Commitment to marketing strategies in cooperative business arrangement: Role of appropriate intelligence generation and inclusive participation

Abstract

This paper empirically examines the influence of appropriate intelligence generation and inclusive participation in marketing strategy formulation on commitment of SME owner-managers operating in cooperative business arrangement. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire from 256 owner managers operating mini-bus taxi businesses in South Africa. The findings show that appropriate intelligence generation during marketing strategy formulation and inclusive participation in strategy formulation has significant positive influence on member commitment to marketing strategies in a cooperative. The study has significant managerial implications as it identifies factors that managers of SMEs involved in cooperative business arrangements can focus on in order to effectively manage member commitment towards marketing strategies that need to be implemented by all.