Leadership and institutionalization in rural women's cooperatives (Bursa example)

In this research, leadership styles in women's cooperatives, which have an important role in the development of the country and are also described as one of the most appropriate tools to develop women's entrepreneurship, and the effects of leadership styles on the institutionalization of women's cooperatives were examined. In this context, leadership styles and institutionalization dimensions in cooperatives will be examined in line with the views of women's cooperative managers and cooperative members in women's cooperatives. Institutionalization requires organizations to be managed with values and standards in order to achieve their goals in line with their determined goals. The qualitative aspects of transparency, fair management, formalization and professionalism, which are sub-dimensions of institutionalization in women's cooperatives, and the standardization processes in these cooperatives will be examined. The qualitative aspects of transparency, fair management, formalization and professionalism, which are sub-dimensions of institutionalization in women's cooperatives, and the standardization processes in these cooperatives will be examined. According to the 2020 data of the Ministry of Commerce in Turkey, there are 564 active women's cooperatives in our country. The majority of these are women's enterprise production and business cooperatives. In Bursa, the number of women's cooperatives is 35. It has been observed that the number of women's cooperatives operating in rural areas is 25 and women's cooperatives are predominantly operating in rural areas. The data of this research were collected through in-depth interviews with 21 women consisting of the heads, members of the board of directors and partners of 12 different women's cooperatives operating in Bursa. According to the findings of the research conducted with the qualitative method, 19 of the 21 female members interviewed are married and 2 are single. 9 of these women are between the ages of 20-40, 5 of them are between the ages of 41-50, and 7 of them are 51 years old and over. Among the interviewed participants, 11 people have less than 5 years of experience, while 10 people have more than 5 years of cooperative experience. The fact that the experience of the participants in cooperatives and their working time in their own cooperative is the same shows that they provide continuity in the cooperative they are in. Looking at the age ranges, it can be said that women who have raised their children mostly prefer to be in the management bodies of the cooperative. The leadership style seen in women's co-operatives was seen as autocratic leadership, transformational leadership, liberating leadership, democratic leadership and transactional leadership, respectively. As a result of these interviews, when the prominent findings in the institutionalization of women's cooperatives are examined, it is seen that the level of institutionalization is higher in transformational leadership, autocratic leadership takes the second place, and the lowest institutionalization is under the management of liberal leaders.