THE EFFICIENCY OF CO-OPERATIVE MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA

The cooperative benefits its members through dividends, rebates or subscriptions discount and bonus shares. These benefits can only be applied if the cooperative can be managed efficiently and effectively. Efficiency studies are mostly conducted in developed countries and only a few has been carried out in developing countries such as Malaysia. This paper reviews past studies on the efficiency of cooperative management in Malaysia. Literature analysis was carried out to assess the appraisal methods on the efficiency of cooperative management and similar business organizations. It is found that the studies on cooperatives mostly focus on the cooperative performance. These assessment and efforts to enhance the efficiency of cooperative management are largely done by the Malaysian Cooperative Commission (SKM) and some of the academic researchers. The evaluation of the management efficiency is based on several aspects such as finance (economy), social and socio-economic. As a private business organization, cooperative management efficiency can also be estimated on the basis of financial and non-financial aspects such as social values, management functions and the relationships between cooperative members. This paper argues that social values and economic aspect need to be considered for a more comprehensive assessment of the cooperative.