Copyright © 2014, American-Eurasian Network for Scientific Information publisher American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture ISSN: 1995-0748 JOURNAL home page: http://www.aensiweb.com/AEJSA 2014 June; 8(9): pages 11-16. Published Online 27August 2014. Research Article The Competitiveness of Consumer Cooperatives as a factor of sustainable socio- economic development of the territory 1Alfiya Ruslanovna Fattakhova and 2Aliya Maratovna Nureeva 1Elabuga Institute (Branch) of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University Tatarstan, 423604, Elabuga, Kazan Street, 89 2Kazan cooperative institute Tatarstan, 420045, Kazan, N.Ershova Street, 58 Received: 25 June 2014 ; Received: 8 July 2014; Accepted: 25 July 2014; Available online: 27 August 2014 © 2014 AENSI PUBLISHER All rights reserved ABSTRACT The article presents some results of Tatarstan Republic‟s consumer cooperation‟s competitiveness research. Organisations, which are included in the Tatpotrebsoyuz system, were evaluated on various grounds. Competitiveness is the basis for the growth and prosperity of the company, and undoubtedly reflected in its financial stability. Organizations, which are within the Tatpotrebsoyuz system, are vulnerable in conditions of increasing competition in the Tatarstan Republic‟s retail market. For this purpose, the Tatarstan Republic‟s cooperative system‟s internal environment was investigated, what later will allow to develop an effective mechanism, which will improve its competitiveness and financial stability. Keywords: competitiveness, trade activity, consumers, shareholders, management system, forms of trade. INTRODUCTION (hereinafter referred to as “Tatpotrebsoyuz”) includes 39 regional consumer companies [5, p.10]. It is Any entity of the market economy tends to necessary to note that recently there has been minimize the negative impact of environmental observed an increasing popularity of consumer factors and to financial stability [1]. However, for a societies in various areas, for example, there is a high stable position in the market environment, firstly, share of building societies in the housing market of you should pay attention to the internal reserves [2]. the Republic of Tatarstan, consumer loan Prompt and adequate identification of organization‟s organizations are often various cooperatives and problems allows implementing preventive control, partnerships. The development of the cooperative which is undoubtedly more important than the movement is caused not only by civil law, but also, reactive type of management [3]. Financial viability partially, by the mentality in which trust in collective of the enterprise is the key to the formation of a self- forms of control over joint ownership or activities is sufficient budget, which ultimately determines the inherent. Therefore, one of the tenets of consumer prospects of socio-economic development of the cooperation competitiveness is a possibility to territory [4]. participate in the management, and, therefore, in For the Tatpotrebsoyuz's internal environment profit sharing, which is the most powerful motivating research applied methods of questioning, factor. interrogation, comparison, analysis and synthesis, Production and trading organization was studied documentation and statistical reporting. “Tatpotrebsoyuz” has a perfectly adjusted system of Currently, consumer cooperation of the Republic control [6],which includes the following structural of Tatarstan numbers 502 thousand shareholders with departments: registered capital of 112,162 rubles, including a 1. Department for trade. mutual fund of 21,213 thousand rubles, with 6,919 2. Department for provision. people engaged at its enterprises and organizations. 3. Catering department. The system of Tatarstan consumer cooperation 4. Production department. Corresponding Author: Alfiya Ruslanovna Fattakhova, Elabuga Institute (Branch) of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University Tatarstan, 423604, Elabuga, Kazan Street, 89 12 Alfiya Ruslanovna and Aliya Maratovna, 2014 / American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 8(9), June, Pages: 11-16 5. Financial and economic department. Today, consumer cooperation companies of the 6. Property and law department. Republic of Tatarstan provide services of 80 types, 7. Audit office. serving a population of 592 thousand people [5, 8. Accounting system. p.11]. 