' of personnel officers to universities. Short term courses and/or temporary posts are sometimes given in order to provide potential applicants with a more authentic picture of the employing

organisation. • Research, even, is sometimes conducted into the career pre-occupations of potential graduates so that recruiting strategies can take account of these.(5)

It was with questions of this kind in mind. that Section 7 of the questionnaire was designed - to help to'throw light on managerial recruitment methods used in British agricultural co-operatives in the mid. 19701s. Respondents were first of all asked (Question 7a) how they had. first heard about their present job. It was clear from the responses that two main sources predominated - advertieemept was mentioned by 4531, and just under a third (30 stated that they had learned informally - by word of mouth). Only 4% had been informed by a professional association and only 9% had. heard. from more than source.

In Question 7b the focus was switched away from the responding manager to the recruitment methods of his particular co-operative. Once more, advertisement had pride of place - mentioned by well over a third (37:;C) of the replies, though nearly as many (34'/) stated that their organisation made use of more than one raethod. Professional associations, employment agencies, Agricultural Organisation Societies (A.O.Sts) scarcely got a mention.

Job applicants usually have to provide detailed information on such matters as educational qualifications, past occupations, general experience etc.. Question 7c was designed to throw light on what importance each co-operative gave to these various aspects of an applicant's curriculum vitae. Respondents were invited to state what weight their organisation gave to each of the eight factors listed below: -34 -

Job credential. factors (N.100 ° Weigiti I IL 4

yea Moderzkt4y Not Important c22.3 tan Unimportant Answered 16 University qualifications 3 35 46 IA! level passes in GCE subjects 7 53 24 16 Technical qualifications 33 45 - 5 17 (e.g. AccountaziKw) • ' , In post training (in agricu3.tural 14 55 . 17 . 14

co-operatives) ,T. Previous experience in the 24 18 14 co-operative concerned Previous experience in the agric- 14 35 3..4 17 ultural co-operative movement Previous experience in the 8 25 46 21 co-operative movement generally Previous experience in non- 32 35. 19 co-operative businesses 14

As might be expected, the factor most frequently (44%) judged 'very important' was the applicant previous experience in the particular co-operative doing the recruiting. Somewhat surprisingly, nearly a fifth (18%) thought this particular factor to be 'unimportant', whilst about a quarter (24%) put it into the 'moderately impotant' category. Only 3/ of the survey managers thought university qualifications to be 'very important'; nearly half (46/3) deemed them 'unimportant' whilst just over a third (35%) gave them the 'moderately important' label. 'At level passes in GCE subjects, however, were thought to be 'moderately important' by well over half (53%) and approximately the same proportion (55,) gave the same weighting to 'in post' training in agricultural co-operative societies. Experience in the co-operative movement generally was rated as 'unimportant' by nearly half (40 of the respondents. 14.kewise, neither experience in the agricultural co-operative movement nor in non-co-operative businesses was thought to be very significant - in each case over a third (34% and 35% respectively) of survey rangers assessed them as portant'. The relatively high proportion of 'no answers to these questions (e.g. nearly a fifth of the sample did not answer Question 7c(v) is interesting and makes one even more apprehensive than usual about the postal-questionnaire method of collecting data. Why should there be an unusually high non-response to this particular part of the questionnaire? Were the questions (7c (i) to (v)) unusually obscure, tactless or in some way inappropriately worded? To what extent might the failure to answer this type of question be said to reflect a greater degree of underlying uncertainty about the recruitment policies and techniques of some British agricultural co-operatives. - 35 -

r•

question 7d: Was about the -existence of olicies. It will be immediately *apparent from the summary 'oft replies in Appendix that less than a fifth of the survey managers stated.- that these organisations aid in fact have a definite recruitment policy. Moreover, of those organisations that did„ a number of the replies seemed con6erifiee, to stress how recentlz this had been adopted: The response "Only recently - impending retirement of senior staff has led to the (L?aw.i...ng up of a manozement tree and policy of recruitment" may be taken as representative of the "only recently" type of reply.

Whilst one would expect recruitment policies to vary tom certain extent between different types and 'sizes of aEsTicultural co-operatives, one must note that a farther 'ohathacteristic of the 'repliesin Appendix 3, is the emphasis On recruitment from H1,- ,Nitv.the- •cooperative 'rather than • from otli3r;ifie. "First choice to present; btoff, attention to in-society trainiiig" and "To 'promote from - within if possible" 6.re illustintions of -- this fairly predictable'kind of itespOxise.;.. One or two*:stressed the aczani.n9.9s of recruitment and 'training schemes,‘-pr-a.rticula,rly for the smaller businesses - as e. xemplified' by •the reply "NO:..---althoupt. I on in -favour, • we are numerically small. and costs are tightly Controlled.. training scheme would add significantly to cover costs".

There seem to be, in general terms, two main and contrasting recruitment policies. At one extreme there is the "coarse-mesh" approach whereby a relatively laige thariber of reOru.its are taken on, it being well understood that a substantial proportion may 'leave after'six months or so - *a policy that has been described as really-item -extended selection procedure". At the -other extreme, however- ,there is the policy best perhaps described by one of the managers .who wrote - "The Company. structu're is planned to allow young staff to ultimately aspire to' manadement. Great care is token with initial selection 'with usually an ultimate job in mind. We always place character ahead of qualifications. 'Such people mainly -iespond in the right manner and invariably are very loyal". Recruitment pblicies of this kind it seems El...re' often' designed- on the basis of the initial phase of employment being seen as a training period. Both types of policy however have their weaknesses. The 'coarse-mesh' approach runs the risk of incurring a reputation for "indifference to individuals and ruthless discrimination". The more detailed selection type of policythowever, comits the co-operative . to the formal selection procedure and has been associated with complaints from employees that they had. been misled into thinking that their prospects were better than they in fact turned out to be. This may well of course be something of a dilemma inherent in any recruiting process. On the other -36— hand, it is clearly understandable that whilst those doing the recruiting are not deliberately setting out to mislead potential recruits, they ra.ay well nevertheless be unconsciously over-enthusiastic in their estimate of likely future prospects - the more so when they are competing for the available talent with other potential. employees. On the other hand, thq potential recruit cannot always be said to be free from bias. As Sofer has observed "A prospective recruit who is half-way to accepting an offer is no doubt prone to emphasise or select out the more attractive items of information available to him. In this way it is perfectly possib/e for an unwitting collusion to ensue which can result in too high a proportion of new recruits assuming that they carry senior managers' pens in their breast prockets".(5)

• Closely related to an organisation's recruitment policies are its management development policies. These are essentially concerned with the obvious need to keep existing posts manned by persons competent to discharge their particular responsibilities - a formalising of something that must have wasted for decades before the phrases 'management development'. or "management succession" acquired their current modishness. question 7e invited respondents to state whether or not their co-operative had a management development policy and if so, to provide details of that policy.

The views of some of the survey managers on 'management development' are contained in Appendix K. In broad terms under a third (29;/)) of the survey co-operatives were reported as having a 'definite management development policy'.* The comments contained in Appendix K shows that no particular type of policy (or attitude) seemed to predominate. Lnswers varied from the curt 'not applicable' through the hopeful 'my intention is to start one' to the detailed and specific 'Identifications by annual personal review. Manpower plan. Individual programed training'. One or two replies stressed the difficulty of having management development policies in small organisations - "In a comparatively small organisation it is difficult to keep bright young people as managerial progress has to stop". Some of the replies seemed to refleet a certain amount of cyn.j.cism on this subject. One of the assistant manneerd for example, wrote

fie Valmallsimmem....0.1.111•100.M.1.....0011110.411.111M.M11011•1010.1.

* The proportion of those co-operatives reported to have a definite director development policy was even smaller - only 13% of the sample . answered • affirmatively. - 37 -

"We have stated .that we have a development policy. In MY experience this is not so". Furthermore . one chief executive responded by acimittia.3 that his organisationi.s .tanagement development policy ,was "under -positive appraisal following new u. gement team appointment". Several„ of the --responses however did reveal a more positive and. constructive attitude towards management development - exemplified by the reply "It is policy for each director to evaluate ,the .develOpment needs. of his managers and discuss applicable training within the Society. More work is now being .done on merit appraisal and succession planning". Reference was also made to outside agencies and courses - amongst them trade oreaziisations' and manufacturers' training courses; the 'Training Board. arid ROAN, Central Council and .11..C.M.' were also vdted. .One reply referred to employment in other co-operatives as being part of their management development policies - 'Trainees would spend Um/three years working with other agricultura; co-operatives in this country after completing initial training period here.

In evaluating the various replies to Question 7e it will be as well to recall that respondents may, inevitably, be 'captives of their own history' - largely influenced that is to say, by what has gone on before and. particularly by what is still most vivid in their memories. It may well be prudent sometimes, for example, (especially where a number of senior posts have recently been filled by outsiders), to "sacrifice a little efficiency" by appointing an internal candidate who is not necessarily the best person available. Such a loss of one kind of efficiency may be more than offset by the gain in morale arising from assuring colleagues that the policy of promoting from within wherever possible has not been abandoned altogether.

Recruitment and development policies for managers are of course personnel problems about which a great deal of knowledge and professional skill is available nowadays. Indeed, fifteen years ago (1963) the Wells (12) Report on recruitment and training of managers in retail (consumers') co-operatives drew attention to the necessity (especially for the larger societies) of employing specialists in the various aspects of personnel work (e.g. selection, training, industrial relations etc.). One of the findings of the Wells enquiry was - "Co-operative Societies, unlike their competitors, are loath to use such specialists. We recommend that all afford a but the smallest societies should consider not whether they can personnel officer, but rather whether they can afford not to employ one". - 38 -

Such a recommendation however seems either not to have reached, or persuaded, the management of agricultural co-operatives in this country. Over 9W of those in the• survey were reported as not employing a specialist personnel officer. Nearly a third of those responding (307) stated that this question was not applicable to their societies. Just over a further third explained that the personnel function was discharged by the Chief Ex. ecutive acting either alone or with appropriate departmental heads. The remainder of the replies revealed various permutations of accountant/secretary/ departmental head and other officials as discharging the personnel function in their co-operative.

