STRATEGIC DIAGNOSIS OF SPANISH FARMING COOPERATIVE CREDIT SECTIONS: A SWOT ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT 1 : Farming cooperative credit sections are financial instruments set up within a cooperative and at its service. They are key funding tools in rural areas and have been developed all over Spain although more intensely in some areas than others. The aim of this paper is to carry out a strategic diagnosis of the Spanish credit section using a SWOT Analysis to discover its set of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as a proposal for strategic actions to be followed. In order to do so an empirical study using personalized surveys and interviews has been undertaken among the managers or persons in charge of the credit sections over the first half of 2008. The study demonstrates that they are efficient entities for their clients (cooperative members). Their main strengths are focussed on their clients, although they show significant weaknesses in organizational, business and technological capacities, which require an effort to provide them with more professional management. Legal constraints are the main threat at present, although uncertainty in the agricultural sector affects their survival.