Strategic plans on the context of business excellence models and its financial impact: the case of the Cavendish banana grower cooperatives

Purpose This study was conducted to assess the alignment of the strategic plans of the Cavendish banana grower cooperatives to business excellence models (BEMs) and to determine its financial impact to elucidate the performance of the respective cooperatives. This is anchored on the primary objectives of cooperative business sustainability, expansion and sustained competitiveness, all of which are significantly impacted by the strategic plans. The BEMS establish the parameters that are useful in determining how well the strategic plans correspond. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this study. Strategic plans and audited financial statements (FS) for calendar year (CY) 2021 and 2022 of two Cavendish banana grower cooperatives in Region XI on the context of BEMs were evaluated and examined using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and Philippine Quality Award. Of the seven criteria, only five were considered as follows: organizational profile, leadership, strategy, workforce, process and result. The first four were taken from strategic plans, while result was from audited FS. Findings The strategic plans of the two cooperatives selectively satisfy some of the sub-criteria of each of the four criteria. Furthermore, the cooperatives followed the usual basic contents of and briefly presented in the strategic plans the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis, strategic objectives, plans, targets and timelines. This suggests that the cooperatives are not familiar with the BEMs which could be attributed to the educational qualifications of the directors and officers, or possibly not introduced by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). On the financial performance, one cooperative has impressive records but generally had lower performance in 2022 compared to 2021. Research limitations/implications This study covers only Cavendish banana grower cooperatives particularly located in the Southeastern part of Mindanao (CDA, 2021) in the Philippines where people are mostly of similar culture. This does not represent much diverse culture; thus, this may work only in organizations with similar culture. In other industries or organizations where cultural diversity occurs, there may be a need to conduct study to determine the level of adoption of BEMs by the cooperatives. On the other note, the samples are very limited that generalizability cannot be made. Conducting a similar study involving many cooperatives is suggested. Originality/value This study explores the alignment of the Strategic Plans of the Cavendish banana grower cooperatives to BEMs which has long been neglected.