Author(s) :

Liezel S. Cruz.

Volume :

Abstract :

The study assessed the professional development needs of co-operatives in Calabarzon, Philippines from the practitioners’perspectives. The study employed qualitative and quantitative approaches. Primary data were obtained from 156 respondents using semi-structured questionnaire, while descriptive statistics and logistic regression model were adopted for data analysis. Data indicate that the preferred course contents are operations management, fnancial management, and governance. The study reveals that respondents prefer shorter courses and a combination of on-campus, off-campus, and online programmes. Moreover, organisational performance is a strong motivation to go for training, while fnancial constraint is a big deterrent. The study also shows that the odds of enrolling in a co-operative training program are higher if respondents are co-operative members, programmes are shorter, and there are networking opportunities for participants. However, those who were educated, attended the programmes to enhance promotion, and registered for the programmes to comply with the requirement of their co-operatives had lower odds to enrol. Thus, this study recommends that customised, modular and ladderized programs are offered for cooperatives. Finally, there is a need to conduct a more comprehensive study in more areas to compare the impact of training between younger and older participants, and validate the effectiveness of training on organisational performance. The fndings from such study are useful when developing training programmes that are relevant to co-operatives. These are also useful for academic institutions, training providers, and government agencies.

Keywords: Co-operatives, co-operative management, education and training, professional development

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