The impact of human capital on the success of an agricultural cooperative (Example of ‘arla foods’)

Abstract

The article presents the results of a theoretical and empirical study of the leading trends and the latest trends in the development of modern agricultural cooperatives (with an illustration of many years of experience and grandiose achievements in the activities of the world famous multinational dairy cooperative “Arla Foods”), due to various changes in the external environment (market, institutional, political, technological) and determining, as a result, significant changes in the requirements for the quality of human capital. Important scientific conclusions (according to the topic) were obtained on the basis of studying the dynamics of the formation and development of the Arla Foods cooperative, generalizing materials regarding its organizational transformations and mainly relate to (1) the importance of professional management for the success of the cooperative, (2) new requirements for the quality of human resources in connection with technological innovations (digitalization, for example), (3) the role of human capital available in cooperatives (its quality) in overcoming various threats and risks. The theoretical and practical value of the study lies, firstly, in the (scientifically grounded) concept of a modern agricultural cooperative presented in the work (using the example of Arla Foods as one of its most prominent representatives), and secondly, in the characteristics of the human capital of agricultural cooperatives, adequate to the essence of the evolutionary processes taking place with them.