Abstract:
This study was conducted in Mbozi, Morogoro and Songea Namutumbo cooperative
unions. The study areas were selected on the basis of the ailing performance of their
respective cooperative unions. The problem which this study strove to address was that after the International Monetary Fund having introduced structural adjustment programs came
trade liberalization which allowed many key players in agriculture, where cooperative
unions used to operate. Cooperative unions failed to compete under such competitive
business environment, the issue at stake was to assess the extent to which strategic
management influences the performance of the studied cases. The overall objective of this
study was to assess the contribution of strategic management in the management of
cooperative unions in Tanzania. The justification of the study is premised on the need for
transforming agriculture by putting farmer members and cooperative unions at the centre of
economic development for the betterment of the rural poor. A sample of 795 respondents
was selected out of the population of 2375, random sampling technique was used to select
sampling units thus obtaining 808, 692 and 875 farmer members from each union, thereafter
proportional reallocation was computed from each union hence obtaining 270 farmer
members from MBOCU, 232 from MOFACL) and 293 farmer members from SONAMCU.
Purposive sampling technique was applied in interviews. Both primary and secondary data
collection methods were used, the former involved questionnaires. The latter involved
reviewing performance reports and reading news papers. Descriptive statistics was applied
in the analysis of quantitative data where frequencies, percentages and chi-square were used
to analyse results. Content analysis was applied on qualitative data based on verbal
discussion and observation. The results of the study indicated that the use of strategic
management in the study lacked. Strategic leadership failed to take participatory approach
to influence the studied cases. Productivity across the studied cases dwindled due to
competition. The study recommends that for competitive viability cooperative unions
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should have corporate plans. Strategic leadership among others should manage the strategic
management process. For productivity improvement policy makers and top managers of
cooperative unions should ensure that agricultural inputs were available and affordable.
