A Skills Gap Analysis of Farmer Directors of US Farmer Cooperatives

Boards of directors are vital to firm performance and are an integral part of the decision-making process of any business. Several studies have been conducted that observe corporate or nonprofit board characteristics, skills, and the board's connection to firm performance. In the cooperative space, the literature has focused on exploring the impact directors have on governance and policy. Only a few studies have examined director skills. The present study adds to this literature by identifying the skill gaps for directors of US farmer cooperatives, and what skills are most important for a director to possess. We found that the largest skill gaps were in cooperative governance and policy and cooperative finance. Time management was found to be the least important skill for directors to possess. Asking critical questions, strategic planning, and understanding current economic and industry conditions were consistently among the top three skills.