Governance, Member`s Activism and Performance of Oil Palm Farmer`s Cooperatives

Research Grant, 2016

Abstract

The Government is aiming for Malaysia to become a high-income nation that is both inclusive and sustainable by 2020 (Economic Transformation Plan - ETP). It is believed that cooperatives could support the achievement of transforming the community as well as ensures inclusiveness. Cooperatives pursue both social and economic objectives. Indeed, the contribution of cooperatives in the economy is undeniable, and in fact it was expected to become the third engine that will accelerate the Malaysian economic growth after the public and private sector (Chukwukere & Baharuddin, 2012). However, there are a number of weaknesses in Malaysian cooperatives such as the lack of governance mechanisms that can monitor management, absence of professional management team and insufficient member’s activism. As a result, the growth of small and micro cooperatives has been very slow (Economic Reports Cooperative Sector, 2010). The situation if farmer’s cooperative is similar. Thus, the objective of this study is to use resource dependence theory to examine the effect of governance structure and process, member’s activism and performance of oil palm farmer’s cooperatives. This study will employ both qualitative (focus group interview) and quantitative (survey) method of systematically sampled cooperatives. The outcomes of this study is important as input in developing training modules and in implementing good cooperatives governance that could enhance cooperatives performance.

Project Leader

Norman Mohd Saleh (Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), norman@ukm.edu.my)