The final question in the recruitment section was concerned, with establishing the views of managers on career publicity for agricultural co-operatives. The actual wording of the Caestion (7h) was "Do you believe that managerial careers in agriculture co-operatives need more or different publicity than they currently receive?". If yes, please supply brief details (e.g. more informative booklets or more effective contacts with placement agencies and the like). The answers to this question are summarised in Appendix L. The responses were almost equally divided. Nearly half (4M) thought that managerial careers in agricultural co-operatives did. need more or different publicity. Seven respondents did not complete this part of the questionnaire - leaving a remainder of 45% who did not believe that either more or different publicity was needed. Amongst the variety of answers summarised in Appendix L, two main categories of response predominate - viz those concerned with establishing better contacts with agricultural education and training agencies, and secondly those answers stressing the need for a greater volume of publicity.

Illustrative of answers in the first category are "Agricultural educational establishments are found wanting", "In particular, better contacts with potential managers - universities/schools" "More contact with colleges, universities, schools, etc." "Literature and contacts with educational and training bodies, placement agencies etc." "1 would have thought very few Careers Masters at schools could lay their hands on any document showing a career structure on this field or the steps a school leaver should take to equip himself for it" "Under C.C.A.H.C...a small 'cadre' should ye put in orbit'. The wholesale Federation is developing a scheme for narket salesmen - a sini lair approach should be made by C.C.A.H.C.". 39

"Throughout colleges and. universities (even secondary schools "More contact in management training and. universities".

A number of the 'survey managers were, as already stated, more concerned with promoting a greater flow of publicity. Typical of this kind of response were:

"Better facilities for training by people who 'mow what they are talking about! If co-operatives had more publicity, they would. tend. to attract more interest from potential managers"

"The attitude of co-operative boards and. the movement generally to professional management has changed. dramatically in recent years and. this desirable change is not sufficiently publicised"

".A more definite evaluation of what co-operatives are and do so that all agencies are aware of what the position offered means and development prospects" (sic)

"No more in Agricultural Co-operatives than in private companies in the sane trade or business. All managerial careers need more publicity"

"'What is required is more or different publicity on what is an agricultural Co-operative and its objectives - if they show the correct attitude to development then the best men will be attracted"

"Wider advertising of opportunities"

"More information, wider publicity, circulation of job opportunity within agricultural co-operative movement"

"Many societies advertise too locally and too modestly"

Finally, although Question 7h was primarily concerned with respondent's views on the question of more and/or different career publicity., a certain section of the respondents took the opportunity once more of repeating their opinions about the basic similarity existing between co-operatives and other forms of business organisations. The following quotes exemplify this approach -

"As 9T/ of the trade of many large co-operatives is now transacted. under 'non-bonus terms', management of these co-operatives differ very little from the private sector"

"Management should be recruited in the same fashion as private and public companies. Too often the co-operative recruitment style end media reflects the old 'cheap-jack' image" - 40 -

"We can't understand why it should be suggested that they need any publicity" "Why distinguish agric-co-operatives from other businesses particularly in agriculture? - same understanding of farmers is necessary"

"Why differentiate? - still operating a business" - 41 -

I. SUMMAR'Y AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE Traini

The managers of British agricultural co-operatives are predominantly the product either of grannar or public schools and only a minority are university graduates. Well over half of them were appointed to their first managerial post when under 30 years of age. A fair proportion did not believe that the management of co-operatives called foz. substantially different training necessitated by the co-operative form of the business. About a quarter had in fact received at least a part of their training with firms whose managerial training courses enjoyed a national reputation. Nearly two-thirds however had not undergone any recent extension or up-dating of their training.

Of the agencies providing further training the Central Council (C.C.A.H.C.) was the most frequently mentioned - with the agricultural training board (A.T.B.) and a northern business school also receiving mention. The majority of survey managers were involved., inter anal in giving managerial training to others - albeit on an informal basis and mostly to their own employees.

The most frequently identified management training needs centred around four main aspects viz (1) personnel and industrial relations, (2) the increasing extent and complexity of U.K. and E.E.C. regulations, (3) financial expertise - particularly that needed to deal with the cash-flow problems associated with rapid inflation, (4) certain problems alleged to arise out of the co-operative form of the business organisation - in particular the difficulties associated with the 'unique' member/customer/ supplier/shareholder relationships found in farmers' co-operatives.

Recruitment

• Formal management recruitment policies are the exception rather than the rule in British agricultural co-operatives - less than a third of the managers reported the existence of definite recruitment policies in their own organisation. Moreover, very few agricultural co-operatives in this country employ a specialist personnel officer. About half of the respondents thought there was a need for more and/or different publicity about managerial careers in the cooperatives. Nary managers urged. and be established with schools, universities that more better, contacts , and training agencies (curiously no mention was imde. of .the „ - pamphlet 1.1A Career in Agricultural Co-operati on"). The particular skills - 42 -

and talents to be recruited included professional (financial and technical) qualifications with accountancy frequently being eiaphasised. Previous experience of the co-operative form of business was not rated very highly nor were general university qualifications.

The Pature

Clearly, the U.K.. agricultural co-operative movement encompasses a wide variety of businesses in terms of size, type of .activity, management style, etc.. A 'blanket' set of comments and recommendations equally, applicable ••• to all farm co-operatives is therefore entirely inappropriate. The following should be seen as suggestions only - for consideration in the light of the particular 'local' circumstances of individual co-operatives and their managers. Obviously some of the suggestions will apply with particular force to some co-operatives but ma5, be totally inapplicable to others.

One of the unresolved issues which seems worth commenting on from the outset is the question of how far the co-operative form of business organisation .is fundamentally different from other businesses, private or public. There would appear to be, at first sight, considerable differences of opinion in this matter among the survey managers. The Barker Report on contract farming revealed eimilar difficulties.* After listing some points of similarity as well as of difference the report stated "Considering the fairly rigid principles under which the agricultural co-operatives have evolved, it is perhaps surprising that there is no generally agreed definition for such associations" and concluded that "Agricultural co-operative is thus a term of art rather than of exact science".

Difficulties over definitional matters may, however, only be symptomatic of more deep-seated ambiguities. Many of the survey managers would clearly, for example, have little or no difficulty in agreeing with the assertion that "The growth of co-operatives like that of any organisation, depends on their ability to attract resources (i.e. people and capital) unto themselves and away from competing forms of organisation". Other commentators, however, draw attention to the difficulty that co-operatives often find in attracting 'outside' capital in the form of loans or debentures. The Barker Report was concerned to stress the difference between co-operative and non-co-operative businesses in this matter of investment. Thus

* Barker, Sir. James (Chairman) Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Contract Farming. H.M.S.0. MID No, 5099 1972 43

"This difference in objectives is fundamental and. has had many important consequences. In particular it has meant that capital accumulation has been more difficult for co-operatives than for their commercial counterparts - since members are naturally unwilling to accept low returns on capital which they are free to withdraw and invest elsewhere, and there is no incentive for non-members to invest at all (even if this was allowed under the rules)".

Clearly then, opinion is divided on whether co-operatives are or are not significantly different in some respects when compared to other forms of business organisation. A movement which is, in itself divided about such fundamental matters as the sources of its capital, the objectives underlying the management of its capital, as well as about the rewards proper to the investment of that capital may not have as much career appeal to ,the nation's top managers as those sectors where such views do not predominate. In other words, one is entitled in the circumstances, to question how far 'the fundamental difference in objectives!. stressed by the Barker Report*, may be influencing the type and quality of managerial recruits contemplating a career in the agricultural co-operative movement..

To what extent, if at all, the future will see some kind of reconciliation between these conflicting views, what form that reconciliation is likely to take (and when) are of course difficult questions. The sample of survey managers is ac3nittedly only partial and moreover is biassed in the sense of containing more of the larger co-operatives than of the small. It would appear likely, however, that in the future, most of the larger agricultural co-operatives will be managed by people, who are less and less different (in training, in experience, and. in objectives) from their counterparts in private industry. Indeed some might say that this trend has. already started and moreover that it was more or less inevitable. For, as the Barker Report states: "Co-operative businesses owned by farmers have of course, the same job to do as private or public concerns which break bulk when supplying farm inputs and create bulk when channelling output to the end use. They must do it as well as - or better than - their rivals if they are to retain the support of members".**

* Barker Report op cit para 29 p.11 4* Barker Report op cit para 28 p.10 -44 -

Bea orinendati

High priority needs to be given to the career image of the agricultural co-operative movement in this country. There would appear to be considerable ignorance about the scope and challenge which the movement already has for the skilled, experienced and ambitious manager. True, • there are few businesses comparable in size to the national and multi-national companies whose names are household words. Nevertheless the movement does contain within it some substantial firms - large and varied enough to have begun attracting exeautives away from the big national companies, and furthermore paying salaries of £15,000 p.a. and over (for some top executives in 1976/77). Moreover, increasing. Use is being made of the 'Executive Director' type of appointment. In these and in other ways the agricultural co-operative movement is changing and changing dramatically. Paradoxically however, the old image of 'coops' as being somehow below 'par' in the business,,efficiency league still seems to linger on notwithstanding these changes. More and better publicity is needed 'to put the record straight. In view of. the costliness of effective publicity campaigns these days, any action would almost certainly have to be joint, action. Joint action however is surely perfectly feasible. The history of the co-operative movement is indeed self-evidently an account of joint action be it by consumers or producers. There is much to be gained by the co-operative movement making itself heard - accurately and authoritatively. So long as outsiders (including potential managerial recruits) remain in ignorance of such matters as the record of co-operative growth, of the varying and extensive responsibilities given to co-operative managers at relatively early ages, then for so long will the old-fashioned image of co-operatives drag on. Carefully planned publicity could draw attention to many features of the movement likely to appeal to people of top class managerial calibre - including the fact that it is far from being provincial or unduly inbred. Agricultural co-operatives are part of a European and indeed world-wide movement. The availability of inter-co-operative transfers as a form of promotion is just one aspect of the movement's wide geographic coverage that is likely to appeal to potential recruits.

At the heart of all the various nostrums prescribed by critics (within the movement as well as outside) there is widespread concern about two key factors - quality of management and availability of finance. These two are indissolubly linked - for the future development of farm co-operatives clearly rests on improved access to finance - and that in turn rests on the existence of good management. There are few natters 45 more likely to constrain lending institutions than a 'borrower's reputation' (albeit a largely undeserved one) for indifferent or sub-standard managerial ability. There is more than a grain of tru.th in the view that "with good. management many of the financial problems would be no longer so acute".

