Role of organizational structure and behaviour for ensuring sustainability of farmer producer organisations in Punjab

Organisational structure of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) is an important factor contributing towards performance of an FPO. Structure facilitates division of work and co-ordination of activities among the members for fulfilling goals and objectives of an organisation. This study aims to explore organisational structure of the registered FPOs in Punjab regarding their communication flow and functioning. The study was conducted with the help of randomly selected 10 FPOs (5 functional and 5 non-functional). Further, 15 members from each selected FPO were randomly selected making a total sample of 150. The survey was carried out by personally interviewing the respondents using semi-structured interview schedule to identify the characteristics and the organisational framework of the FPOs. The study revealed that organisational structure has an explanatory effect on relationship between the shareholders and performance of the FPOs as the former influences the information flow and decision making in the organisation. The structural framework was explained with help of a flow chart. Organisational characteristics of the FPOs were identified and it was revealed that the participation in the meetings, awareness about the meeting agenda and involvement in decision making of the members were statistically different in functional vis-a-vis non-functional FPOs.