Identifying and Ranking Strategies for Empowering the Poultry Cooperatives in Hamedan Province by Using MCDM Techniques

Today the consumption of animal protein has been allocated a special place in human nutrition. Poultry cooperatives have an important role in protein production. Given the significance of producing animal products and the capabilities that the poultry cooperatives possess in this regard as well as considering the macroeconomic policies of governments respecting developing the cooperative sector, it is necessary to identify the strategies that empower cooperatives. So the objective of this study was to identify strategies for empowering the poultry cooperatives by using the Delphi technique and ranking them by using the TOPSIS and SAW techniques in Hamedan province.
The present study is application oriented and in terms of methodology, it is deemed a descriptive survey. The statistical population consists of experts of cooperative, Labor and Social Welfare offices, experts of Animal Affairs in Agriculture of Jihad organization and managing directors of the poultry cooperatives in Hamedan province that through a purposive sampling sample size of 20 was selected to respond to the main question of research. To ranking the identified strategies, MCDM techniques of TOPSIS and SAW were applied.
In the first step of the Delphi technique, some open-ended questionnaires were distributed among experts to identify the strategies for empowering the poultry cooperatives. In this step, 22 strategies were identified. In the second stage, there was a strong consensus among experts on 15 of the 22 identified strategies. In the third step, after determining the percentage of agreement among experts regarding each of the identified strategies, they were divided into two groups of internal and external organizational strategies. According to the results of ranking the internal organizational strategies for empowering the poultry cooperatives by using TOPSIS technique, planning to production commensurate with market demand (CL =0.655), employing experienced and educated persons in cooperatives (CL =0.566) and creating credit cooperatives for the poultry industry with the participation of poultry cooperatives (CL =0.564) held the first, second and third ranks in terms of significance. The results attained from ranking the internal organizational strategies by SAW technique showed that the strategy of employing experienced and educated persons in cooperatives (A*=1.60) and the attending of cooperatives in the livestock products exhibitions (A*=1.144) held the first and last ranks. The relevance of the degree of the executive director to the subject of cooperative activities (A*=1.57) and planning, to production commensurate with market demand (A*=1.56), held the second and third ranks. Based on the results of ranking the external organizational factors for empowering the poultry cooperatives by using TOPSIS technique, planning to avoid from input prices fluctuations (CL=0.681), elimination of bureaucracy and cooperate governmental agencies in providing services to cooperatives (CL=0.649) and paying subsidies to production of inputs such as medicines and vaccines by the government (CL=0.646) held the first, second and third ranks. The results attained from ranking the external organizational strategies by using SAW technique showed that the strategy of planning to avoid from input prices fluctuations entities with the highest score (A*=1.60), monitoring on cooperatives performance and activities by the cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare offices (A*=1.26) held the first and last ranks. Additionally, such strategies as strengthening of the union of poultry cooperatives and transmit part of special authorities to them (A*=1.59) and import of inputs by the union of poultry cooperatives and government financial support of them (A*=1.58) held the second and third ranks.
According to results of ranking the identified strategies by using TOPSIS and SAW techniques, in internal organizational strategies “Employing experienced and educated persons in cooperatives”, “Planning to production commensurate with market demand” and “The relevance of the degree of the executive director to the subject of cooperative activities” was placed at the first to the third rank. In external organizational strategies “Planning to avoid from input prices fluctuations”, “Elimination of bureaucracy and cooperate governmental agencies in providing services to cooperatives”, “Strengthening of union of poultry cooperatives and transmit part of special authorities to them” and “Import of inputs by the union of poultry cooperatives and government financial support of them” were placed at the first to third rank.