Cooperative Ideology Research Articles

Enacted or idealistic co-operative values?

Co-operatives differ from other forms of business due to their strong values-based nature, but it is nevertheless recognized that there is a significant gap between international co-operative values and the practical management of co-operatives. According to the values base, management naturally requires that co-operatives as organizations have a common sensemaking of co-operative values. With this present research, we create a deep understanding of how the managers of large co-operatives make sense of the values related to the co-operative ideology. As a result of our qualitative empirical research, we present how Finnish managers of large co-operatives understand the values-based nature of co-operatives in two ways – enacted and idealistic – and construct an ideology of co-operatives around four values: equality, financial responsibility, democracy, and regional responsibility. At the co-operative level, the understanding of values is constructed as a shared, incongruous, partially shared, and contradictory sensemakings. The findings reveal that the values-based nature of co-operatives is recognized but that it is tense and fragmented, and we suggest strengthening management training and information to members to strengthen the unique identity of co-operatives.

КООПЕРАЦИОННЫЕ ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЯ В АГРОПРОДОВОЛЬСТВЕННОМ КОМПЛЕКСЕ: БАРЬЕРЫ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ РАЗВИТИЯ

In the context of this study, cooperation is considered as a form of joint activity of subjects (usually individuals) with the aim of realizing common interests. The main factors limiting the possibilities for the development of agricultural cooperation include: low level of social and economic trust of the rural population in each other, loss of trust in the cooperative ideology and the priority of private interests, lack of positive examples of the development of cooperation, high level of regression and disunity of rural communities, sporadic and fragmentation of the agricultural cooperation system, low level of financial capabilities of potential cooperators, limited sources of financing investment and operating activities, limited government support funds, low level of investment attractiveness of cooperative associations, shortage of qualified personnel, the need to ensure certain standards of product quality and its compliance with established requirements, etc. It is concluded that the potential for the development of cooperation in the agricultural sector is determined by the significant number of small businesses - potential cooperators, the ability of cooperation to increase the stability of social ties in rural communities and the effectiveness of economic interactions of rural economic entities, the ability of small commodity producers to function successfully in those market niches which are not attractive to large businesses, the possibility of cooperation to create conditions for increasing the level of income of participants in cooperative associations, the possibility of cooperation to saturate local markets in rural areas with high-quality food products and essential goods, the transition to a cluster model of development of agro-industrial integration, which involves easier entry into the cluster system of cooperative small commodity producers, etc.

Progress and Functional Dimensions of Cooperative Marketing Societies in India

Since the performance of cooperative marketing in India is not very impressive and as they are yet to show their presence in several areas encompassing marketing of agricultural produce, a number of measures need to be initiated to truly exploit their potential for which they have been established. The suggested measures encompass strengthening of existing societies, diversification drive for their various activities, development of multi-purpose societies, restriction imposed on membership, minimum government interference, inculcation of cooperative ideology among members and staff associated with the societies, representation of small and marginal farmers, dependence on well educated and trained personnel, provision of some minimum facilities at the base level, etc. Of late, efforts are initiated by the Government of India to formulate a National Policy on Co-operatives. In view of autonomous characters and priority to human resource development and professionalism, the policy is likely to support values and principles of co-operation. Since co-operative system in India has the capacity as well as potential to offset negative externalities emanating in the process of globalization and liberalization, they will continue to play a dominant role not only in employment generation but also in poverty alleviation with profound influence on production enterprises.

Cooperatives

Cooperatives are a main means of organization for economic activity, generally operating on principles of equal membership and members’ democratic control of their means of livelihood. Co-ops have developed as modern institutions aiming to tackle problems created by contemporary capitalism and its associated dependency on wage work. Co-ops operate and interact in context, mobilising ways of human contact that anthropologists usually study (kinship, community, ethnicity, and local belief systems). Anthropologists have expressed interest in co-ops since the origins of their discipline. They tend to investigate the ways that members interact within co-op organizations, as well as the ways co-ops interact with and within broader social frameworks. Key issues arising in understanding cooperatives are how co-ops negotiate industrial democracy, how they respond to market influences, and how they interrelate with broader civil society and social movements. Anthropological critiques of cooperatives distinguish between cooperative ideology and praxis, and highlight cases where institutional cooperation does not work in favour of local communities. However, anthropologists have equally celebrated cooperatives as institutional forms that shield communities off from exploitation and promote social solidarity.

A dynastic elite in monumental Neolithic society.

