The Relationship Between the Entrepreneurial Competencies of Cooperative Managers and the Performance of Selected Cooperatives in the Province of Batangas

Date

5-2024

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Gemma U. Reyes

Committee Member

Juan Paulino S. Trespalacio, Junior, Ma. Teresa A. Acda, Melodee Marciana E. De Castro

Restrictions

Restricted: Not available to the general public and to those bound by the confidentiality agreement. Access is available only after consultation with author/thesis adviser.

Abstract

The Philippine cooperatives are one of the key contributors to economic development by combating poverty, providing employment, and improving members' quality of life. However, despite their significance, the cooperatives experience various challenges including difficulties in operating their business, leading to failure. Existing literature highlighted that cooperatives, particularly managers, often lack entrepreneurial competencies, which may significantly impact cooperative performance. Therefore, the study aimed to analyze the relationship between managers' entrepreneurial competencies and cooperative performance in Batangas. Data was collected from 43 managers of the selected micro, small, medium, and large cooperatives through convenience sampling using online surveys. Cooperative performance was assessed using the STEPS from Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), while managers' entrepreneurial competencies were measured using Man's (2001) research instrument. Descriptive statistics and various correlational analysis were employed in the study.

The study revealed that the majority of the cooperative managers were in the age group of 41 to 50 years old (34.88%), female (76.74%), college graduates (81.40%), with 6 to 10 years of experience in the cooperative (25.58%) and have entrepreneurial training experience (65.12%). Cooperative managers' entrepreneurial training includes Strategic Planning (31.82%), Governance and Management of Cooperatives (18.18%), Fundamentals of Cooperatives (13.64%), Personal Entrepreneurial Development (9.09%), Kapatid Mentor Me Program (9.09%), and other training types. In terms of the performance of the selected cooperatives, the majority of the cooperatives, regardless of asset sizes, were determined to have unsatisfactory performance for both 2021 and 2022. Conversely, some performance indicators had a fair performance, particularly in micro cooperatives. Moreover, the selected cooperative managers of the micro, small, medium, and large cooperatives in Batangas exhibited relatively high levels in all of the entrepreneurial competencies measured in the study. However, the cooperative managers specifically excelled in relationship, organizing and opportunity competencies but weakest in commitment competencies.

The results also revealed that there is a significant moderate to strong positive relationship between certain socio-demographic profiles of micro and small cooperative managers and the structure of assets, but no significant relationship for medium and large cooperatives. Additionally, micro cooperative managers' age, education, experience and entrepreneurial training significantly relate to specific entrepreneurial competencies, while for small cooperative managers' sex significantly relates to all entrepreneurial competencies. For large cooperative managers, years of experience has a significant moderate negative relationship with conceptual and organizing competencies, but medium cooperative managers' profiles indicated no significant relationship with entrepreneurial competencies. Moreover, the performance of the selected cooperatives showed no significant relationship with the managers' entrepreneurial competencies, except for micro cooperatives, where turn-over, profitability, and overall STEPS had a significant moderate to strong negative relationship with some entrepreneurial competencies, and for medium cooperatives, where overall STEPS had a significant moderate positive relationship with opportunity competencies, while small and large cooperatives showed no significant relationship.

The study recommends that the (a) Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) update its regulatory framework to align with current sector standards, establish a capacity-building program tailored to cooperatives' needs, provide financial assistance, and encourage technology adoption for efficiency and competitiveness. The (b) Board of Directors (BODs) of cooperatives should hire managers with the qualities emphasized in the study, enhance cash flow management, reduce short-term debt, boost sales through effective marketing, adopt stricter policies, increase business volume, optimize asset productivity, manage costs for higher net surplus, reduce non-performing assets, diversify capital sources, among others. (c) Cooperative managers should focus on enhancing commitment competencies and leverage exhibited competencies such as fostering relationships with others, improving products/services, among others. (d) Future studies should increase the number of cooperatives examined, analyze the relationship between specific managers' socio-demographic profiles and cooperative performance (e.g., in small cooperatives), conduct longitudinal studies, utilize different performance measures perform in-depth interviews with managers to better understand their competencies, and study the factors affecting cooperative performance.

Language

English

LC Subject

Cooperative societies—Philippines

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2024 M17 S26

Document Type

Thesis

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