De la cooperativa agroalimentaria a la "learning netchain". Hacia un planteamiento teorico interorganizativo e interpersonal

Se propone un planteamiento teórico/conceptual para determinar si las relaciones interorganizativas e interpersonales de la netchain de las cooperativas agroalimentarias evolucionan hacia una learning netchain. Las propuestas del trabajo muestran que el mayor grado de asociacionismo y la mayor cooperación/colaboración vertical a lo largo de la cadena están positivamente relacionados con la posición horizontal de la empresa focal más cercana del consumidor final. Esto requiere una planificación y una resolución de problemas de manera conjunta, lo que está positivamente relacionado con el mayor flujo y diversidad de la información/conocimiento obtenido y diseminado a lo largo de la netchain. Al mismo tiempo se necesita desarrollar un contexto social en el que fluya la información/conocimiento y las nuevas ideas de manera informal y esto se logra con redes personales y, principalmente, profesionales y con redes internas y, principalmente, externas. Todo esto permitirá una mayor satisfacción de los socios de la cooperativa agroalimentaria y de sus distribuidores y una mayor intensidad en I+D, convirtiéndose la netchain de la cooperativa agroalimentaria, así, en una learning netchain.

Orientación al mercado y tipología de las cooperativas agroalimentarias en base a la competitividad. Caso-estudio de las citrícolas españolas

La globalización ha recrudecido más si cabe la competencia en los mercados y las empresas deben afianzar y mejorar su posición competitiva para asegurar la supervivencia. Para ello resulta vital, entre otras cuestiones, velar por los intereses de los inversores al tiempo que cuidan de sus clientes. Las cooperativas sufren una coyuntura semejante respecto a sus socios y el mercado, es decir respecto a sus clientes internos (socios) y externos (mercado). El enfoque de las actividades y la estrategia de la cooperativa frente a esta dualidad determina su grado de orientación al mercado.Los estudios relacionados con la orientación al mercado en cooperativas son escasos en comparación con otras formas empresariales y han estado normalmente centrados en la figura de las cooperativas de segundo grado y circunscritos a sectores muy específicos.El sector citrícola español es uno de los más dinámicos y desarrollados del panorama productivo agrario. Su extensa experiencia comercial tanto a nivel doméstico como internacional confiere un carácter diferenciador a las entidades que operan en este subsector. Este trabajo analiza la posición de las cooperativas citrícolas españolas en relación a la orientación al mercado así como los factores de gestión y estrategia que están relacionadoscon ella. Para ello se utiliza una escala MARKOR, validada en estudios anteriores, sobre una muestra de 45 cooperativas.Se establece además una tipología de cooperativas citrícolas en base a los factores de competitividad que permiten ahondar en el conocimiento que existe sobre esta cuestión en entidades de economía social. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto un elevado grado de relación entre la innovación, el perfil del empresario y el conocimiento del entorno en relación con el grado de orientación al mercado.

Cooperativism, entrepreneurship and economic development: a linking theoretical model

Cooperatives, as a kind of firms, are considered by many scholars as an remarkable alternative for overcoming the economic crisis started in 2008. Besides, there are other scholars which pointed out the important role that these firms play in the regional economic development. Nevertheless, when one examines the economic literature on cooperatives, it is detected that this kind of firms is mainly studied starting from the point of view of their own characteristics and particularities of participation and solidarity. In this sense, following a different analysis framework, this article proposes a theoretical model in order to explain the behavior of cooperatives based on the entrepreneurship theory with the aim of increasing the knowledge about this kind of firms and, more specifically, their contribution to regional economic development.

The influence of gender in the direction of Spanish cooperative societies on profitability and indebtedness: an empirical analysis

In this paper the claim for the market for a new business management to ensure the presence of women in decision -making to respond to new social needs addressed. Thus, this paper analyzes the influence of gender diversity of the directors on the profitability and the level of debt for a sample of 5,199 Spanish cooperatives. Unlike capitalist societies, these organizations have a number of peculiarities in their government, and that the partners are themselves major time, agents and customers. The study focuses on the Spanish context, where there is an open debate on the importance of women's business management, as in other countries, driven by the proliferation of legislation on gender equality, being, in addition, Spain, the pioneer in having specific legislation on Social Economy. The results show that cooperatives with greater female representation in theirs Boards have higher profitability. On the other hand, those Boards with a higher percentage of women show a lower level of indebtedness.

Determining factors of the innovative behavior of cooperatives: an analysis of the case of Castilla y León

Cooperatives have a long historical experience in the Spanish economy and have demonstrated their ability to compete against traditional firms in the market. To maintain this capability, while taking advantage of the competitive advantages associated with their idiosyncrasies as social economy enterprises, they should take into consideration that the economy is increasingly globalized and increasingly knowledge-based, especially with regards to technological content. As a consequence, the innovative capacity appears to be a key aspect in order to be able to challenge competitors. This article characterizes the innovative behavior of cooperatives in the region of Castile and Leon and analyses the internal and external factors affecting their innovative performance, based on data from a survey of 581 cooperatives. The results of the empirical analysis, which is performed by multivariate binary logistic regression on various types of innovation, lead us to identify the size of the organizations, the existence of planning, the R & D activities and the human capital as the main determining factors.

Prevalence of early and late age-related macular degeneration in a rural population in Northern India: The INDEYE Feasibility Study

PURPOSE. To assess the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a rural population in Northern India. METHODS. In a pilot feasibility study, 1443 people (median age, 60 years; 52% women), were identified from enumeration of the 50+ age group in 11 randomly sampled villages from a rural, periurban district of Haryana, Northern India. Of those identified, 87% attended an eye examination that included digital fundus photography. Fundus images were graded at a single reading center using definitions from the Wisconsin Age-Related Maculopathy Grading System. RESULTS. Fundus photographs were available for 1101 participants. Overall, 28.8% of participants had ungradable fundus images due to cataract. Including all with ungradable images in the denominator, the prevalence of soft drusen was 34.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 26.1–42.9); of soft indistinct drusen, 2.2% (95% CI, 1.1–4.4); and of pigmentary irregularities, 10.8% (95% CI, 7.1–16.1). There were 15 (1.4%) cases of late-stage AMD (95% CI, 0.8–2.3) with the prevalence rising from 0.4% in the 50- to 59-year age range to 4.6% in those aged 70 years or older. CONCLUSIONS. Drusen and pigmentary irregularities are common among the rural northern Indian population. The prevalence of late AMD is similar to that encountered in Western settings and is likely to contribute significantly to the burden of vision loss in older people in the developing world.

Willingness to Pay for Rural Landscape Improvements: Combining Mixed Logit and Random-Effects Models

This paper reports the findings from a discrete-choice experiment designed to estimate the economic benefits associated with rural landscape improvements in Ireland. Using a mixed logit model, the panel nature of the dataset is exploited to retrieve willingness-to-pay values for every individual in the sample. This departs from customary approaches in which the willingness-to-pay estimates are normally expressed as measures of central tendency of an a priori distribution. Random-effects models for panel data are subsequently used to identify the determinants of the individual-specific willingness-to-pay estimates. In comparison with the standard methods used to incorporate individual-specific variables into the analysis of discrete-choice experiments, the analytical approach outlined in this paper is shown to add considerable explanatory power to the welfare estimates.