The Knowledge-based Agricultural Cooperative: A Validation from the Trentino Case

Abstract

The new agri-food market is considered a detrimental factor for the competitiveness and financial equilibria of agricultural cooperatives. According to this view, as a result of market saturation and globalisation processes, shifting investments to supply chain forward activities (e.g., for brand development or for research and development activities) would represent a serious threat to the cooperative model. Taking a contrasting view, this paper aims at demonstrating that the cooperative model continues to play a strategic role in the current competitive environment. In particular, the adoption of the knowledge-based theory of the firm combined with the "open innovation" approach permits a renewed interpretation of the role of modern agricultural cooperatives as knowledge developers and disseminators, for the benefit of members and their communities. This theoretical approach will be tested by studying a sample of agricultural cooperatives operating in the province of Trento, in North-East Italy.

Farmers' participation in the Income Stabilisation Tool: Evidence from the apple sector in Italy

“…In addition, the territory is characterised by high business fragmentation linked to the complex morphology with numerous Alpine valleys and mountainous areas (Laiti et al, 2016). To overcome these geomorphological challenges, the Trentino farmers have resorted to cooperatives (Fontanari & Sacchetti, 2020). The PAT has a long‐standing cooperative tradition within the agricultural sector, and today, more than 75% of the agricultural gross product is associated with members of agricultural cooperatives (Fontanari, 2018).…”

Parallel crop planning based on price forecast

“…Constraint (6) ensures that each farmer can only plant one crop at a specific time. Constraint (7) requires that the crops of the same botanic family cannot be planted sequentially.…”

“…The modern agricultural cooperatives is expected to become knowledge developers and disseminators, for the benefit of members and their communities. 7 However, the operators of cooperatives are often unable to provide desired services due to the lack of knowledge or capacity.…”

“…Being a joint organization of individual farmer, a cooperative can provide considerable products to deal with big market need, which seems to be a solution to overcome the information inconsistency. The modern agricultural cooperatives is expected to become knowledge developers and disseminators, for the benefit of members and their communities 7 . However, the operators of cooperatives are often unable to provide desired services due to the lack of knowledge or capacity.…”

Entrepreneurial ecosystem for cooperatives: The case of Kyrgyz agricultural cooperatives

“…Some scholars have identified various barriers to cooperatives’ development, including the “entrepreneurial problem” and costs associated with collective decision‐making (Cornforth & Thomas, 1990; Nilsson et al., 2016). Other studies focused on different aspects of cooperatives’ development, such as policies and legislative dimension (Rowe et al., 2018; Uzun, 2005), governance costs (Nilsson et al., 2016), knowledge and education (Fontanari & Sacchetti, 2019), leadership (Hejkrlik et al., 2021; Uzoagu, 2019), and historical legacies (Avsec & Štromajer, 2014; Gardner & Lerman, 2006). Some researchers have identified the key success factors of agricultural cooperatives’ development that included ownership structure, membership policy, voting rights, governance structures, residual claim rights (Chaddad & Cook, 2004), stable legal environment, presence of a leader, government financial and technical support (Garnevska et al., 2011), internal organization, the institutional environment, supply chains and market strategies (Bijman & Iliopoulos, 2014), social capital, solutions to excessive heterogeneity‐induced high ownership costs, tinkering, cooperative genius, and capacity to adapt to shocks and changes (Iliopoulos & Valentinov, 2018), and organizational, financial, operating keys to success (Sexton & Iskow, 1988).…”