The nature and distribution of political power in Europe during the Neolithic era remains poorly understood1. During this period, many societies began to invest heavily in building monuments, which suggests an increase in social organization. The scale and sophistication of megalithic architecture along the Atlantic seaboard, culminating in the great passage tomb complexes, is particularly impressive2. Although co-operative ideology has often been emphasised as a driver of megalith construction1, the human expenditure required to erect the largest monuments has led some researchers to emphasize hierarchy3—of which the most extreme case is a small elite marshalling the labour of the masses. Here we present evidence that a social stratum of this type was established during the Neolithic period in Ireland. We sampled 44 whole genomes, among which we identify the adult son of a first-degree incestuous union from remains that were discovered within the most elaborate recess of the Newgrange passage tomb. Socially sanctioned matings of this nature are very rare, and are documented almost exclusively among politico-religious elites4—specifically within polygynous and patrilineal royal families that are headed by god-kings5,6. We identify relatives of this individual within two other major complexes of passage tombs 150 km to the west of Newgrange, as well as dietary differences and fine-scale haplotypic structure (which is unprecedented in resolution for a prehistoric population) between passage tomb samples and the larger dataset, which together imply hierarchy. This elite emerged against a backdrop of rapid maritime colonization that displaced a unique Mesolithic isolate population, although we also detected rare Irish hunter-gatherer introgression within the Neolithic population.

Cooperative Marketing Societies in India: Progress and Functional Dimensions

Since the performance of cooperative marketing in India is not very impressive and as they are yet to show their presence in several areas encompassing marketing of agricultural produce, a number of measures need to be initiated to truly exploit their potential for which they have been established. The suggested measures encompass strengthening of existing societies, diversification drive for their various activities, development of multi-purpose societies, restriction imposed on membership, minimum government interference, inculcation of cooperative ideology among members and staff associated with the societies, representation of small and marginal farmers, dependence on well educated and trained personnel, provision of some minimum facilities at the base level.

Scientific and applied problems of implementation of processing management at trade enterprises of the consumer cooperation

In conditions of globalization and European integration the modern management concepts are oriented on process approach to forming of management system. It means that process becomes the major management object. Development of trade enterprises of consumer cooperation (CC) is an essential component of national economy at current state of market economy development in Ukraine. The paper aims to research current approaches to forming of management systems at trade enterprises of consumer cooperation and to develop methodical and practical recommendations on introduction of these economic entities’ process management. On the basis of generalization of existing approaches to the formation of a management system, the paper reveals that the introduction of process management at trade enterprises is connected with the peculiarity of consumer cooperation, which constitutes a unique natural system that combines social and economic-financial activity, social orientation and is based on the cooperative ideology, culture, principles and values of cooperation, which distinguishes it from among the other economic structures. Introduction of process management is determined to depend to a large extent on the efficiency of trade, which, in the current conditions of development of the national economy and consumer cooperation, provides a link between production and consumption, satisfies the effective demand of the population, completes the process of distribution, strengthens the financial system and money circulation of enterprises. The complex approach to the process management of retail enterprises of consumer cooperation is proposed as part of the definition of the peculiarities of its implementation, which is based on the synergistic combination of business processes of trading enterprises (basic, auxiliary, managerial) and management functions (planning, organization, motivation, control), that allows to determine effective mechanisms of business processes management of trade enterprises, improve the quality of management decisions and the efficiency of trade enterprises.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF COOPERATION

The cooperation concept, which in its content can be regarded as an economic phenomenon, the essence of which is the economic relationships between partners in terms of cooperation in order to achieve the common goal of lower specific costs of resources on the basis of mutual benefit for all participants, has become a powerful component and a promising direction. economic development of many countries of the world.The activity of cooperative enterprises takes place in a certain institutional environment, which is defined as a set of fundamental social, political, legal, and economic rules within the framework of human behavior. It is the institutional approach to the cooperation development that is currently at the center of attention of contemporary researchers and needs a detailed analysis. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to study the main institutional imperatives of the development of cooperative relations of business entities in modern conditions.In the article, based on theoretical-methodical analysis and structurally functional approach, the system-forming socio-economic institutes of cooperation are defined. It is determined that among the socio-economic institutions of co-operation, institutions of cost, efficiency, co-operative ideology occupy a significant place. The institution of expenditures is described in detail, defined types of transaction costs (information search, negotiation, measurement, specification and protection of property rights, opportunistic behavior, politicization) and their characteristics in the context of cooperation. The institute of cooperative ideology and its influence on expenses of cooperative association are investigated. It is proved that the main advantage and motive of cooperation is the desire to obtain an additional (synergetic) effect from the interaction of participants. The synergistic effect may be due to the fact that the combined use of several mutually agreed strategies is more beneficial than the isolated implementation of someone and comes as a result of the self-organization of complex systems. The following main elements of the cooperative system of interaction are defined: enterprise integrator, suppliers of material resources, competitors, intermediaries, consumers, etc. The synergy effect in the cooperative is substantiated.

