The Guidance to Develop Capabilities and Competitiveness of Community Businesses to Support Community Economies Toward Stability and Sustainability: A Case Study of Community Businesses in Kap Choeng District, Surin Province

Abstract

                This research aimed to analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and propose the guidance to enhance capabilities and competitiveness of community businesses in Kap Choeng District, Surin Province. The researchers used in-depth interview and observation as data collecting tools combining 10 key informants of group leaders, boards or representative members, and focus group discussion involving 15 representatives. From descriptive data analysis, the researchers found that the strengths were their abundant self-owning materials for production, acquirement of community business product standard certification, and profound experience in production of the members. The weaknesses were their lack of products variety, public relation, distribution channels, and knowledge in product development. Their opportunities were our late consumer trend toward local products, government institution support, community business network building, and increasing numbers of OTOP centers. Their threats were the ease of product imitation, raw material costs, lack of support from government institutions, and large number of competitors. The guidance to develop community businesses by internal factors included extension of products toward variety and identity, increasing marketing channels, product value adding, public relation, enhancement of members skills and knowledge, and community business network formation. Finally, the development of community businesses by external factors included establishment of community business alliances, stimulating outside interaction, along with collaborative integration with government institutions.