8/14/2019 IT and Cooperatives

1/2

Information Technology as a tool for sustainable development of cooperative sector

Dr.M.Karthikeyan, Assistant Professor, Department of Cooperatives, Faculty ofSocial Sciences, Ambo University College, Ambo.

Scenario

This millennium heralds the emergence of new paradigms that will keep pacewith a world rapidly changing under the impact of development in info-tech. ITsmillennium bunch comprises the entrepreneurs, the innovators and the visionarieson the side of the both industry and government. The entrepreneurial environmenthas changed rapidly as we are entered the millennium. What does this change meansfor cooperative entrepreneur? What strategies would enable them to cope withemerging challenges? How can cooperative entrepreneurs recreate and remodelthemselves to benefit from new opportunities and retain relevance of cooperatives.Cooperative Sector and IT

Cooperative sector continues to occupy an important place in Indiaseconomy. In the fast growing and changing economic scenario in the context ofeconomic reforms, liberalization and globalization, the cooperative sector can nolonger afford to be indifferent to the cost effectiveness and commercialorientation in recent days. Against the aforesaid backdrop, if the cooperativesector is to equip itself to operate energetically in the face of the competitivepressure of an open market, it will have to rise to the occasion to convert thechallenges on the fronts of IT into opportunities to its advantage. Application ofIT in business in developed countries is rapid and dynamic, but in developingcountries like India is relatively slow due to number of inter-related socio-economic and cultural factors.

IT is now a buzzword in business organization. It has significantcontribution towards profitability and providing value added services tocustomers. Rapid technological developments both in terms of computer hardware andsoftware have made their use simple, user-friendly and cost-effective. That is whythe negative attitude of not using computers (resistance) in the work places isbeing absorbed into business organisation more and more gradually.IT for sustainable development of cooperatives

Cooperative movement is one of the important segments of economic growth. Incooperatives, entrepreneur is one who has the initiative, skill for innovation andwho looks for high achievements. Cooperative entrepreneur should always search forchange, respond to it, and exploit it as opportunities. The challenges facingcooperative entrepreneur is to increase the effectiveness of IT in order toachieve superior business performance. As successful organizations have taken aprocess-oriented view of their business, they will have to re-evaluate the role ofIT in terms of alignment with corporate goals.

Cooperative entrepreneurs must come to term to with shorter producttechnology life cycles. Rapid changes to product and process pose a hugechallenge. Can the cooperatives afford to the high cost of development and keeppace with technology? How should cooperative entrepreneurs respond? Finally ascustomers / members expectations and life cycles change, quality (or reliance) as

a measure of product quality will become a given. The ability to innovate andproduct designs and to create and satisfy emerging needs will distinguish thewinners from the losers. While all these factors represent challenges tocooperative entrepreneurs, they also represent opportunities that will arise. Insuch a competitive environment, IT helps the cooperatives to meet the challengesand exploit the opportunities. For which, the cooperatives should modernize theiroperations adopting modern IT techniques. If cooperatives adopt new technologiesof IT they can face the challenges and make them opportunities to exploit. Thefollowing strategies can be made through IT adoption by the cooperatives: Customers / members focus and mass customization Differential supply, core competencies and shared services

8/14/2019 IT and Cooperatives

2/2