If these recommendations are accepted however, there still remains the important question of how best to implement them. Some form of permanent rather than lad hoc' body is needed. A newly formed organisation clearly constituted's° as to be responsible (and. seen by title and terms of reference to be so) for the recruitment and training of managers is therefore recommended. Such a body could be the joint enterprise and responsibility of three main groups, viz. - representatives of agricultural co-operative businesses, central co-operative agencies, educational training institutions. The underlying .notion is that there are already in existence a number of different organisations who have in part the skills and experience likely to be needed. The co-operative businesses themselves are a most important element though care would be needed to have adequate representation of the different types and scales of business involved. Central co-operative agencies (e.g. C.C.A.H.C., A.C.1V1.11., etc.) would also have much to offer in the light of their particular- responsibilities and experience. Management training institutions (including Business Schools) are now well established in this country and. together with the training boards and more specifically co-operative. educational institutions (e.g. the Co-operative ColloGet Loughborough) could be expected to make a major contribution. What is at present lacking and. badly needed is the co-ordination of these various agencies. The primary task of the tri-partite organisation outlined above would be to do just that.

The main burden of this report's recommendations therefore is that there should be more joint action amongst Britain's agricultural co-operatives and that this joint action should be chiefly concerned with achieving three objectives viz.:-

1. The design and propagation of effective publicity about the facts, objectives and development of agricultural co-operative businesses in the U.K. and in. Europe. 2. The pooling of experience, ideas, personnel and finance etc., so as to further the provision of appropriate training facilities for co-operative managers. 3. The establishment of a permanent tri-partite organisation to be responsible for the provision of managerial training geared to the needs of agricultural co-operatives. - 46 -

•• REFERENCES

1. LINLITHGOW COMMITTEE Final Report. Departmental Committee on Distrilgtion and. Prices of Agricultural Produce. H.M.S.°. 1924

2. BERLEW, D.E. & HALL, D.T. The Socialisation of Managers. Effects of Expectation on Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly Vol. II. No. 2. September 1966

MORSE, N.C. Satisfaction in the White Collar Job Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1953.

N.E.D.C. The Training of British Managers H.M.S.O. 1972.

SOPER, C. Men in Mid-Career C.U.P. 1970

6. CLEMTS, R.V. Managers: A study of their careers in Industry.- Allen & Unwin 1956.

7. MORLEY, J. British Agricultural Co-operatives Hutchinson Benham 1975.

8. CO-OPERATIVE UNION LTD. Co-operative Independent Commission Report. Co-operative Union 1958.

9. BROWN, N. & SCASE, R. Boards and Management in Farmers' Co-operatives. C.C.A.H.C. 1973.

10. BLAMER, R. Work satisfactions and Industrial Trends in Modern Society. Wiley, New York, 1960.

11. VROOM, V.H. Work and Motivation, Wiley, New York 1964.

12. WELLS, P.A. Recruitment and Training for Management in Retail Co-operative Societies (Co-operative College Paper No. 10) Co-operative Union 1963.

13. STEPHENSON T.E. Management in Co-operative Societies Heinemann 1963.

14. C.C.A.ii.C. Faxming Business. Lutumn. 1977 - 47 -

APPENDIX. A

CENTRAL COUNCIL FOR AGRICULTURAL 301-344 Market Towers, ,AND HORTICULTURAL CO-OPERATION New Covent Garden Market, I Nine Elms Lane, LONDON SW8 5Ng.

Telephone: 01-720-2144

Message from Nick Guiton

Head of the Promotion. Development and Traininp Department

of the Central Council

This is an independent survey, carried out by Reading University, but sponsored by the Central Council. • I want you to understand why.

Successful businesses, we all know, depend on good. management. Agricultural co-operatives cannot therefore expect to .prosper in the future unless they are able to recruit the best into their ranks. It is doubtful whether some are .doing so at preseiatt• for a variety of possible reasons. One may be that co-operatives are often local, and may not advertise their opportunities widely. Another may .be that maw young men and. women, when. thinking about a career, do .not even consider agricultural co-operatives because they know so little about them and the career prospects they offer.

Much the same situation existed, until, recently, in the career of farm management, until the Farm Management Association took the initiative of • undertaking a survey. Don Mills, who helped to carry this out, seemed the, obvious choice to undertake the present one. I would like to emphasise, • however, that while the Central Council has been willing to sponsor it, this is a piece of University research, of which we shall only be shown the results - not the working papers.

I hope that managers of agricultural co-operatives throughout the United Kingdom will be willing to collaborate with this survey, in order to make it a success. We, for our part, will collaborate with co-operatives and their central organisations to make good use of the information you provide.

(Sdg.) NICK GITITON 48

DEPARTMIT OF AGRICULTORAL ECOMECCS AND MLNAGEDIENT, UNIVERSITY OP READING, 4, Emmy GATE, WHITERNIGHTS ROAD, READING RG6 Va.

Professor: R.H.Tu.ck Telephone: Reading 85123 Head. of Department

Dear Chief Executive,

As you may know, the Central Council for Agricultural and Horticultural Co-operation has sponsored. an investigation by this Department which is seeking fuller information about the role and recruitment of agricultural co-operative managers in this country. At the moment, we have little concrete information on this ,,rucial aspect of agricultural co-operation. It is hoped. that this survey will provide us with a substantial amount of authentic data which in turn-may provide a basis for future planning.

Considerable care has• been taken in the preparation of the attached questionnaire but it is obviously difficult to design a single form to cover the variety of circumstance contained. in the U.K. agricultural co-operative sector as a whole. Some questions may appear obvious or inviecessary to those of you employed in a particular aspect of this field. Nevertheless we believe allthe answers to these questions to be useful and. ask for your forbearance and co-operation.

• If you would be kind enough to complete the enclosed questionnaire god return it as soon as possible (in the stamped, addressed envelope rtovided) we would. be very grateful. Clearly the success of the scheme depends very largely on having as many managers as possible responding to our request. You may be sure of our awareness of the demands made on your time and. also, of course of the strict confidentiality of your replies. Should. you wish it, arrangements could. be made for you to receive a copy of the final report.

Yours sincerely,

(Sgd..) F. D. MILLS

Dr. F. D. Mills CONFIDENTIAL - 49 - CODE NO. C OUNTY

UNIVERSITY OF READING

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT

SURVEY OF AGRICULTURAL CO—OPERATIVE MANAGERS

S ECTION 1 FORMAL JOB AND PERSONAL DETAILS

(a) Formal job title (Chief Executive, General Manager?) 0t141••••••••••41.4)....66 ,64,41..e...... 40,,elpgrosseirsomoioodo (1) Male/Female ) )delete as appropriate (c). Married/Single)

(d) Age eooesso.i.,s4,

(e) In addition to your managerial post do you also have a seat on the Board? .4,004141411.41 If yes, please supply brief details of date of first serving on the Board, particular responsibilities, voting power etc.

00000.0.40•004.1,...0.0*****4.404,41.rnsoirovroliosoo.04).foo.ses,vowo..•••••5•4141,141..orno•tofeseirmoolleoloo.m.olosom.

0.000•000000.4111,01110000000.4104,11001100.0000.•00004.40.0,0.000000.00000.00005011.0.w$01,0WOMOO*00000..00.00.0

S ECTION 2 EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

(a) Which type'of school(s) did you attend? (e.g. secondary modern, grammar, technical, public, comprehensive etc.) 0000000$01100000041 11 1,000.1100.0000004,94.94,01,00OMO.001411000000.01.0004,11.0010401110004110400,011.04)

(b) How long have you been with your present employer? •...... ,...,......

(c) What other posts (if any) kave you previously held with your present employer?

otospo0000.4,rneottoeil..00**004,011,401.004,4,40M0.0.411.ositme.....olosoodirn.040.0,•046somtwe.ems0.041,64,•64,seeloosogots

(d) What kind of jobs were you doing .before coming to your present employer?

Job Description Location Duration 011.11110..111411.0111•1111.111111111

*004,414,4.4000000eioitio.01041•004,004110***0 .04,4,0o4.41,004WomOolso...6400..041,0•40 40.....,....64.40411,041,0944idoosimotwomo•

0.110.00.4,04,0040.4bipM,04.04,411,4111,4.0040* 00.000.410.0000.0..00110,1.00004,0000 0.0416.1,94,4160.04.11,044,110.4,04000.000000

0000.041.0**M.04104,041,000•01100400so. oilisossessiloos.••••4041.1,0•460114110.41011 illeselisfees.orniosm.s.p.404•4..e4,4.4,0

(e)'- Age when first appointed to a managerial post

S ECTI ON 3 TRAINING

(a) What further oducation or training (formal or in post) have you had? ,

Type Where given Duration

00,001,00e000.00i0.0041100.4.1000011141000 4,100.0•004040,004.10.00111001104101110***0411 0400004100110,0004,041114000000000000.01110

00411.00604.4,1000.0410000.1010,100.00.000. 4100.00000041.0004100.00141410.00040,0 410.0•000000041•41110.0004180000004.00.

(b) To what extent (if any) was your managerial training provided as a result of being employed at the

time by other commercial organisations? (e.g. Unilever)

Brief details please

411,0rn...1..110 e04,041•4141,04.04)4,40414,••••••..41.0.04.0.w..141Moasoilsoiksosooloolkoa.....4,•••••esosot000tbe,ellose...eo.o.los

0.04,040010041•041.00emosolkoirs000lloo.4.14141***04.4,"04,‘,"0.04,1,414041.4,4,....4).4...•....**.e.sib••••••••.+.6441.1.1.4,4,414.41...,. CONFIDENTIAL

(Section 3 Trnining, continned) (Please tick)

(c) Is formal training for management:— Essential

Desirable Uut not essential iii Unnecessary Ii (d) Do you think that the management of Co-operative Societies as such calls for particular specific

training in some respects? If yes, would you please give brief details ......