Propaganda as marketing

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the use of two concepts, propaganda and advertisement, in two areas of Swedish society during the 1930s; first, their use by the advertisement business, and second, their use by the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society.Design/methodology/approachBy adopting a perspective of conceptual history, inspired by Reinhart Koselleck, the author is trying to pinpoint the meanings that were ascribed to these concepts in a 1930s context, the interdependency between these concepts and other keywords that were used in connection with them.FindingsThe study reveals how the ambiguous and synonymous use of these concepts served different purposes in the two fields of study. In the 1930s, propaganda was a key concept of communication and was used in manifold ways for selling goods and disseminating ideas. Propaganda was used to explain the newly introduced American marketing terminology. During the 1930s, the field of advertisement was trying to change what previously had been labeled as “idea propaganda” into “advertisement.” The ambiguous use of concepts made it possible for the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society to combine advertisement for their produced goods with disseminating ideas of the cooperative ideology. The concepts of enlightenment (upplysning) and propaganda were crucial to hold together the ideological and commercial parts of the cooperative movement.Originality/valueThe interaction of meanings between commercial and political concepts is rarely researched in conceptual history or marketing history, which this article advocates to be an important field of study.

Why do cooperatives assure their CSR reports? An analysis of the motivations and benefits in a big retail cooperative

CSR reporting is increasing worldwide and cooperatives are highly susceptible to it. However, there is an interesting research gap in CSR reporting and assurance in cooperatives. Through an in-depth case study, we investigated motivations, benefits and singularities to adopt assurance practices in one of the biggest cooperatives in the Spanish retail sector, which is listed among the world’s top 300 cooperatives. Our results showed that the cooperative ideology and values (transparency, trust) were the main motivation to assure a CSR report in a company. This study underlines the improvement of stakeholders’ engagement and greater reliability among stakeholders as benefits of these policies. Finally, the relevant barriers to assure a CSR report are difficulties that stakeholders have understanding it and its cost.

Institutional Interactions Processes Modeling in Consumer Cooperatives in the Frameworks of Transaction Theory of Incomplete Contracts as a Social Marketing Tool Realization

The article is dedicated to the problem of modeling external and internal institutional interactions emerging in the process of economic and social activity of consumer cooperatives with the view of improving social marketing realization on the basis of the simulation of contracting processes. The article provides the specification of shareholders’ and general public contracting models in the process of production of exclusive and inclusive public goods in a consumer cooperative. The article states theoretical dependence between the level of cooperation while producing exclusive goods and differentiation of the general public by the income level, which determines economic and social inefficiency of contract relations. The article proves the possibility of inclusive public goods production and the achievement of Pareto’s efficiency in the distribution of income with the simultaneous production of inclusive public goods in the form of services and exclusive goods in the form of cooperative ideology adherence as a highly specific asset. On the basis of the developed models the article substantiates the peculiarities of social marketing in consumer cooperation organizations through the integration of the relations marketing concept and transaction approach to the organization’s activity; proves the possibility of the dual consideration of costs for the realization of socio-ethical marketing as transaction expenses for the maintenanceof cooperative ideology and transformation expenses on social activity and singles out the directions of consumer cooperatives’ social activity aimed at their external and internal environment and ensuring the involvement of the interested persons in the system of internal contracts.

Eutopia na zgliszczach. Kierunki rozwoju idei polskiego kooperatyzmu w XIX wieku

The article serves to indicate that in the development of the ideas of Polish cooperatism before 1914 it is possible to distinguish two general stages. First, represented among others by Wojciech Gutkowski, Ludwik Królikowski, and Jan Czyński, was characterized by tending to create closed communities and achieve a profound transformation of the human life. Experiences tied to these ideas were critically received by Bolesław Limanowski and Kalikst Wolski, among others. Based on the failure of the first wave of cooperative ideology, the next generation of thinkers (Edward Abramowski, Romuald Mielczarski) attempted to enter into a dynamic relationship with the capitalist environment and change it through self-help practices. Both stages of cooperatis.

Individuality vs. communality⿿A new dual role of co-operatives?

