PurposeAgricultural cooperatives have been able to become a strong and consolidated organizational form, although the new challenges of globalization and trade liberalization require changes in the strategic approach. The requirements of the distribution companies, consumers and government about the concentration of demand, traceability, food safety and respect for the environment had led to a thorough reorganization of agricultural food systems. So it is necessary to undertake a strategic review of horticultural cooperatives in order to conduct a strategic assessment and hence identify the strategic actions to be followed in the coming years. This paper seeks to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study has been carried out during the first half of 2011 consisting in the application of the Delphi method and sending a questionnaire to experts whose purpose was to gain a view of the strategic situation of horticultural cooperatives in Spain. The Delphi method is a projection technique of the qualitative and subjective type which is appropriate for studies where there is little information on the subject to be analysed, and also for exploratory studies, as it is the case study of examining the role of agricultural cooperatives in coming out of the crisis of Mediterranean agriculture.FindingsThe performed Delphi analysis revealed that Mediterranean agriculture suffers from a severe crisis for which the solutions are hard to find, although the existence of the agricultural cooperatives and certain specific forms of performance and financing can partly improve the described situation. The application of the SWOT analysis based on the opinions of the experts provided sufficient detailed insights of the actual situation of the cooperatives. Thus, from the Delphi SWOT applied to Mediterranean agriculture and agricultural cooperatives, the authors can make some important assessments which are included in their paper.Originality/valueIt is a forward‐looking analysis that tries to give measures to the sector, but measures that come from the sector, in order to face the Mediterranean agriculture crisis.

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In relation to organizational performance measurement, there is a growing concern about the creation of value for people, society and the environment. The traditional corporate reporting does not adequately satisfy the information needs of stakeholders for assessing an organization’s past and future potential performance. Practitioners and scholars have developed new non-financial reporting frameworks from a social and environmental perspective, giving birth to the field of Integrated Reporting (IR). The Economy for the Common Good (ECG) model and its tools to facilitate sustainability management and reporting can provide a framework to do it. The present study depicts the theoretical foundations from the business administration field research on which the ECG model relies. Moreover, this paper is the first one that empirically validates such measurement scales by applying of Exploratory Factor Analysis on a sample of 206 European firms. Results show that two out of five dimensions are appropriately defined, along with some guidelines to refine the model. Consequently, it allows knowledge to advance as it assesses the measurement scales’ statistical validity and reliability. However, as this is the first quantitative-driven research on the ECG model, the authors’ future research will confirm the present results by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Two important Spanish fruit and vegetable (F&V) producing areas of Almería and Valencia in which agricultural cooperatives and smallholder and family farmers play a vital role are compared. Their F&V cooperatives have distinct development paths and have adopted different structures and strategies, attributable to historical, cultural and political circumstance, infrastructure, regulation and policy measures and/or international exposure. In considering the factors which contribute to agricultural cooperative success or failure, persistent atomization is often cited as inhibiting the ability of cooperatives to thrive. While not discounting that economies of scale may be important, we argue for analysing agricultural cooperative activity using a neo‐endogenous approach (a mix of exogenous and endogenous factors wherein local level characteristics and actors interact with external or global forces), combined with insights from path dependency theory and a dynamic lifecycle approach. Agricultural cooperatives are presented as dynamic entities, capable of renewal, redeployment, regeneration and recombination.

Being social entrepreneurship (SE) the closest to Economy for the Common Good (ECG) principles, our work proposes to analyze the contribution of ECG model to SE. It is also intended to establish the relationship that exists between both concepts. Therefore, our specific objectives are to (1) identify the specific contributions of ECG principles to SE as well as their overlaps, (2) perform a literature review to analyze and quantify the number of research papers on SE and ECG, and (3) identify the possible existing gap. Through a double methodology, we (1) determine the potential contributions of the ECG model to SE, we propose to analyze the Common Good (CG) matrix and (2) empirical analysis on the existing literature body on SE and ECG. SE and ECG model share a number of principles and features which may be translated into some important overlaps in relation to both research bodies. So CG matrix can help to successfully launch and manage social ventures. This fact is mainly due to the fact that there is not a sufficiently large body of literature that relates models. In future research, it would be interesting to extend the bibliographic search to other databases.

Purpose In downturns, social enterprises (SEs) arise as a resilience business model. The authors focus on knowledge absorptive capacity (KAC) as a key dynamic capability to create shared value (SHV). The purpose of this study is to analyze whether it exists a cause-effect relationship between KAC and SHV creation in SEs. Design/methodology/approach The research model relates KAC and SHV creation. SHV creation involves two components: economic value (EV) and social value (SV). The authors argue that KAC has a positive effect on EV and SV creation, considering SV as a mediator variable. The model is tested by means of PLS-SEM. Findings The results reveal the existence of a positive and significant relationship between KAC and SHV creation, as well as the mediating role of SV creation. Research limitations/implications The sample comprises 127 SEs from the Euro-Mediterranean region (euro-region comprising areas from France and Spain), it would be interesting to include other euro-regions in future research. Practical implications The authors confirm KAC as an important antecedent of SHV creation and also that SEs create EV by means of SV, pointing to the existence of direct and indirect effects. This way, confirming the existence of a mediating effect. Originality/value It points the importance of KAC in SEs, something that has not been addressed before by the literature. It also goes beyond performance by considering SHV creation as a measure of SEs’ outcomes, as well as the definition of the variable SHV including not only social related issues but also environmental (green) issues.

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RESUMEN:El emprendedor social es un agente de cambio que ayuda a paliar los efectos del desempleo y de la exclusión social de ciertos colectivos mediante la creación de empresas cuyo fin primordial es la inclusión sociolaboral de colectivos desfavorecidos. Si bien su importancia e interés es innegable, en la literatura económica no existe un reconocimiento explícito y claro del emprendimiento social y de la figura del emprendedor social. Un empresario que crea el negocio por vocación para cubrir necesidades sociales y donde la viabilidad de la empresa es fundamental para la continuidad del negocio. En este trabajo se efectúa una aproximación a la caracterización del perfil del emprendedor social y de las empresas sociales creadas por emprendedores en su función de inserción sociolaboral, mediante un estudio empírico basado en la metodología de análisis Delphi. Una formación especializada para profesionalizar la gestión o fomentar alianzas estratégicas son las alternativas que presentan los expertos para superar algunas de las deficiencias de las empresas sociales.