Equipamiento y gestión de las tecnologías de la información en las cooperativas agroalimentarias

Information Technology is a key factor in any company’s competitiveness. Cooperatives are no exception, especially when technologies such as the Internet are so useful for promoting their participative philosophy. Furthermore, IT aids the coordination and control of the group’s activities, increasing the level of information and service provided to all the agents involved in the cooperative (members, suppliers, workers, collaborators and clients). The aim of this paper is to analyse the use of IT in agricultural cooperatives. A longitudinal study has been carried out for this purpose, collecting data from fruit and vegetable cooperatives in the Murcia Region in 1996 and in 2003. The research covered, among other aspects, the following points: IT equipment, types of information analysis performed, and the frequency of these, and responsibility for the management of IT systems. On the basis of an analysis of the situation, and bearing in mind the literature on Information Technology and Systems, the study ends with a number of considerations designed to offer specific recommendations for IT equipment and management in food and agricultural cooperatives.