ISO 9000 QMS: a strategic business development agent or a production quality assurance and marketing tool: the Greek agro-coops' experience

A serious business issue, recurring in the public debate held in Greece and concerning the future of the Agricultural sector, is the stated need of the Agro-coops’ sector’s organisational and operational reform and improvement (Karamichas, 2008; Tolios, 2003). This identified and/or suggested required strategic business development and change is considered to be a product and at the same time the source of the agro-coops’ required organisational performance improvement, as Kamenidis (2008), Arvanitoyiannis (2001) and Parnell (2000) suggest. Furthermore, they relate this strategic business development and change, and performance improvement process with the agro-coops’ business processes’ reconfiguration and resulting improvement. According to the majority of the proposed economic and business models, the major mechanism to accomplish the aforementioned aim - that is the strategic choice of the Agro-coops’ sector for operating effectively and efficiently - is and/or should be the adoption of the privately owned businesses’ sector organisational framework (Karamichas, 2008; Parnell, 2000). Furthermore, the agro-coops have to combine these adopted elements and practices with the particularities of the agricultural business sector, as Ian McPherson (1995) emphatically states. On the other hand, the distinct ownership structure of the agro-coops which is more democratic than hierarchical makes the implementation of change more difficult.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

dba

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Nottingham Trent University

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Dimitropoulos, E

Language dc:language

en