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 IV. Job Evaluation 27 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.