Abstract
Social responsibility is a natural obligation of cooperatives, and fulfilling social responsibility is of great meaning to the sustainable development of cooperatives and society. This article constructs a “life cycle-cooperative social responsibility framework (LC-CoopSRF)” and analyzes the framework with the case of Chongxin Apiculture Specialized Cooperative of Sichuan Province, China. The research results show that cooperatives should respect the law of life cycle, consider conditions such as operational capabilities and ethical expectations, and fulfill social responsibility in a reasonable manner. The successful cooperative highlights the bottom-line responsibility in the establishment phase, internal responsibility in the growth phase, system responsibility in the maturity phase, and the differentiation phase is the phase of system responsibility.
Highlights
Specialized farmers’ cooperatives (“cooperative” hereinafter) in China are mutual economic organizations based on rural household contract institutions, in which agricultural producers or agricultural service providers and users are cooperating on a voluntary basis
We explore how CoopSR actions are targeted at members, employees, production animals, consumers, government, partners, natural environment, and community at different phases of the cooperative’s life cycle
As the operational capability and ethical expectations are maximized at the same time, the social responsibility of cooperatives has risen from internal responsibility to system responsibility
Summary
Specialized farmers’ cooperatives (“cooperative” hereinafter) in China are mutual economic organizations based on rural household contract institutions, in which agricultural producers or agricultural service providers and users are cooperating on a voluntary basis. Their members produce same kind of agricultural products or provide services for production of these products. Cooperatives mainly serve their members in purchasing inputs, marketing, processing, transporting and storing agricultural products, and providing new technologies and information. The average lifetime of cooperatives in China has been less than 3 years [4], and the proportion of empty-shelled cooperatives reaches 30–60% [5].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