9. Department of accounting and reporting. Trade is one of the most important revenue 10. Department of staff management and record generating branches of economy creating a keeping. significant share of gross domestic product. In the 11. Department of equipment modernization. total volume of consumer cooperation of the The above list of structural departments has a Republic of Tatarstan retail is 55%, including about 2 number of disadvantages from the standpoint of thousand stores located in rural areas. Major efforts analysis of its organization structure: are directed at improving trade efficiency, widening 1) There is no clear division of functional areas of the range of goods, also at the expense of goods of activity, deputy chairmen are in charge of albeit local production, and conducting flexible pricing related, but quite intensive, and difficult from the policy. viewpoint of control activities. For example, one of Of all “Tatpotrebsoyuz” companies Mamadysh the Vice-Chairmen is in charge of provisional and district consumer cooperation company is the leader catering activities, the other - of production and in sales volume. In the retail trade volume of consumer services. Control theory proved the consumer cooperation of Tatarstan, Mamadysh effectiveness of divisional management structures in consumer cooperation company‟s proportion is 7.7%, those cases where it is necessary to manage a variety that of Mamadysh district is 33%. These results are of services with maximum focus on the satisfaction achieved mainly due to the use of modern sales of consumers‟ demands [7]. technologies. 2) Some departments duplicate one another‟s One of the trends, actively implemented in functions: the financial and economic department, consumer cooperation, including those in Mamadysh the property and law department, audit office and the district, is the introduction of modern technology, department of accounting and reporting give the idea advanced methods of sale, self-service in particular. of the necessity to restructure the whole or at least Agryz and Drozhzhanovsky consumer companies part of the management structure. actively introduce self-service method in their stores The study of the management structure of and so do a number of other consumer companies, production and trade company “Tatpotrebsoyuz” which has enabled them to increase significantly the leads to the following conclusion in regard of the volume of trade in recent years. reserves to increase its competitiveness: it is The search for new forms of activities within necessary to optimize the management structure, existing trends, as the experience of the individual bringing the mechanism of its functioning to the consumer societies of the Republic of Tatarstan demands of the market. proves, leads to quite tangible results. However, this conclusion does not mean that Chuvash, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and other “Tatpotrebsoyuz” is an ineffective economic form of regional consumer cooperative companies‟ self- management. Among the major regional service stores provide half of retail trade; meanwhile organizations of consumer cooperatives in the there are no self-service stores in 7 regions of the Russian Federation the Republic of Tatarstan Republic of Tatarstan: Aznakayevo, Bavly, Baltasi, occupies one of the leading places in the number of Vysokogorsk, Zainsk, Kukmor and Sarmanovo. workers (third place after the Nizhny Novgorod and At the same time supermarkets are opened in Krasnodar consumer cooperation companies), that is Rybnaya Sloboda, Yutazy, Mamadysh, Chistopol conspicuous of the social mission performed by and Buinsk. The average turnover per month in these “Tatpotrebsoyuz”. stores is from 3 to 3.5 million rubles. In the volume of retail sales the consumer Another promising trend in trade development is cooperation system of the Republic of Tatarstan the formation of trade networks under a single takes the 4th place among the represented cooperative brand and development of shopping organizations. But it should be noted that the system centres. of consumer cooperation of Tatarstan region is The cultural level of service and the quality of inferior to the above in the share of consumer services largely depend on the qualifications of the cooperatives in retail trade throughout the whole shop assistant. The development of the necessary trading industry of the region. The volume of retail trade workers‟ competencies is available in the sales in the Republic of Tatarstan is only 2.2%, while “Tatpotrebsoyuz”, as it has a Cooperative College. in Novgorod region - 23.3%, in Pskov region - Updating of training programs should be carried out 22.2%, in Chuvash Republic - 17.6%, in Udmurt in accordance with current standards of work and Republic - 10.1 %. Partially, such a great difference provide not only compliance with all stages of the can be explained by unequal shares of the rural trade process, but also a possibility to give competent population in the regions. advice about the product, as well as the requirement of polite service. 13 Alfiya Ruslanovna and Aliya Maratovna, 2014 / American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 8(9), June, Pages: 11-16 The fact