نشریه تعاون و کشاورزی
سال بیستم شماره 205 (تیر و امرداد 1388)

Intelligent managers are well aware that the more they invest in their human resources, the higher efficiency and competitive advantage they may expect. That's why leading organizations regularly devote significant amounts of time and investment to their human resource development. The current discussion aims to look at significant factors involved in human resource empowerment, mental and physical capacity, skills, knowledge and motivation thereof. Results show these five factors are most decisive in human resource empowerment and as a result, affect organization's chances to develop and survive in a competitive market.

Cooperatives, constituting one of the three main sectors of the national economy, are expected to display high ability in production. As producers cooperatives comprise an important part of industrial cooperatives, they can significantly influence national economic development. Low capital-raising is a main problem in cooperative sector. The purpose of this research is to study the most important factors that affect this problem in 2007. The study method is survey and the sample of the study is 37 units of active industrial cooperatives in Kermanshah Province. Through regression which was adopted as the method of analysis, the research results indicated that the significant variables most involved were capital profitability, capital efficiency, collateral value, market location, borrowing rate, expert knowledge of cooperative founders, loan amount, and lengthy bureaucracy.

Entrepreneurship is a new term, which is too deep to be understood at a superficial attempt. Although the concept has been traditionally present in human life all through the history triggering lots of his advances, a clear and inclusive definition of it still remains to come. Cooperative action, while usually recognized as some sort of social and economic maturity, can further be considered as a manifestation of human rational will in facing up to socio– economic difficulties. The research is an attempt to show the contribution of rural entrepreneurship to national and economic development for an improved framework of cooperatives. In this regard, the research places a prime emphasis on rural entrepreneurship, powerful processing, rural investment and rural cooperation as a set of main variables in national development.

Co-operatives are among the rare collective organizations which have enjoyed more or less significant reception in different countries. According to the Principle 44 of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Constitution, co-operative Sector is formally regarded as one main part to the national economy. Meanwhile, Principle 43, emphasizing the prime role of Man (but not profit) in economics and in realization of social justice, introduces the co- operative system as a means to do so. It's due to this primary role of human factor that member's active socio-economic participation in the affairs of their cooperative society is both theoretically and practically an integral constituent to its success. The present study is a thesis which, as an applied research, aims to evaluate the effect of Guilan beach seine co-operative member's participation on their business. The statistical population includes 2610 members from 40 co-operatives which were sampled into 407 members from 14 cooperatives respectively through simple randomization and stratified randomization methods using the Sharp & Cochran Formula. Questionnaire was the main data collection instrument beside a documentary approach to the financial statements of sample cooperatives. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the thesis supervisor, thesis advisor, and the field specialists; and its reliability was approved by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. The findings indicated no relationship between the participation rate and age factors; however, significant relationship was found between participation rate and variables of literacy; years of membership; stock fees; familiarity with cooperative principles and values; satisfaction with the management; workshop/educational course attendance; and general assemblies. Also, there was confirmed a relationship between the economic operation (according to the survey and the financial documents) and member's various fields of participation, specially, workshop/educational course attendance (r =0.47). In line with other variables, the relationship was insignificant(r < 0.30).Also,the correlation in all cases except for those of age and years of membership was positive and direct.

It is possible to say that Governments in all developing countries, more or less, set and exercise policies to improve the employment and social welfare indices as to achieve sustainable development and overall prosperity. In so doing, they turn to a variety of developmental theories including those based on the potentials of producers and service cooperatives. The current study, reviewing a theoretical framework on possible linkages of cooperative societies with sustainable development, proceeds to discuss the role of the Cooperative Office in Mamassani Township in initiating cooperative societies since 1997 as an enabling policy of employment. Results show that the Cooperative Office as the main cooperative authority in the Township has managed to take bold steps such as channeling a twenty-percent public contribution to set up 121 cooperative societies in industrial, agricultural and service sectors. This has generated 1056 direct jobs in Mamassani, making effective contribution to sustainable development of the district.

With enhanced production from limited resources being a main policy of economics in every society, it is a prerequisite to development to identify and invest in local capacities. The current study, as an attempt in line with the above, aims to identify the industrial grounds susceptible for cooperative investment. To do so, a factor analysis was employed as the technique and the data analyzed were the statistical data for the years 1997 and 2005, published by Iran's Statistics Center. According to the findings in terms of factor analysis points, industrial fields in Hamedan province fall into five priority areas, which can be helpful in recognizing those industries that merit to be invested in.

It has been a promotional policy of the Ministry of Cooperatives to elect a number of cooperative societies annually for the purpose of further motivating cooperators nationwide. Focusing on the particulars of the Nation's Best Cooperatives in 2008, the study traces them on a comparative basis in these cooperatives through three periods i.e. before 1991, during 1991-2001 and after 2001. To do so, the study has used the data regarding 351 best cooperatives elected in 2008, published by the Ministry of Cooperatives on the occasion of the 3rd Festival of Nation's Best Cooperatives. The Candidate cooperatives contest on six main criteria, with the pairs "employment size", "member satisfaction" and "entrepreneurship", "product quality" valued the highest and the lowest respectively. Results suggest that the largest number of cooperatives has been registered after the year 1380. Ongoing membership decrease, increasing employment size and the most salient emphasis on education and training-stipulated by the 7th principle of the ICIS-are other significant facts revealed about these cooperatives.

Gender is an issue of natural system and natural phenomena are not a cause for either proud or assault. According to religious instructions, man's dignity or statue depends on how he is a approximate to God. As such, the main criterion is piety, rather than gender or any other factor. As is in Quran:" O, people, I created you from a man and a woman, and set you in different sects and tribes so that you may recognize each other; the most dignified of you, are the most pious of you with God. And He is All-knowing." The issue of gender and the related rights has been controversial since creation of man. This is true to the extent that men and women have changed during the history, their position in controlling the family or the society. After industrial revolution and the subsequent changes, however, women have shown a widespread presence in different socio-economic areas to create equal opportunities for women as compared to men, which is a development index for every society. Also, cooperative movement lays emphasis on values such as self-help, individual responsibility, democracy, equal rights, along with the principle "one member – one vote". This in an indication to equal position for men and women in the movement. In this article Anne-Brit Nippered from ILO, Points out the constraints of women in developing countries and the role that cooperatives can play in empowering them. This article is available in ILO’ s site under the title" Gender issues in cooperatives".