Examining Board and Manager
Perceptions and Communication
Sanja Zivkovic and Darren Hudson
Board Managers’ Conference, TACC, Ruidoso, NM, July 2015
Survey
✤
Conducted a survey of cooperative managers and
board chairmen, Fall 2014.
✤
30 paired responses (both from the same coop)
✤
Focus was on communications, priorities, and other
aspects of management
Examining the Purpose
Communication
Satisfaction
Fulfillment
MEMBERS
BOARD
Loyalty
PERFORMANCE
Commitment
MANAGER
Strategy
Teamwork
Descriptive Statistics
Ages
Managers
Chairmen
25-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
≥56
3%
7%
3%
17%
7%
20%
44%
0%
0%
0%
7%
0%
17%
77%
Education
High school
Some college
Undergraduate
Graduate
Managers
17%
33%
40%
10%
Chairmen
33%
30%
20%
17%
Strategic Planning??
Frequency of
engagement in
Once a year
strategic planning
Once every
two years
Once every
three years
Once every
five years
Never
Managers
43%
7%
10%
20%
20%
Chairmen
67%
7%
10%
7%
10%
What is Strategic Planning?
Priorities
Customer service/Product quality
Profitability/Patronage refunds
Employee retention
Capital improvement
Attracting new members
Stock retirement
Managers
1st
2nd
2nd
5th
6th
6th
Chairmen
1st
1st
3rd
4th
5th
6th
Satisfaction
Average satisfaction level with:
Managers
Chairmen
Amount of communication
8.43
9.27
Quality of communication
8.57
9.42
Job
8.88
NA
Performance of the cooperative
NA
8.87
Business relationship
9.02
9.40
Preferred Characteristics
Characteristics valued the most:
Trustworthiness
Understanding and respecting the board-manager relationship
Total commitment and dedication to the cooperarive
Good communication
Very active and strong experience
Managers Chairmen
1
5
2
2
3
1
4
4
5
3
Conclusions
✤
Important questions that should be addressed by the cooperative:
✤
Does management and the Board engage in strategic planning?
✤
Is there an effective chain of communication between the
management and Board?
✤
Are the general manager and Board satisfied with their
communication?
✤
If not, what actions should be taken to improve the
relationship?