Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the power framework in cooperative grain marketing channels. A power framework, consisting of reward, referent, expert, legitimate, information, political and social power was examined in this channel. The effects of the power structure were examined with respect to commitment and performance.
The hypotheses were tested by using a structural equations approach to establish the factor structure in this environment. The relationship between power, commitment and performance was examined to establish the fact that power affects commitment, which, in turn, affects performance.
A survey of patrons of Harvest States Cooperatives in North Dakota was taken. The existence of the power base structure was established. Power was found to affect commitment and a significant relationship to performance was identified.
Political power was the most important power base in this study. This established that participation in the cooperative was a key issue in the grain marketing environment.
These results indicate that the power framework is a useful tool in this channel of distribution. Managers may be able to increase their ability to influence member performance by assessing their power bases.