Ositi,Wriloirollopoipolloselpoomeosoowelo.sooloofie4041.4,4te•oetwoomoilsoAtililiroodisOM 000060•041Thoot1e4osisso.04141•••0

(e) Is any form'Ofjpecific training provided for the members ef your Board? ...... Cr) If you have undergone a recent extension or updating of your training give brief details

mosoottobeisoiresoolloeso41.4•4•64,414,es.e.00lpootroseoloomo••••••••••••rnelpwoosolos000mos4.4144kostoomorno..ro,

(g) Are you involved in giving Managerial training (formal or informal) to Others Within or outside your . . co-operative? ...... SECTION 4 JOB DESCRIADTION (a) Irihen was your co-operative first established as a registered business? ...... (10 Please classify your co-operative's main activities viz:- (Please tick)

Mainly manufacturing

Mainly requisites trading

Mainly marketing of produce

Multi-purpose

(c) Please give an approximate figure of the latest annual turnover of your co-operative ...... A...... (d) Please indicate approximate breakdown of your activities as a manager during an average working week

(e.g. negotiating 25% - budget projection 20 etc.) rewogoor000imossootroeswilipooloirao.000soiosooefieloolo

0000004,400,04100000000010000004,00004000..140...41.0.4,004,041414,410004101100000004110100000004.041061,000000004.000.41004.11 (e) Would you please draw a simple diagram showing the managerial hierarchy in your co-operative (i.e. explaining numbers of subordinates, main responsibilities, to whom they are immediately responsible etc.)

• • •

r C ONFIDENTIAL - 51 - Section 4 Job Description, continue) nevertheless attend its meetings? (f) If you do not have a seat en your Board,.do you influence the preparation of its agenda? ...... (g) Whether or not you attena Board meetings, do you your responsibilities as u manner - with (h) Sc that a clearer idea Aay ho obtained of tar nature of are restricted y your Beard (or delegated to Particular reference to hew far (if at all) these placed tick to what extent you are would you please indicate by an appropriately subordinates), . (Please tick) responsible fort., Not at all and - (1) Personnel matters (including recruitment -r"""r771d:tsmise7kF";t-raff) ED developcent (ii) Innovations (and potential Ion; torn El —•=r1Y)gen = (iii) CJA.tal... expenditure (if there is a limit on tiGTOPFWmditura please explain) = [:::::1 (iv) lialirs (i.e. buying and selling: ohoosing supply sources as well as channels a distribution)ED :2] the following:- of your contacts in the course of business with (i) Indicate briefly the nature and frevency

(i) The Chairman of your Board

,400,1114.11.04,0.11,t (ii) Other Board Members 6040,41,000.000.11$8,0.44.004...***.eet40.111001.&*464,1***041,000....100**1.4101,0041

,00**04. ,4,4r44.10,.044**MOotoi#4 V*40104.1110.0401400•00111.0#.406*..11#0,04 (iii) Ordinary Members of your co-oporetiv6

and dissatisfactions) SECTION 5 JOB EVALUATION(satisfnetions and rewarding about your job? (a) What (if anything) de you find particularly interesting

,0011141,41400 111 0400.eit0404,0 6 $.04.16aSsobieiko.tC.9,0000w4,000.4.00.0.*Me0....041.w.e.41.04 0.000.9.01•4110t..**01,000*.*00.4

0.11.1110000 • 404,04.411900 ,04, Me.4.0.114.6e1100....40# 04:0****609.0*....4.4.164,00040.4$0...000 101100911.0********.41041.0.1444,

your job? (b) What do you regard as the most demanding aspect of

,0 .11 04,000004101,04144 ,41#011,11.0.011.1 1,10**0.004.0 4100.1.0600.4.0.41.000.0.090600004.6004.0441,0**..6.41.041.064....0114.4

,f041,40#8.4..4,466#41141 4100•11,61 00000#0000f$004,040,400.4.10.0***04.,411041**,000060.11*..4040M0,9011.10sSe.doo40+.1.00.04 (Please tick) Now far are you satisfied with:- (0) Modt=tely Not Satisfied Satisfiitd Satisfied (1) the kind of work you dc. EJ

the rewards (monetary and non-monetary) you earn.

(iii) the security that your job offers. E2:1

(iv) the freedom you have in making decisions.

(v) working relations with subordinates.

(id) the job's status (as assessed by you).

(vii) promotion prospects (nutsido and inside co-opera- tives). r-71 (viii) professional contacts (tetwen all co-operative =Iowa's). El contact with the Chairran of your Board. (ix) El 10000D (x) tt other Board members.

It .erdinary menbers of your co-operative. El DO CONFIDENTIAL — 52 — Section 5 Job Evaluaticay-continind) (d) Do you think that your role rgunisatinnnLsuperiors (i.e. in terms of specific responsibilities, channels of communication etc?) (Please tick) Yes No ri If no please supply brief details ......

00•000,00.011.4.100,0410001,4,0411..60.4POWSOSSO041000.4141041.41100110.00..1,04,041601,4,0600.004,00.41,00.00404114.009.0,..00.0

1041i.0000000.14100.1141-4.4.00.0.46...e.4,004,41,0.4,...0.05.001100000001100.05555050000000050411.0000.041541.400 11 5.046P 0041 (e) Because it is a co-operative business? which you are managing, are your tasks in some ways substantially different from those of managers of cher forms of business organisation? (Please tick) Yes No

If yes, please supply brief details

0.000004.41100.00.0.01111.090,1,04100es00.0000Ofte..04104.4.004104410041.04.11,04.000.0.04.000000111.4110110.00..e..041,11.0114,4,4.00

0040004.14.0011000W000041064I. 0011,041.1r000004.41,404.14101100000.0400004110.00,41,0000000**OtOMWW,00041041000101,0.0414,41,

000011,000,000.0000,111,411.4,004,*000..0494,0e6t24.04000.0.00$0111011*.114OMMOOOsibis0040,*.0011.04.41160.044,44,11,04.4itt.0410 SECTION 6 TERMS OF APPOINTMENT

(a) Period of notice 401100400410,04104,414.0004,

(b) Holiday entitlement ......

(c) Retirement age...... ,...,....,....

(d) Pension arrangements (brief details) 001100.400041*******0106.4keibOolle.041041•00110.4,60001140WW01144,1,600•4,110009

000.,04,000.000.04100410000.16.4,410411•44,..fil50*50004.1.4,1"...... "...... 44,41,4040414,000M004,411004104,0000041

(e) Non-cash elements of remuneration:- (Please tick) Yes No •10111....1

(1) Free (or assisted) housing.

(ii) Provision of car.

(iii) Car running costs in whole or in part

(iv) Life insurance '

(v) Discount purchases.

(vi) Luncheon vouchers.

(vii) Others (please specify briefly).

Cr) The number of hours worked in an 'average' week ......

(g) Please indicate in which of the following income brackets your gross salary (before any deductions) fell in the last complete financial year. (Please tick)

Income Bracket A. Over £15,000 p.a. o4,011.•004400111401100

B. Between £12,500 and £15,000 p.a. ... tt ” C. £10,000 £12,500 p.a. ... n ft D. £7,500 £10,000 p.a. qt.. ” E. £5,000 £7,500 p.a. ... “ n F. 0,500 £5,000 p.a. ... n n G. £2,500 0,501 p.a. ... H. Below £2,500 p.a. oseolossesso•eib•ossL CONFIDENTIA'L — 53 — (Section 6 Terms of Appointment, continued) (h) Are you able to supplement your,,salary-Nritivintatarnett_frorrottes? (Please tick) Yes No

If Yes, may we have brief details Please? 00414,0040•00,64141.44.4•40.W41144,00.11,641•0000000,000041.641,1141100,.41.010

SECTION 7 RECRUITMENT -(Please tick) ' (a) How did you hear about your present job? (i) Advertisement

(ii) Informally - (word of mouth)

(iii) Employment agency

(iv) Professional association

.(v) . Other -.please specify 1,041041641•41040!*.M4141000000.11.01,164641- ,0•41$0410 (t) In what ways does your organisation recruit new managers? (Please tick)

(i) Advertisement

(ii) Informally - (word of moutti)

,(iii) Employment agency

(iv) Professional association

(v) Agricultural Organisation Society

00 (ii) Other - please specify 0100.00000001001,0000040041100410000.0040000414.1110#4,44040404 (c) In recruiting new managers, what importance does your organisation attach to:. (Please tick) LTLE Moderately Important Important Unimportant

(i) 'University Qualifications'

(ii) 'AI level passes in G.C.E.'subjects

(iii) Technical qualifications (e'.g. in Accountancy)

(iv) 'In post' training (in agric. co-operatives) (v) Previous experience in your business I t tt " the agric. co-operative movement "the co-operative movement generally r7-1 t " non co-operative businesses LIL E11 (Please tick) - Yes f___No I (d) Does your business have a definite management recruitment policy?

If yes, please give brief details, how long established etc.

,0fi.$00.10,0,11.004041110,641.0•00.000...... 4,00.4.10#4,11•01•41040464111414001100,61.000.1.0.•..4106,00.6,10.04.4,4100004,400.4.0

04,490040100001,0000416416060004109040041041.0.41000006000000,6414,01,06.410.4.000000....e,S5OsW,S.00.041.00.1,1004141.060*40 C ONFIDENTIA L. (Section 7 Recruitment, oontinued) (Please tick) No

(e) Does your. organisation have a definite management develop:rant palicy?

