Is There a Future for Japan's Agricultural Cooperatives?
Agricultural cooperatives in Japan (JAs), originally were organized to protect and elevate farming operations and the standard of living among farmers. This was based on the spirit of mutual aid and to build a better world for agricultural workers. JAs have made major contributions to the development of agriculture in Japan.
The work of JA is focused on the following:
- Guidance - consulting services for farming and the farming lifestyle
- Marketing & Purchasing - cooperative buying of goods and materials for production and private use, cooperative sales of livestock and establishment of shared use facilities for agricultural production or private needs
- Credit - financial savings, operation financing and private loans
- Insurance - mutual aid programs for emergencies
About 500,000 people work as part of the JA organization. This includes 700 local cooperatives at the city, town or village level (primary societies) that provide these services, with prefectural federations for each service sector at the next municipal level bundling services on a regional basis. A national federation coordinates the work between cooperatives. It is a most unique form of organization that engages in for-profit business while taking the form of a cooperative union.
Since its founding, the JA has played a major role in supporting farmers. Its nationwide network has been a key agent of food supply self-sufficiency and distribution for the nation. That has made the JA capable of exerting considerable political pressure on the nation and the government.
In recent years, revisions to the Staple Food Control Act, globalization of food trade, diversification of the Japanese people's diets, aging of the farmer population and other factors are bringing cataclysmic change to the agricultural operating environment. With continuing mitigation and repeal of federal aid and legal protections, the very reason for the existence of the organization is being widely questioned.
The world in which JA was founded is very different from the way things are now. What is needed is a revisiting of its role today and in the future, defining what it is that only JA can accomplish. With this focus comes sweeping organizational change that can accommodate the transformation of the external environment.
But the business-as-usual way of thinking where when push comes to shove the government will protect them and will never let them go out of business is still strongly rooted. Because they are accustomed to the many years of bureaucratic culture within the organization and being outside of the realm of competition, thanks to federal protection, it is very rare to find concern or motivation for management or members to reform the culture of the organization. How can JA transcend these circumstances?
Some rumblings of revolution can be heard in some quarters— "We will find the problems ourselves and fix the problems ourselves." This would be a bottom-up style approach. These types of visionary organizations have their eyes on the Organizational Development (OD) process.
OD starts with a diagnosis of the organization, and a clarification of the gap that exists between the desired form of the organization and its present form. The causes of the gap and solutions to achieve the desired state are considered and put into practice on site. Interpreting the diagnosis, the knowledge, skills and perception necessary to realize the reform are taught in an efficient combination of classroom-style lectures and experiential learning, giving momentum to the reforms.
Will JA be able to break free of the familiar bureaucratic style management it has long been accustomed to and achieve major organizational change? How this massive half-million strong organization will evolve going forward depends on if the revolution that has finally started is a success.
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