Inter-Organizational Factors Affecting the Success of Rural Women's Cooperative (Case Study: Fadak Cooperative in Golestan Province)

The major objective of this applied and descriptive research was to determine the influencing managerial factors on success of Fadak rural women's cooperative in Golestan Province. The population consisted of all members of rural women's cooperative (N=170). Using systematic random sampling method and Krejcie and Morgan Table, 120 members were selected as sample. Face and content validity were established by a panel of experts from the faculty members of Agricultural Extension and Education Department at the Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed according to calculated Cronbach's alpha (α=0.88). Data were analyzed by the use of statistical software SPSS19. Both correlation and regression statistics were implemented. The results of the correlation analysis showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between the cooperative success and management variables such as the implementation of cooperative principles by both the chief executive officer and board of directors, as well as characteristics of the chief executive officer and, board of directors with the personality characteristics of staff. Results of the regression analysis showed that seven variables consisted of commitments of cooperative employees in execution of tasks, accountability by the chief executive officer, recognition by the chief executive officer and board of directors regarding member's various needs, timely and suitable notification about meetings and participation in decision making by cooperative employees, the number of registered shares in the cooperative, numbers a visits made by the members to cooperative during each month and managerial knowledge and ability of board of directors and chief executive officer were explaining 55.2 percent of variance in the dependent variable.