The Efficacy of Member Empowerment Interventions on Business Performance: A Mixed-Methods Study of Member Training, Exposure Visits, and Mentoring and Coaching in Y-SAVE Multipurpose Cooperative, Uganda

Mark Douglas Walugembe; Danstan Kisuule; Martha Olweny; Norah Kiwabudde; Olutayo K. Onsusan

The Efficacy of Member Empowerment Interventions on Business Performance: A Mixed-Methods Study of Member Training, Exposure Visits, and Mentoring and Coaching in Y-SAVE Multipurpose Cooperative, Uganda

Author(s)	Dr. Mark Douglas Walugembe, Danstan Kisuule, Martha Olweny, Norah Kiwabudde, Olutayo K. Onsusan
Country	Uganda
Abstract	This article presents a mixed-methods study investigating how member training, exposure visits, and mentoring and coaching influence business performance among members of Y-SAVE Multipurpose Cooperative in Uganda. Employing a convergent parallel design, the study integrated a quantitative survey (n = 37) analysed using Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression with qualitative data from three focused group discussions (FGDs), analysed thematically. Quantitative findings revealed that member training (r = 0.678, p < 0.01) and mentoring and coaching (r = 0.658, p < 0.01) were the strongest predictors of business performance, together with exposure visits (r = 0.424, p < 0.05), collectively explaining 66.1% of variance in business performance (R² = 0.661). A combined empowerment index encompassing all three interventions demonstrated the strongest overall explanatory power (H₀₄), confirming their synergistic effect. Qualitative findings revealed that experiential learning drove shifts from intuitive to evidence-based management, exposure visits catalysed investment action and market repositioning, and mentoring generated transformative changes in formalisation, financial management, and entrepreneurial mindset. Findings are theorised through Kolb's (1984) Experiential Learning Theory, Bandura's (1977, 1997) Social Learning Theory, Lave and Wenger's (1991) communities of practice, and Mezirow's (1991) Transformative Learning Theory. The study concludes that a synergistic combination of training, observation-based learning, and sustained mentoring constitutes an effective cooperative member empowerment model, with practical implications for programme design in Uganda and comparable cooperative contexts.
Keywords	Keywords: mixed methods, member training, exposure visits, mentoring and coaching, business performance, cooperative, SACCO, Uganda, experiential learning.
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 2, March-April 2026
Published On	2026-03-18

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The Efficacy of Member Empowerment Interventions on Business Performance: A Mixed-Methods Study of Member Training, Exposure Visits, and Mentoring and Coaching in Y-SAVE Multipurpose Cooperative, Uganda

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