If yes, please give brief details

•

,4...s...es....w..44.4.0-0,0,114WOWIRWOO441100•04, 11.04041001111.100.04,104,01100004.041400.04000.410041..e.0.4100000,0,0..0.4 (Please tick) Yes Ho (f) Does your organisation have a definite Director development policy? Hi

If yes, please give brief details ...... **.iows•eires••••••••..swoms.si,...... ••••••**** (Please tick) Yes No (g) (i) Does your organisation employ a specialist personnel officer? Yes No (ii) If not, is the personnel function discharged by others? I-71- la-71

(iii) If yes to g(ii) abovei by whom discharged? fli,11040000.0000,000401,006000000.4,0400410000,01.01,4,000.1,,M0000000 (Please tick) Yes No 1.10I/NO 0111111110 (h) Do you believe that managerial careers in agricultural co-operatives need more or different publicity than they currently receive? If yes, please supply brief details (e.g. more informative booklets, or more effective contacts with placement agencies and the like)

,6000004D.4100..O.0.0 11104/000.0.1.1149004,41,0000000..000.40*.**01b...0...00041.041.41-4,00•41.41.0410.004b..4,41011040110000•11000.011

,4000000011.041.10.410000410..0•4110.0.01 .11 000.00 0•4110.0000410.4104,01,1111041•410111000041400011010001,..100ern.....4.....e.m0114

,011M4414100001040 4,411 0110 00411104.1.410000.0.1.11.0.00.0.11,00011100#041000.00040041.060.011004,41M.1104114.804141,01,400.00000011004 SECTION 8 THE'- FUTURE Despite the obvious difficulties of so doing, we would like to throw as much light as we can on the likely future prospects for agricultural co-operative managers in this country. We would be grateful therefore to have your opinions on the following (admittedly wide) questions:- (Please tick) Yes No (a) Do you think there is (or shortly will be)' a change in the type of Okanlit person needed in agricultural co-operative management? If yes, please give brief details of the main form(s) which you foresee these changes taking.

0011.00.05.0, )4 041101P.400..411 .0 0.004,010*40...... esee.0001.14.1141000000000.00.004100.0.1,04*Oi0M4000.0o.00.04,0911100041.0011

.600.0404040.410.es06 4 1 41011•4000000001,110041,0•00004011 .0.100•010000.04,404,0114.100•0004‘0000001104,0000411111,041114111000.04041010.11 (b) If there is any aspect of agricultural co-operative management which has not been covered, but on which you feel further comment could be helpful (e.g4 bilingual managers and the E.E.C.) please make such comments here.

......

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND CO-OPERATION May we Conclude by assuring you once more of' the confidentiality of your replies and asking you to return the completed questionnaire in the enclosed stamped and addressed envelope to:- Dr. F. D. Mills, Department of. Agrieultural Economics and Management, University of Reading, 4 Earley Gate, Whiteknights Road, Reading RG6 2AR. .,r 55.-.

APPENDIX 33

TI SAIOLE1

• 1• The basic information used in this report was sought by means of postal questionnaires addressed to the Chief Executive of selected Agriaultural _ Co-operative Societies. The 1975 Directory of Agricultural CO-operatives in the United Kingdoit was us'ed to h'eli) to identify those types and sizes of agricultural co-operative's known to employ at least one paid manager. The sample was therefore a selected and not a random one. Central Council officials gave advice on the raOst• . appropriate co-operative'societies in England to approach. For Waies, Scotland and Northern Ireland similar .advice was sought from the respective Agricultural Organisation Societies W.A. O. S. S.A. 0. S. and N.A. S. In ',general; the main • focus of the survey was on agricultural co-operatives reported tvlb having a turnover of over El million in their last trading year; After.- an initial test suz2vey, total of 216 questionnaires .w ae sent out in'the- suram6r of 1976, each with a short explanatory. document from the Central Council and. from the survey organiser (see Appendix A). In a number of instances visits were made • particularly to the larger . co-operatives in each of the four regions of the U.K. with the exception'- of':Northern Ireland.** 'InterVievis, inos.tly with the Chief Executive:but bometimes with one or more of his Senior coneazues, were thus a sourCe of additional information. Regrettably, circumstances .did not permit as many- of these visits as had been initially hoped. The ultimate response to the postal enquiry. and to the visits .was 91 completed questionnaires relating to chief executives, and 9 for other managerial categories, making 100 in all - an overall response rate of just under 50%. A more detailed description of other charbieteristics of the sample can be found in Tables I - 4 at the .end- .of this Appendix.-- • Meanwhile it should perhaps be noted that In addition .to--•agricultural'co-operative societies registered as such .under the Industial and Provident Societies Acts,- agricultural co-operative.-..cotipanies the: Companies Act) were included in the sample. • All in all, a total.. of 26 *t coinpany I registered agricultural co-operatives participated in the survey with registered office addresses in England. England,' in ifact, accounted for over two-thirds of the total'limber: of businesses of " Pal kinds in the survey. Scotland and Wales each had.. just ever a tenth,

* Published annually by the Plunkett Foundation for Co-operative Studies Oxford.

-x-x. In a few instances, visits and. questionnaires were completed in late •1976/early 1977. - 56 - whereas the Northern Ireland asIliceuit-urmi 040-11ron Ar•eOuntee IT= only V of the total.

The sample includes some of the largor farm co-operctive businesses in the U.K.* More than a tenth had turnovers in excess of .€10 million p.a. The majority (53k however were in the Lim - £5 million range. Lbout half of the businesses in the survey had been established before World Irar II - indeed more than a fifth (11‘$) had been registered before World War I. The three largest proportion OW however had registered their businesses. in the decades between 1941 and 1970. The sample contained relatively few businesses (only about 00 that were established in the period 1971-1;77. Finally in this outline of the main trading characteristics of the businesses surveyed, just under a tenth (V) were reported as being* mainly enact/zed in manufacturing activities. About a quarter (24) were described as uulti- purpose societies, i.e. engaged in supplying farmers' requisites in addition to marketing farm produce. The biggest single category (44/) were raw:toting societies. Societies specialising in supplying their numbers with revisites accounted for just under a quarter (23/) of the survey.

219...,ampla_o_tato-oerativevi._cu taral businesses - further characteristics TOLE 1 Facka....almLsa Number of /fa Re on Ragland 62** 68 N.Ireland Scotland 11 12 Wales 12 13

Total 91 100

** 26 were registered as companies - all based in Ilrziand

Date when co-0.e tive w f4rst estdbl shod as rordstered business

r. Date when first Numbers Establ,ished Before 1910 19 21 33etween1911 and 1940 26 29 Between 1941 and 1970 40 44 Between 1971 and 1977

100

tominliPPOMPosravireP

* Throughout the survey the form in which the dates have br en Droselited is constrained by the need to avoid reirealing the identity .)f societies. 57

APPIINDIX C

Add.itiona.l. Tables

•• Table ••

Formal Job Titles re orted b Surve Tian, ors

Formal Title Nudber of Nanaers Chief Executive 3 General Manager 54 60 Managing Director 10 11 Managers/Secretary 11 12 Managing Director/Secretary 3 Miscellaneous 10 11

Total 91 100

Table 11

As ects of su marko.ers' 'obs 'found es eciall rewardil 1.100 *

Seeing results, sense of being useful moving towards objectives 45 Total responsibility and. freedom to act 31 Working with people (Directors, staff, members) 17 • Challenge and actual trading 17 Variety 16 Converting potential benefits of co-operation into commercial reality 13

• ••.'• In order to make clear how many respondents answered a particular question the relevant number has been written in brackets thus (N.91). ** Many of the responses were multiple, so that the number of responses recorded exceeds the number of respondents. TABLE III

S`tirv co-o seratives b size of annual turnover

Turnover category • Numbers 30 Less than E1 million p.a. 27

Between El million and. £5 million p.a. 48 ,53

Between £5 million and eV million p.a. 6 6

Over £10 million p.a. 10 11

Total 91 100

TLBLE IV

Survey co-operatives by type of business

&ea Numbers eiLD Manufacturing

Requisites 21 23

Marketing 40 44

Multipurpose 22 24

91 100

0.111.1.111101•11ftsownismil _59_

APPENDIX D

Summary. of reviles t Question 2d

• Previous occu ations resorted b surire ers

Managing Director Shop- Manager/Assistant General Manager/or Joint Manager Breed and Show Secretary or Assistant Manager Horticulture Foreman Packhou.se Manager Hill Manager/Grain Manager Farm (Nursery) Manager College Lecturer Farmer Self-Employed Clerk Agricultural Finance Executive Services Auctioneer and Valuer Rep. s(Tech.) Haulage Director Rep. (Sales) Policeman/Detective - Assistant to Managing Director •• Transport Manager Assistant to Commercial Manager.. Commercial Manager. School Teacher Depot Manager

Branch Manager • Company Secretary , Regional Manager Director (unspecified) Marketing (or Sales) Director Chief Executive (or Marketing) Development Executive Sales Maltager Shipping Executive Estate Manager Product Manager Asst..Prod. Manager Trainee Product Manager Milk .Inspector. Manager of a Wholesale Business Manager (unspecified) Accountant/Auditor Creamery Manager/Asst. Manager Insurance Representative Merchandise Manager Bank Clerk Technical Manager Agricultural Engineer Audit Clerk Agricultural Adviser Trainee Manager (Agric-co-operative Trainee Manager (Non-co-operative) Navy Miner Fisherman Building Worker Chartered Accountant -6o-

APPariDIX E

Selection of Replies to Question 3d

"Do you think that the MblinFement of Co-operative Societies as such calls for particular specific traininict in some r‘espeicts?"

"Equating Commercial and Co-operative thinking - difficult". "Aim of Agricultural Co-operatives' financial structure both now and in the future". "I and P. Acts and Implication. Society Shareholding. Depends upon type of society and policy. This one is strictly commercial". "Co-operative Law etc./Member Involvement". "Essential to understand. the basic structure and philosophy of co-operative company". "Society/member relationship requires special skills". "Financial in particular". "Practical Agricultural work to understand growers or farmers problems properly". "Accountancy, nan-management, technical". "In dealing with member suppliers". "Agricultural background. is an asset". "Training of having to work through the Board., Committees and membership". "Communication".

