Analysis of the statues of organizational entrepreneurship in cooperatives: (Case of poultry cooperatives in Kermanshah Province, Iran)

Nowadays, development of agricultural cooperatives is a key strategy for rural development in many countries. In this regard, the key role that Organizational entrepreneurship plays in organizational success, especially in the agricultural sector, should not be ignored. The main purpose of this study is to determine the status of organizational entrepreneurship in agricultural cooperatives. The statistical population consisted of poultry cooperative members of the Kermanshah province in the west of Iran (N=1012). A sample of 220 respondents was selected using Cochran's formula by the stratified random sampling method. To collect data, a questionnaire adapted from the standard questionnaire developed by Antonice and Histrich (2001) and Scheepers et al. (2008) was used. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by faculty members at the Universities of Tehran, Lorestan and agricultural cooperative experts in the Kermanshah Province. Cronbach's alpha was used to estimate the reliability of the questionnaire. The reliability was found to be acceptable. In this study, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, which was conducted by using the SPSS20 software. The results showed that organizational entrepreneurship in cooperatives included four dimensions of risk-taking, innovation, proactiveness, and strategic renewal. It is recommended that the managers of cooperatives and members use innovative ideas of the members of cooperatives to prepare the grounds for strengthening organizational entrepreneurship in cooperatives so that the possibility and requirements for sustainable rural development is provided.