Conduct a SWOT Analysis of Guajilote Cooperativo Forestal, Honduras

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1. What is your impression of Guajilote as a business venture?

In my opinion Guajilote is a growing business with many future opportunities but the organization does not have a very stable look due to the political structure of Honduras, different interests of the supporting organizations and the government, their contradictions, lack of education of cooperative members, illegal activities and climate of the region. Especially the lack of education may avoid the cooperative members to understand and use new opportunities. Guajilote's work activities are really though and require many efforts. However the business still cannot earn a fair profit due to the distributor monopoly in the area.

Cooperatives are considered as democratically controlled organizations but we cannot see this in Guajilote. All decisions go through and made by Munguia as the caudillo who is actually not capable of managing all aspects of an organization except his political ties and skills in negotiations. The worst part is Guajilote's members do not seem to have a problem with this management style and they accept the situation.

There are rumors that Munguia is receiving more from the cooperative than were the other members. However there are no formal public financial records available to understand whether he received more from the cooperative than the other members or not. The organization needs some transparency in accounting and finance. Munguia should also be forced to delegate some authority to others in the cooperative in order to avoid possible problems in the future. This is necessary to create a fair environment in the organization. Involvement of other experienced members can help the organization during the decision process.

2. Conduct a SWOT Analysis of Guajilote.

Strengths

Being the only authorized business in the country.
Guajilote is the only organization that is given the legal right to exploit naturally mahogany trees in Honduras. The cooperative simply has no competitors in the domestic market. COHDEFOR's permit renewal will be granted automatically as long as the business restricts itself to downed mahogany.

Mahogany wood sources are decreasing in the world
The amount of mahogany ...