Agricultural cooperatives have been restructuring, by way of mergers, acquisitions, joint-ventures, and strategic alliances, to increase efficiencies to remain competitive in a changing business environment. The research evaluating the reorganization of cooperatives has revealed that less than...

In examining demand for a product it is useful to think of consumers not as purchasing the product, but as purchasing its characteristics that provide utility. Consequently, it is important to measure the specific characteristics that consumers perceive as providing them with utility. In this...

This research explores the factors that influence the commitment of members to their cooperative organization. Previous empirical and theoretical research is reviewed. The cooperative members' decisions regarding patronage are thendescribed in terms of a random utility model. Logit analysis,...

We use field experiments in Niger to investigate the nature and efficiency of contractual structures in market transactions between kossai vendors and cowpea grinders (key input suppliers). Three contractual structures were employed: gift contract, standard price contract and discretionary bonus...

This study examines the impact of facilitated business-to-business (B2B) word-of-mouth (WOM) on participants' information transmission decisions. We also examine characteristics of WOM participants and determine the types of participants who spread information. Understanding WOM participants'...

The explosion of e-business activity presents many challenges to manufacturers, distributors, and dealers as they select a distribution channel for the delivery of products, services, and information. The expected growth in Internet sales by agribusiness firms is analyzed to provide insight into...

Economic-engineering cost data and a simulation model were used to analyze the impact of sales density, size of sales area, sales volume, and equipment configuration on costs of bulk fuel delivery by cooperatives. Fixed costs accounted for the majority of delivery costs regardless of sales...

Mass merchandisers’ entry into food retailing threatens traditional grocers’ market share. In response, traditional grocers and food manufacturers adopted Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) as an industry-wide set of supply chain management strategies that focused on cutting costs and...