"As far as the law affects the workings of a co-operative society". "But only in so far as the principles are concerned". "Accounts training, sales training, production training". "Very Senior Managers should. be briefed. in all major areas". "Good grower relationship essential". "There is nothing to compete with practical experience, specialist training is a short cut". "Courses as now provided. by Brundett Trust". "Co-operative Law". "Legal, fiscal etc. - otherwise little different". "Legal and Company Secretarial areas. Fiscal knowledge for accountants". "Co-operative Law - the art of being commercial but still maintain the interests of its members". "Financial Management, human behaviour (motivational theory) Marketing management, decision theory". "Buying, cash flow, personal relations". "Man-management". "Accountancy, credit control". "Other than normal,commercial training plus some legal. They are essentially commercial concerns as are their constituent parts (members) with whom one should deal as both managers and. consultants". — 61 —

"To balance grower member interest with long term cempany interest". "Business not farming". "A- thorough training in business management with emphasis, on the organisation aspects". "How to work for and with shareholders (i.e. farmers)". "No. more or less than management of come'rcial company". Statutory duties for administering CO—ops (b) Organisation and Methods

•S .c Personnel Management". • . • . "The ability to explain and clarify Company policies to an extent that will get the willing participation by all employees and pembers". "Learning the peculiarities and structure of co-operatives". "To bring out the Difference in Co-operative Marketing as against Private Commercial Trading". "Outline of Company Law, accounts, and secretarial functions". "Man-management or the need to motivate members to co-operate as opposed to accepting commercial authority". "Technical training, Management training, Accountancy training and ability to combine all these". "Generally No, but at least background knowledge of the industry can help relations with members". "Insight into Agricultural field of produce handled". "C.C.A.H.C. Courses can be of benefit". "(a) Business Management, (b) Human relations, (0) Production of crops". "Broad Management Training plus specifics on law relating to co-op and need to understand members". "Co-ops hive a natural tendency to be loosely structured and hence under- organised; to be successful this must be countered by a strong organisational skill at the top". "So long as the difference between co-op society and private company is known and appreciated". "Training and history of workings of Agricultural co-operation". "Normal Business Training-Broad Spectrum".

"Cash flow, Finance, Grants and Personnel, Law pertaining to Contracts".

"ONLY EXPEKENCE NECESSARY, i.e. knowledge of goods sold, areas to be served and knowledge of customers". "Yes" (sic) "Relationship between Manager, Board of Management, Members must be understood". "Communication with members". "A number of managers have not a high standard of education". "If a society is formed to engage in activities of a specialised nature, the management should have sufficient technical knowledge".

"Financial Training re use of resources including personnel - technical training and sales". "A knowledge of Agriculture for Agricultural Societies". - 62 -

"A manager has to act in an advisory- capacity on animal feeding and fertilisers". "To the extent of emphasising the difference between the Co-operative business and. "Private" or "Capitalistic" business". "To understand Co-operation and the purpose of a Co-operative Society". "General knowledge of all products sold and handling of Staff'!. "Committee work and. maintaining good. supplier relationship";:. "Accountancy, Salesmanship, Buying, Staff control, Property Management". "A wide area of Commercial Management, e.g. law, accounts, personnel, etc." - 63 -

APPENDIX F

Summary of replies to Question 3f

"If ou have undergone a recent extension or u -dati of our traininr, Five brief details"

"continuous over the past five years" "C.C.A.H.C. courses etc." "Various courses, e.g. Finance Management" "Two-day courses including Video.. "How to be an effective chaiman"". "A.T.B. plus other courses". "Whole-day private seminar". "attending specialist one/two-day conferences" "Training is continuous for new legislation etc." "As made available by Central Council". "Post-graduate Diploma in Management Studies 1972/73". "C.C.A.H.C. in London92 days" "Technical only" "Central Council - new (sic) Director's Course" "C.C.A.H.C. and A.T.B. courses". "C.C.A.H.C. courses". "only Central Council Courses of various types". "One-day course on successful communicating; one-day on Worker Participation, courses on legislation e.g. Employment Protection Lct, Equal Pay" and. "Sex discrimination". "C.C.A.H.C. Director's course". "I am in constant contact with horticultural research stations and. national marketing publications. I attend C.C.A.H.C. and Industrial Society seminars".

"This is a regular process through short courses e.g. 3 day - 2 annually".

"Manchester Business School. Senior Executive Harvard Agri-business Seminars" "C.C.A.H.C. Seminar Oct. 1975" "Annual Review" "Course on Finance and Transport organisation etc." "Courses" - 64 -

APPENDIX G

SiummamsS repliefi to to others in_Fivirv raw3perial tra5nineiformal or informal "Arg y_ov. involved• or 0t:1;,. ,lid.e- „your. co-operative,?"

technical s,;nd strative "Not especially on Co-operative aspects, mainly aspects of the milk industry". "New recruits - continuity training of managers". "Both". "To a limited extent". "Only 'on the job' coaching". "Yes internal and external". "Yes informally". "No, But the intention is to start within our co-op". "Very informal". "Yes - within". "Advice". "I am not directly involved in giving training". "Informal within". "Informal". them to various courses "Personal training of assistants - also sending and seminars)". "Yes - informal". "Yes - within". a Director training "Personally none, but the co-operative has instigated programme - plus guidance to Senior Staff". management needs". "We endeavour to train young people to satisfy our own at courses, e.g. A.T.B." "Informal to staff and membership - also lecturing "Informal (small specialist team". as necessary as "Trustee of the Brundett Trust and normal instruction General Manager". "Informal advice". "All business activity is training". in the course of their duties". "To middle-management within this organisation "Informal within". Sales Managers and Sales Reps.". "To members of my own Department and to Area managers from within the "Rarely personally, but training is given to company". "Informal to second-line management". "Informal and within".

"Informal within". Di I IX .11

nun. of re lies-to e estion

"Do you think that your role has been adequately defined by your organisational superiors (i.e. in terms of specific reSzonsibilities, channels of communication etc.?)".

"I have had to write my own job description". "My organisational superiors are !Ay Board. and. Chairman, in so far as they are inexperienced in corporate commercial matters they do not understand their role and therefore cannot define mine". "Never been defined". "Insufficient say in future planning decisions". "It has only been defined in the loosest manner - but this allows scope for initiative - and brick bats!". "I find it difficult to accept the activities of other Senior Ilanagers in relation to my authority over the Sales Force which is now only functional".' "It would be most difficult for them to describe me as anything but the bloke (sic) in charge in ...... ". "My role has not been defined but is well established - Board decide on policy. Manager decides on implementation, board. relations are cordial". "Authority levels - cash". "My role is as wide as I wish it. But all capital expenditure or new ventures involving financial commitment have to be referred to Board". "This took some time". "Does not apply". "The status of managing director would make life easier providing it came within the power to make more entrepreneurial decisions". "I have no organisational superiors and. as such have to set ownstandards". "This is the first appointment of a joint Chief Executive Officer with the job being defined in retrospect. Look after every aspect of the co-operative that affects members' livelihood as growers% "- but irrelevant as I have to see everything and. can delegate as necessary". "I am responsible to two superiors, who differ in their view of responsibilities and. communications". "There is no clearly defined. specification for the job". "Moved in as a professional manager to a moderately successful business with no management control or definition. Wrote own job spec. (sic) and objectives also Directors' Terms of reference'. "Specific responsibilities have never really been defined, most responsibility has been assumed". "I happen not to believe in too rigid definitions of either responsibilities or communication. I look upon this business as my own and. too much rigidity can freeze action". -66-

IIPPENDIX I

Summary of Replies to 5ë

"Because it is a 22-operative business, are our tasks substantiall different from those of the mariapers of other forms of business Organisation'?"

••• "provided you understand Farmers": "Design of specially tailored techniques. to realise unique benefits of member involvement". "The objective of the Society is 'To provide a continuing independent force strong enough to exert an influence on the market for the benefit of and. within the control of our trading farmer members'. Members of tt.....12 get equal treatment which means Commercial business can use price on the day to their advantage. Our greatest end is to sell co-operation as a product to the member". "Society/member relationship is unique (or should be)". "The majority of societies are obsessed with price rather than a balance between quality and price. Co-operators are weak sellers and do not appreciate marketin technique as a private company does". "Dealing with members suppliers". "Member owned and therefore non-profit making". "Not being able to get a direct answer (to) your decision when necessary. The Chairman has to go to the Board and the Board may not always want to make a decision and then Committee goes back to board etc.". "Each member does at times consider himself to be employer". "The individual farmer as a shareholder feels he has the absolute right to personal access to the G.M. whilst appreciating the work load and. the real need to create an interdependence between people who axe entrepreneurial by instinct". "Not responsible to a given member but to all the members of the co-op both as a whole and individually". "There are at times restrictions which inhibit commercial development particularly in regard to one's commitment to members and their lack of commitment to the Society". "I have been able to ,identify completely with co-op philosphies, and. as a result have become very involved with our customers and members in a way which has never previously 'applied". "Multitudinous Diversification". "Customers are members and part owners. Task is to. emphasise this difference compared to private company customers". "No. Not basically other than in legal and fiscal Areas". "My society .believes in minimal profits. - only..suffic4.ent.,tp cover expenses. Some services provided.. on .trae costs would .shati a loss". "Responsible to customers who are also shareholding.members. The interest of farming members has to be considered when .poli.Oy decisions are made". "Primarily because the Company is non-profit .making and equity must be maintained between members". . . "I suspect yes, but I have no proper way of judging. If we. knew where the differences really lay or not, co-operatives in general might be more. successful dynamic organisations". -.67 —

• . APPENDIX I (cont.)

"Being answerable to 1X.1 number of members rather than 1Y1 number,of shareholders requires greater concentration and leads to involvement in individual ersonal and busia.s. This commitment leads to greater heartache in different trading times".

•. "Every trade is done on behalf of a member of your company and communications with members are of paramount importance. It is an easier operation to trade with a farmer and make profit from him". "Only that the members are your employers who feel they have a call on a portion of your time, which I consicler is the most difficult part of the job to fulfill satisfactory". "Because marketing Co-op members tend to view success i.e. higher re'=ns;- on a short term rather than long term basis. Also, farmer Directors have not, generally, business experience in the true sense". "The fact that it is members' money and that the member because he receives no tangible benefit, or nine cases out of ten believes he does not, make managing a co-operative more difficult". "Greater emphasis on legal and statutory- matters concerning membership, shareholdings, marketing agreements etc.". "Close contact and daily business matters with members, i.e. Shareholders".

"In a private commercial business, profit making is the motivator, in a true co-operative, a fair return from the market with good. service to the members is necessary". "Because of members total commitment and involvement it is necessary to consult them before major decisions are made. This can be tedious but is essential for the successful operation of groups".

"L. great deal of personal persuasion is needed to gain acceptance of commercially proper decisions. The application of discipline between members is more delicate than in a normal business environment".

"Very close working relationship with the members/shareholders who own the business, and the perishable goods that are handled. It is sometimes difficult to avoid constraints due to the need to ensure reasonable eauitl member to member in handling their produce".

"In the past I have been "profit motivated' this is not the criteria for performance judgement now".