Abstract As people, values and times change, co-operatives also restructure themselves making the reappraisal of co-operative theory topical. This article contributes to the co-operative theory by exploring the very core of co-operative ideology, the dual nature. The literature review contributes to the theoretical basis regarding the most distinctive characteristic of a co-operative form of business by reasserting the concept of dual role. Secondly, the empirical case study explores the interpreted meanings and manifestation of dual role in a worker co-operative context. Based on the research, we suggest that considering the duality of co-operatives⿿ goals, social and financial goals are not the ones defining and guiding the operations. Instead, individuality and communality are two rival forces that form an inherent contradiction in worker co-operative operations. The article highlights how individuality gains dominance in a co-operative due to its extreme democracy and flexible structure, and how this deteriorates communality, the bearing force of the community. Thus, we suggest that finding a balance between the conflicting needs and expectations of an individual member and the co-operative reflects the ⿿new dual nature⿿ of co-operatives. We also argue that when properly balanced, both shared and individual goals will provide an ideal work community for modern entrepreneurs. 1

Why Do Cooperatives Emerge in a World Dominated by Corporations? The Diffusion of Cooperatives in the U.S. Bio-Ethanol Industry, 1978–2013

Given the strong economic disincentives that exist, why do cooperatives continue to emerge? And why is it that, in some communities, these cooperatives are collocated with their commercial counterparts, yet, in others, territorial partitioning occurs? In this paper, we develop a community ecology approach that integrates economic and sociological accounts of cooperatives, in an attempt to reconcile these contradictory observations. Using a detailed panel data set for the county-level founding process of cooperatives in the U.S. ethanol industry from 1978 to 2013, consistent with rational economic arguments, we find that the founding rate of cooperatives decreases in the presence of high, local, corporate ethanol production capacity. However, this negative competitive interdependence is attenuated in local communities where: (1) corporations represent a potential threat to the autonomy of local farmers, (2) there is a generally anti-corporate climate, and (3) there is a well-established organizational infrastructure supporting a cooperative ideology. Consistent with sociological theories that emphasize the mobilizing force of ideology, these local conditions spur and facilitate collective action among farmers to establish cooperatives in response to the local diffusion of corporations. We show further that the diffusion of plants owned by big business (oil and agribusiness) in communities characterized by a general anti-corporate climate especially promotes greater ideological contestation and the mobilization of resources to form cooperatives.

Paternalistic Consumer Co-operatives in Rural England, 1870–1930

AbstractThe British co-operative movement is associated mainly with industrial areas. Where consumer co-operatives existed in the countryside they were located in market towns and formed by rural trade unions, especially railwaymen, occasionally quarrymen or farmworkers. Yet the Co-operative Union membership encompassed a significant number of small single village societies founded by paternalistic gentry.This paper draws on examples in Shropshire, East Yorkshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire, to offer an account and explanation of the never before studied, paternalistic co-operatives. Recruiting estate workers and farm labourers, individual country squires showed themselves capable of using a co-operative ideology and framework, usually associated with the labour movement, to achieve very different and paternalistic goals. The relationship between these paternalistic village societies and the wider co-operative movement, both locally and nationally, is discussed, including the company paternalism of the Co-operative Wholesale Society's own farming operations. A comparison with the ‘Blue co-ops’ of the Lancashire Conservative dominated cotton spinners’ union is also made. The paper concludes that the failure of paternalistic co-operatives was part of the post Great War revival of rural cultural conservatism, linked to the effects of agricultural depression.

Confrontations and Compromise: Dispute Resolution at a Worker Cooperative Coal Mine

This paper compares dispute-resolution behavior at a large coal mine in South Wales at two times: when the mine was run as a conventional, hierarchical organization by British Coal and, several years later, when it was bought out by the employees and converted into a worker cooperative. Synthesizing themes from law and society, organizational theory, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) research, I demonstrate how shared ownership, flattened hierarchy, and cooperative ideology impact on disputing behavior. By changing from a hierarchical organization to a worker cooperative, the coal mine increased is level of procedural justice and transformed its dispute-resolution behavior to rely much more on informal resolution. Using qualitative methods, this research draws on 42 in-depth open interviews with miners and managers.

Identity problems of Danish consumer cooperatives

Consumer cooperatives were born together with industrial capitalism and its social classes, being a reaction against miserable economic conditions and disgracefully low positions of farmers and workers. Nowadays, the traditional, class-based motives have lost their importance, but still many consumers are attracted by consumer cooperatives and each year numerous consumers stand for election to the committees of consumer cooperatives. A recent survey amongst newly elected and newly retired committee members in Denmark reveals three major motivating factors: cooperative ideology, survival of local shops, and nutrition. Therefore it seems wise for consumer cooperatives to emphasize activities related to these motives, and by doing so they may eventually succeed in their search for a new identity.

A Conceptual Analysis of Labour Relations in Cooperatives

This paper addresses the issue of union-employer relations in consumer and producer cooperatives. It traces the historical development of cooperative ideology as it relates to trade unionism in cooperatives and the attempts which the two democratically inspired movements have made to establish harmonious bargaining and workplace relationships. It provides evidence that the intensity and frequency of strike activity in cooperatives in Saskatchewan has increased and offers explanation of these phenomena.