STUDYING THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR AGRI-FOOD INDUSTRY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: DESCRIPTION OF HUMAN CAPITAL IN CREDIT UNIONS THROUGH DELPHI ANALYSIS

Credit unions have been a key element for recent agri-food industry and rural development. However, whereas there are practical applications implemented in banks, there are rarely empirical studies about this legal form of banking system. Nowadays, the financial crisis is affecting the development of certain industries and territories. Credit unions, as singular financial organizations, have intangible elements with peculiar characteristics. These characteristics must be studied to manage their competitive advantages and provide management with relevant information for decision making. Through the Delphi analysis, this article will identify the singularities of human capital in these entities. The singularities of the credit union sector show that human resources are potentially more determined to adopt a strong corporate culture and invest more in training. On the other hand, main deficits of credit unions will be their aptitudes and lesser capacities, academic level or low investment in training.