"Jiefereeing' equity within membership and maintaining true discipline of the agreement. Organising membership gatherings, creating a team spirit between and with Employers and Employees".

"I have not managed any other business but I feel a greater need. to satisfy members cf. shareholder of an ordinary company". "In other organisations, the business objectives are usually clear - in co-ops not. Co-ops tend to try to satisfy too many needs of members - many of which are irreconciliable". "For example, a certain service might not be a profitable proposition and therefore in a Commercial Orp-anisation it would be axed. In a co-operative if members insisted on retaining the service, it would remain".

"Except for legislative differences concerning Ind. and Provident Societies Act as opposed to Companies Act". - 68 -

APPENDIX I Cont.

"Profit motives are not always premier (negatively - the co-op is always expected to be "cheapest")".

"Basically the business is operated as any business - profit orientated. by product division. Pull responsibility largely rests with LB. - keeping the board informed - no recourse to other professional managers in local situation".

"Risks involved in Wool buying and selling have to be restricted in view of the responsibility to the agricultural shareholders".

"Object is to sell the best possible advantage :not just merchantine where you can buy and sell so long as you make a profit".

"Our members, customers wish our Society to succeed".

••• "I am responsible to Committee member6 and shareholders".

"The members are the owners of the business".

"Involved more with members and trying to satisfy every shareholder's need. (for?) more diversification".

"Customers are frequently shareholders. This should be a big advantage. One should find it reasonably easy to develop a feeling of loyalty to their own business".

"Need to influence market forces - could invest funds more profitably - in property, shares etc. - not our function - need to provide goods at least cost to be a force in market and a continuing one - we as a Co-op will be here for a long time - other businesses can close tomorrow".

"Additional secretarial work involved".

"The members depend. on my capabilities to run their Society to their satisfaction, and will demand the service that they have been used. to. Other forms of organisations would not hesitate to make a decision if not rewarded in E":

"Because of the peculiar nature 'of'the business of selling livestock with little control over supply, seasonal variations in throughput and. frequent changes in demand and price, invariably there being little demand. at times of highest throughput". -69-

LPPENDIX J

Summary of Replies to Qes±ion 7th

"Does our business have a definite Man ement Recruitment Polic

"Management opportunities are catered for by the training of the present personnel. His inclination for certain aspects of the business is encouraged by internal and external training".

"As far as possible we try and recruit from within the business. As it is impossible to cover every eventuality, we then decide on a course of action appropriate to the vacancy in mind".

"In recent years- whenever practical on basis of promotion from within".

"We try to take a graduate each year for one year trial. If he has the necessary common sense and is prepared to work he is appointed junior management status 3 years".

"Engagement of school leavers and. chart them through all the phases of the business. Send them on various courses".

"Very recently put into operation and not functioning satisfactorily".

"Only recently - impending retirement of senior staff has led to the drawing up of a management tree and policy of recruitment".

"Management development is practised".

"First choice to present staff, attention to in-society training".

"To promote from within if possible".

"No. Although. I am in favour. We are numerically small and costs'are tightly controlled. A training scheme would add significantly to our costs".

"The Company structure is planned to allow young staff to ultimately aspire to management. Great care is taken in the initial selection, with usually an ultimate job in mind. We always place character ahead of qualifications. Such people mainly respond in the right manner and invariably are very loyal".

"Being associated with the ...... group - definite promotion pattern and movement of staff".

"Irrelevant at moment".

"Established only two years, had economic situation been normal in last two years, a management trainee would have been appointed".

"Established on my taking over 4 years ago. Operate management development scheme from trainee through but dependent on needs".

"We send one man on as many courses as possible" (sic)

"No. Although we have taken 'on one young person so as to -train him as a manager, he has started as a shop assistant but we do give him a few hours in the office and I personally learn him (sic) how we run this society". - 70 -

APPENDIX IC

Summary of Replies to Question 7e

"Does your organisation have a definite manapiem.ent develo

"In a comparatively small organisation it is difficult ' to keep bright young people as managerial progress has to stop".

"Where possible potential managers will be selected from existing staff otherwise young potential managers will be recruited for training".

"It is policy for each director to evaluate the development needs of his managers and discuss, applicable training within the society. More work is being done: merit appraisal and succession planning".

"Informal training'and promotion from within the society".

"Mainly recruitment from school leavers; promotion from existing staff".

"We evolve our policies as conditions change".

"Engagement of school-leavers and chart them through all the phases of the business. Send them on various courses".

"Under positive re-appraisal following new management team appointments - recently introduced policy unsatisfactory".

"By every means available to us we try to make our managers better businessmen".

"We have stated that we have a development policy. In my experience this is not so". (from an assistant to. •er)

"In company training".

"Help and advice at all levels".

"An identification by annual personal review, manpower plan, individual programed training".

"In conjunction with Training Board. and B.A.S.A.M. Central Council, and A.C.M.S.".

"No, we have very few staff".

"Every encouragement given".

"We mainly try to recruit young people who normally achieve a good understanding of how the business operates prior to being offered positions of seniority". ••

"Release fcr training courses". "Regular management committee meetings. Outside courses". "Initial experience in similar co-operative companies. Training in man- management, industrial relations, communication,' new legislation mainly with the industrial societies, secretarial with C.C.A.H.C. "I will send the packhouse foreman on course in time and will attend some myself". 71 —

" APPENDIX IC (cont.)

"My in-bention itO start one". -

"Trainee would spend 27.3 years working with other agricultural co-operatives in this country after completing initial training period here".

"Regular attendance at specialised courses. Trade orgmilsations and manufacturers' training courses".

"Cross reference through external courses. Executives early appointment as G.M. or Senior Manager in subsidiaries bought for purpose of training".

"Vb. Only as development is likely".

"The managerial staff changes are so rare as not to warrant a formal policy. Again I say this is too restrictive".

"Constant attention is given to new trends and new opportunities".

"Identification-v. 'training towards area sales management and product management". - 72 -

APPENDIX L.

of replies to Question 7h

"Do au believe that 11 erial careers in icultural co-o eratives need more or different publicity than they_currently receive?"

"Agricultural educational establishments are found wanting".

"No. As 90% of the trade of many large co-ops is now transacted under non-bonus terms, management of these co-ops differ very little from the private sector".

"Better facilities for training by people who know what they are talking about: If co-operatives had more publicity they would tend to attract more interest from potential managers".

"The attitude of co-op boards (and the movement generally) to professional management has changed drastically in recent years and this desirable change • is not sufficiently publicised".

"In particular better contacts with potential managers, universities, schools, also professionally turned out booklets by C.C.A.H.C. and A.M.".

"I believe that as co-operatives become MOTS progressive and successful they will become more attractive to capable managers. A general improvement in co-op status and image will in itself be good publicity".

"The Co-operative Societies reed 'selling' better. In well organised societies this is being done".

"Management should be recruited in the same fashion as private and public companies. Too often the co-opurative recruitmwnt style and media reflect the old 'cheap jack' image".

"That which is necessary to compete with other businesses of equivalent turnover and significance".

"More contact with colleges, universities, schools etc.. We carry out this job locally through our Personnel Manager".

"Information booklets".

"No. I believe managers require tact with people and knowledge of the business dealt with - not the Harvard type business training".

"I feel that many people are uncertain of career structure in co-ops".

"A more definitive evaluation of what co-operatives are and do so that all agencies are aware of what the position offered means and development prospects".

"No. We can't understand why it should be suggested that they need any publicity".

"I believe we should be recruiting from within ,and feel that there could be greater exchange within societies".

"Literature and contacts with educational and training bodies, placement agencies etc.".

"No more in Agricultural Co-operative than in private companies in the same trade or business. All managerial careers need. more publicity". - 73 -

APPENDIX L cont. supply a need "As a Trustee of the *Brundett Trust' I hope the Trust will in the future". recognise that pay "But to attract more professional staff th6re is a need to and other incentives are related to industry counterparts".

"No clear views". improved so "Were the image of co-ops both within and outside the industry business/ that they compared with that of the efficient part of the normal would have commercial sector, the idea of co-operative management as a career contact more, positive appeal. In part this could be achieved through :eater between the co-operative and agricultural/continental seats of learning". some like "One problem is the range Of managerial -jobs: -- some depressing, a hope mine, rewarding.. Too many start ,off on the wrong foot and haven't in hell of offering a career".

"Not too familiar with the present' situation on publicity".

"There is a need for better career opportunities in co-ops ,to match the incentives available in the commercial field".

"Training for those already in Co-ops to enable them to take up management posts when available".

"What is required is more or different publicity on what is an agricultural to co-operative and its objectives; if they show the correct attitude development then the best men trill be attracted".

"More information clarifying the divergence of roles which have to be understood".

"Throughout the whole career spectrum".

"1 would have thought very few Careers Masters at schools could lay their hands on any document showing a career structure in this field or the steps a school-leaver should take to equip himself for it".

"Not sufficiently aware of the present situation".

"Wide advertising of opportunities".

"Under C.C.A.H.C. a small cadre should be put in orbit. We attempted something similar about 5 years ago but it lacked both the right type of recruit and co-op support. The Wholesale Federation is developing a scheme for market salesmen - a similar approach should be made by C.C.A.H.C. We would participate".

"No. N.B. Why distinguish agricultural co-operatives from other businesses particularly in agriculture - sane understanding of farmers is necessary".

"More effective contacts with placement agencies".

"Co-operative movement is at present too fragmented. and therefore does not have the power that the bigger private companies have. Federals must be formed to wield more power and become better known".

"Why differentiate? - still operating a business". - 74 -

APPENDIX L (cont.) within "More information, wide publicity circulation of job opportunities agricultural co-op movement". way excepting "Co-ops should take the form of family business in every profits paid back to members as bonus after reserves are allocated".

"Throughout Colleges and Universities (even secondary schools)".

"More contact in management training and universities". salaries and "The movement needs to promote itself better and offer higher conditions in general to attract a higher calibre of person".

"Frankly I do not know. I have never given this much thought".

"Through the Agricultural Organisation in general".

"By any realistic method possible". general booklet "Maw societies advertise too locally and too modestly. agencies are very would be difficult as Societies vary so Duch, placement expensive". — 75 —

APPENDIX M

Surnmar of re lies to iiestioñ 86, .

