Mekelle University College of Business and Economics Department of Management
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by IDS OpenDocs Mekelle University College Of Business and Economics Department Of Management Assessment of Members Perceptions towards Factors Influencing the Success of Cooperatives (A survey of Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives in Becho Woreda) BY: Ephrem Dejene A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Master of Business Administration Degree (Marketing Specialization) Principal Advisor: Tewelde Mezgobo (Assistant Professor) Co-advisor: Desta Kidanu (Lecturer) June 2014 Mekelle, Ethiopia MEKELLE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT MBA program Assessment of Members’ Perceptions towards Factors Influencing the Success of Cooperatives (A survey of Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives in Becho woreda) By: Ephrem Dejene A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Master of Business Administration Degree (Marketing Specialization) Principal Advisor: Tewelde Mezgobo (Asst. Professor) Co-Advisor: Desta Kidanu (Lecturer) June 2014 Mekelle, Ethiopia DECLARATION I, Ephrem Dejene, hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Assessment of Members’ Perceptions towards Factors Influencing the Success of Cooperatives: A survey of Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives in Becho woreda ”, submitted by me for the award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration in Marketing of Mekelle University at Mekelle, is my original work and it hasn’t been presented for the award of any other Degree, Diploma, Fellowship or other similar titles of any other university or institution. Finally, I confirm that source references used in thesis are dully recognized. Ephrem Dejene Signature………………………… Mekelle University College of Business and Economics Date ……………………………… Department of Management Tigrai- Ethiopia I CERTIFICATION This is to certify that this thesis entitled “Assessment of Members’ Perceptions towards Factors Influencing the Success of Cooperatives: A survey of Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives in Becho woreda” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Business Administration in Marketing to the College of Business and Economics, Mekelle University, through the Department of Management, done by Mr. Ephrem Dejene, ID No.CBE/PR:045/05 is an authentic work carried out by him under our guidance. Advisors Principal Advisor: Tewelde Mezgobo (Asst Professor) Signature…………….. Mekelle, Ethiopia Date: 23/06/2014 Co-advisor: Desta Kidanu( Lecturer) Signature ……………… Mekelle, Ethiopia Date: 23/06/2014 Approval Board of Examiners External Examiner Name: Date: 23/06/2014 Signature: ………………… Internal Examiner Name: Date: 23/06/2014 Signature: ………………… II Abstract This survey study aimed at assessing and identifying the factors influencing the success of agricultural marketing cooperatives in Becho Woreda. The targets for this research were members of AMCs. For the sake of achieving the objectives of this study, responses were elicited from two hundred twenty (220) respondents who were drawn from the target population using two-stage random sampling procedure. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 officers’ and cooperative leaders of AMCs. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential analyses. Besides, the qualitative data collected were analyzed using descriptive narrations through concurrent triangulation strategy. To facilitate the data processing and analysis activity SPSS version 20 was used. The empirical study identified six major factors for the success of AMCs which include: member participation factor, member commitment factor, structural factor, communication factor, managerial factor, external factor. The results showed that, “participation in cooperative governance, “mutual trust”; “membership homogeneity”; “communication medium”; “interpersonal skills” and “market access” are the highly influential factors for the success of AMCs. The findings further indicate that, there exists positive significant ranging from low to strong relationship was found between independent variables and dependent variable. Moreover, the selected independent variables significantly explain the variations in the dependent variable. Finally, the study has suggested cooperative promoter, government, and prospective members should prioritize those factors that have greater impact on their success than do others i.e., commitment of members and their participation. Key Words: AMCs, success, member participation factor, member commitment factor, structural factor, communication factor, managerial factor, external factor. III Acknowledgement This thesis is a product of the energy, efforts and thoughts of many different people that I had the pleasure to work with during the past six months. My greatest appreciation goes to my principal advisor Mr. Tewelde Mezgobo (Asst Professor) and co-advisor Mr. Desta Kidanu( Lecturer) for their continual font of ideas, stimulating suggestions, constructive and very supportive comments, and encouragement helped me in all the time of research. I am very thankful to all of my families who were in my side since my childhood. My greatest appreciation is to my mother, for her moral and material support throughout my study. Dejene Tadesse, Samira Dejene and Frehiwot Dejene you deserve special gratitude, I don’t have anything precious like you. I am very thankful to Fanosu Bonsa, Wendu Ayelew, Tesfaye Tadesse, Kasahun Ayelew and Kasahun Feleke for their imperative moral support. Thanks to the lecturers in my courses that helped me in my studies and generously gave me idea to carry on in this project. I am also very grateful to Becho Woreda Office of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cooperative Promotion Office workers, cooperative experts, cooperative leaders and affiliated primary cooperative members in the study areas without their help and cooperation this study would have not been materialized. I am indebted to extend my heartfelt praise and gratitude to all of my friends; and to many people which I cannot mention their names here but contributed a lot to successful completion of this research. Finally, I am indebted to the works and authors that I used in this research and to several anonymous referees whose works added value to this thesis in one way or another. I thank Almighty God for your blessings IV Lists Abbreviations and Acronyms ACDI Agricultural Cooperative Development International AMCs Agricultural marketing cooperatives Coops Cooperatives CPR Cooperative Promotion and Registration DFID Department for International Development ICA International Co-operative Alliance ILO International Labor Organization IOF Investor-Owned Firm Ltd Limited MOFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development NGCs New Generation Cooperatives SPSS Statistical Package for Social Science UN United Nations USA United State of America USAID United States Aid for International Development USDA United State Department of Agriculture USOCDC United States Overseas Cooperative Development Council VOCA Volunteer Organization for Co-operative Assistance V Contents Title page DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................... I CERTIFICATION ........................................................................................................................................ II Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ III Acknowledgement ....................................................................................................................................... IV Lists Abbreviations and Acronyms ............................................................................................................... V List of Figure................................................................................................................................................ IX List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ X CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background of the study ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Statement of the problem ................................................................................................................... 3 1.3. Research question ................................................................................................................ 5 1.4. Objectives of the study ....................................................................................................................... 5 1.5. Research hypothesis ........................................................................................................................... 6 1.6. Scope and Limitation of the study ..................................................................................................... 6 1.7. Significance of the study .................................................................................................................... 7 1.8. Organization of the paper ..................................................................................................................