"Do ou think there is or shortl will be a chaxwe in the eof -person ement?"

"Managers must be more financially orientated and have a broader business experience".

"In general a more professional .approach and in -spme-• cases (I think) salary and C. Accordingly. More. training (C.C.A.H.C. doing a good jOb)V

"Generally better educated with some business management training".

"Basically there will need to be, fundamental change in the structure of Co-operatives and this means more Executive Directors who must be better qualified to run and understand a large business".

"Co-operation has to change to beeome more effective. More societies must work together to achieve benefits,for their membership"...

"I think this is already in motion in the larger more progressive ane_ aggresive societies. Structures,in the 1 -traditional' societies are weak. Management is needed at all lei-els with succession policies."

"Whilst there is need for a change its impetus needs to come from farmer Directors who should ensure that top calibre managers are used to sell co-operation to members as well as adopting conventional commercial policies".

"Younger, more businesslike approach".

"No. But one requires more commercial knowledge with the increasine, eziount of legislation and new regulations".

"No. Except.t top levels for discussion with Government etc.. Because a new type of capital structure must be found".

"Broader based knowledge of Business as a whole to be able to explore opportunities not directly applicable to agriculture".

"Societies are no longer the hobby or toy of farmer members - it is big business and needs to be run as such - hidier expertise in ricnagenent with Board participation as Directors by management".

"All business whether co-opeiative or not increasingly require more competent managers".

*I think the change has already taken place - the professional managers with a commercial approach".

"I cannot answer.i I do not know the type of person in Lg. Co-op management".

"In ,common with all business changing scale changing times demand more skills".

"Experience will still be a major factor. In the long tern and as Businesses grow, greater specialisation will occur."

"Management geared to make the most of existing facilities in all fields. Changes are only necessary when theories have been proven beneficial. There has been too many high cost schemes all leading nowhere". - 76 -

APPENDIX 11 (cont.)

"More formal training needed in every aspect of activity". •• "General business experience at high level is much more inportant than more detailed commodity trading experience".

"Not necessarily - but what is e .difference between managing a private business and a co-op".

"Replacement on retirement of tupgradedt salesmen and replacement by specifically trained and developed managers".

"Specialisation/dedication/professionalism".

"Specifl ly trained managers - as in all industries to replace the ,led- managers currently employed".

"A general plan in training over a number of years although this will not necessarily make a good commercial manager".

"The need. for personnel trained. in business management techniques is yew apparent - akin to the D.M.S. coarse".

"In view of the poor record of a,gric. coops in the country, I suppose the answer is Yes but again no clear views".

"In inr limited experience (of Horticultural Co-op sales) managers will have to be far more professional than many of the "promoted. from the ranks" present incumbents".

"Co-operative farming Directors are still too often wanting non-businessmen to run their co-ops - Co-ops are no different to any other business and the sooner this is understood by all the better. It would not be a bez thing for management to move in and out of the co-ops".'

"All inspiring Sales and Production managers should undertake studies in business accounting as well as in their specialised subject".

"There is or will be a need. for a stronger commercial approach to co-operative management".

"Young man with technical ability associated with his particular co-op. Ability to achieve greater co-operation amongst producers".

"An ability to look beyond the farm business - need. to obtain persons with an ability to trade on equal terms with national companies".

"Because the Co-operative Company _will have to evolve. to compete with large multi-national organisation; a higher level of business acumen in management will be required".

"It varies accordingly to the type of Co-operative but each in his way needs to be at least seen to be a good Co-operator".

"I imagine recruitment in management will cothe from within or from National Agricultural Commercial organisations".

"If one assumes that there will be a growth. in,the size of Co-operatives, Management will have to become more sophisticated.. Small co-operatives . will, still need the personal touch!'. -77 -

APPENDIX M con-b.)

"No. Not in our particular line of business".

"The persons required, must be very much more Commercial in developing co-operatives".

"More emphasis on ability to run a business and. one larger than many present Co-ops, rather than on specialist agriculture/horticulture knowledge".

"In maw ways, co-operation has reached a plateau in development, it needs a person with a sound dynamism and. commercial flair".

"More professionalism in some cases, but I really have not been involved in Co-operatives long enough to be definite".

"No change is necessary in small co-ops such as the one I an in".

"I cannot see the difference between a Co-op manager or any other =lager".

"More commercial and professional and less purely agricultural".

"Managers will be more involved in planning and budgeting projection. And there will be more need for the Manager to have an aninistrative background".

"More public relations work must be done and while it is necessary to concentrate on Commercial aspects of management, Co-op management should be seen to be practical in agricultural matters".

"Changes are already taking place at senior levels. More specialist/ professionals required".

"More emphasis on Accounting systems and forward contracting.tess likely that an agriculturist will obtain top job (e.g. self)".

"During University and College stage must be provision for subject Agricultural Co-operation".

"More progressive".

"He needs to be a professional - knowledge of business principles - preferably with a sales/technical backgro-und (but I an biassed) a graduate, an accountant and a good listener".

"This is difficult to answer in such a short space. Basically a manager must be trustworthy, have a sound. knowledge of Agriculture and be popular".

"A younger more professional element is starting to emerge and change thinking to more modern methods".

"I sometimes feel in this area that rationalisation and amalgamation of some smaller societies is called for".

"Therefore men of that frame of mind, are required, but I must emphasise that the generally accepted form of agricultural Co-operatives are not in my sphere and it could be said that I should not comment".

"No. Unless he will have to be a legal expert".

"The improving status and working conditions will attract better qualified applicants". "Far more training needed of the kind given by Large Multiples. Kore Accountancy training. Practical Salesmanship vital". - 78 -

• .0.1)11111.DIX N

re,p1 es to Priest-ton_ Bb

"Any otb.er arrri_ect of arrri.r,1:1.:-. ,eript, not covered?"

"Should there be sOme better form of contact with the hierarchy of the N.F.U.?"

"Bilingual trend in pp:I-Ale-0.1Tc. Assi.Ptenrie in understanding the many orot.tri.::x.r,-%:!.ans that ox-If.rtJ - their purpose and possible use to the industry and particular co-operative".

"With legislation on the rights of employees being equal to shareholders, i.e. worer pax-bioilmtion, a knowledge of inthIstrial relations together with the acctiv1.:-..ing. of skills necer3F3aii• to get irda%I.I.Dity from employees and members for policies designed to improve their livelihood".

"There will be a need to look beyond our traditional markets and develop other outlets, e.g. export and direct trading".

"In larger co-operatives it may be better to employ specialised managers to control the buaness jointly in favour of a Managing Director".

"Co-opative Msnagers will I believe not come from outside the industry but will be younger mole progreinive people currenny employed in"(sic).

"Lbility to speak EEC languages likely to be useful".

"There is too big a gap between the o.rninazy member and his co-op, which must be different to a no11ml- commercial busiaeos".

"Training of young persons for management-correspondence courses and block rele ay.f...enents for agricultural co-op courses. This needs to be re-establiGhed".

"Own business is already involved in Europe and. share in joint ventures with EEC companies/co-ops have already three managers who are bilingual".

"Extra language would help".

"Bi.lintan..1? Some can't speak English: - (or do you mean Welsh?!) - trairing in cos-o-0 - form structnre of "EEC Co-ops - Education - ViLts to other centres at home and continent".

"A manager in North Wales has .to be bilingual, is e English and. Welsh lartrwlses. What we m--;ed is orge,n:U.lation to market produce especially Fat Lamb, Fat Cattle and Storp.Cattle".

"In Wales, Welsh/English speaking is an advantage. Another major aspect is the appointment _of capable and truolivorthy staff to delegate to".

"The mansger of this Society has to (be) bilingual Welsh and English. Minutes of Board meeting are in Welsh".

."DesDite all efforts made by A.O.S. and. any Council attempting to assist Com-cewrrit::or "Demand andS-i.11yply controls the whole .5...9611P" as we did prov,r;)eoi, a ly in 1974-75 1,fhtn farm stok prioeo -VN,72e , down. Depression in farming can ruin any busineos Co-operative or otherwise".

"Bilingual managers (in Wales) with Welsh as first language. • "We feel that there should be more liaison and. assistance between co-operatives". -79 -

"In Wales there are still too many small Societies. Larger Societies means bigger jobs and bigger people".

"With our involvement with European agriculture and horticulture thro the EEC a second Plumpean language (prefei:ably either French or German) is a great advantage".

"The secret for success in agric-co-ors lies in other members not their managers. In our opinion very few U.Z. farmers are sincerely co-op minded".

"A capacity and liking for filling in forms which are proliferating in modern business".

"The personnel-human relations activity has in general been largely forgotten by the large society - bilingual interesting (I an studying German)".

"Senior Executive Managers should be eligible for appointment as main Board Directors to bring Co-ops into line with private companies".

"As we are full members of the MC now (and I happen to be bilingual) an if you serve on EEC Committees it is very useful".

"Bilingual managers will become more useful as time goes on".

"I would so love to see more emphasis being put on all recruits being able to just get on well with people".

"There should be an even more senior appointment with power to rationalise the Ag. - Co-ops for our general good".

"Second language - one of changes referred to in (a) above. Co-operative philosophy".

"This questionnaire appears to pre-suppose that a company incorporated under the and P's Act in some ways requires different management to those constituted under the Companies Act. We do not agree with the implication".

"Bilingual - much more travelled - appreciation of Political Implications EEC".

"It will be very necessary for managers to be completely up-to-date with all EEC business and to be able to speak as many of the languages as possible".

"1 think there is a danger of co-ops forgetting that they must be commercial and work with private/public organisation. The EEC contracts are what want A.C.M.S. to do".

"The use of the words "Society" and "Co-operative" is the biggest single drawback to recruitment of suitable men: The words axe old-fashioned and give the wrong image".

"We are part of EEC - Co-ops in the U.K. are not united enough to go into Europe as one voice. Thus must change if progress is to be made".

"Prospects would be enhanced by a rationalisation of the existing 500 Do-operatives into say 6 Regional co-ops providing greater financial stability and benefits for progression".

"Some co-operatives deny themselves desirable management due to failure to give manager full authority. Directors/members relate rewards of management too much to their own rewards".