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1 – 10 of over 1000This paper aims to study how activists involved in consumer-initiated cooperatives, in a specific context, challenge the practices of the neoliberal system and develop…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study how activists involved in consumer-initiated cooperatives, in a specific context, challenge the practices of the neoliberal system and develop counter-practices that are ingrained with their values. It aims to access the transformative capacity and inclusiveness of consumer-initiated cooperatives and the role played by prefigurative practices in changing the status quo. Three practices – defetishization of agricultural commodities, surplus generation and distribution, prefiguration – that enable the inclusion of those groups who are marginalized in the food production and consumption nexus by neoliberal policies are identified.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings of this paper were developed from 23 unstructured interviews, participant observation and analysis of the social media accounts of five consumer-initiated cooperatives located in different districts of Istanbul and which are involved in a collective response to the neoliberal policies.
Findings
The study discusses that, in a specific context, political events and economic policies can be a catalyst for the initiation of alternative consumer-initiated cooperatives. The findings indicate that these organizations can develop and articulate prefigurative practices that are influential in transforming the prevailing capitalist food provisioning system to be more inclusive.
Research limitations/implications
The findings offer an alternative view to the dominant capitalist logic and advance the concept of how the economic sphere can be re-politicized and how the persevering notion of financial performance is resolved by invoking values of inclusion, solidarity, responsibility and sharing. The findings are based on the study of five cases in a specific context during a specific period.
Originality/value
This paper focuses on cooperatives owned and governed by activist consumers and presents results concerning their underlying practices for creating a food provisioning system that is inclusive and aiming for social justice and equality. Similarly, it provides evidence of how local political and economic conditions influence the appropriation and development of these practices – commodity defetishization, surplus distribution and prefiguration.
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Silvia Sacchetti and Ermanno Celeste Tortia
This study aims to examine the relationships between the rules that a cooperative membership decides upon and members' motives for action. It considers individual self-interest in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationships between the rules that a cooperative membership decides upon and members' motives for action. It considers individual self-interest in relation with motives that are consistent with the values of cooperation.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper comprises two parts. The first is theoretical and discusses cooperative governance's features in the context of individual motives. The second part is empirical and based on survey data from Italian multistakeholder, worker-run social cooperatives. It uses cross-sectional data gathered from 4,134 workers and 310 managers in 310 cooperatives in Italy to provide evidence of rules and individual motives. Regression analysis confirms the existence of a linkage between individual self-interest and motives.
Findings
Rules mainly, but not exclusively, play an enabling function, which implies responding to both nonmonetary and monetary individual motives. With greater articulation within institutions – through the definition of multiple rights for accessing decision-making – the authors expect increases in individual capabilities to match motives with specific organizational rules in pursuit of consistent ends. This is confirmed by the association that the authors found between individual motives and commitment.
Research limitations/implications
The authors’ illustration is limited to one specific type of cooperative, the social cooperative, in which prosocial motives are expected to be stronger than in other cooperative forms, although one could say that all cooperative models emphasize procommunity and prosocial aims. Data are cross-sectional and do not allow for the identification of causality, only of statistical relations' strength.
Practical implications
The continuous scrutiny and adaptation of motives and means imply that cooperators communicate and engage in a learning process.
Originality/value
While the institutional spheres that support investor-owned organizations and self-interested profit-maximizing behavior have been analyzed, a framework that accommodates personal control rights and a richer view of individual motives is lacking. The value added from the paper is to suggest one.
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Erwin Stoop, Taco Brandsen and Jan-Kees Helderman
Most research into the relationship between social capital and cooperatives takes social capital as the independent variable and the cooperative as the dependent variable, but as…
Abstract
Purpose
Most research into the relationship between social capital and cooperatives takes social capital as the independent variable and the cooperative as the dependent variable, but as yet the authors know little about causality in the other direction. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the cooperative structure helps to maintain organizational social capital.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 46 participants from local banks (chairpersons, directors, managers, team leaders and human resources managers).
Findings
Although the cooperative structure formally remained in place, integration into financial markets and digitalization effectively disembedded the organization from its original social context. The cooperative model can only remain distinctive, in terms of how it relates to its clients, under certain institutional conditions.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that scaling, in response to changes in the institutional environment, was an important factor in changing the nature of the organization.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the understanding of the social dynamics of cooperatives in the field of financial services.
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George Cheney, Matt Noyes, Emi Do, Marcelo Vieta, Joseba Azkarraga and Charlie Michel
Rodrigo Soares Santana, Gustavo Hermínio Salati Marcondes de Moraes and Hermes Moretti Ribeiro da Silva
This study aims to evaluate the influence of factors attributed to relationship attractiveness between supplier and customer, from the supplier’s perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the influence of factors attributed to relationship attractiveness between supplier and customer, from the supplier’s perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical exercise was based on the use of multivariate data analysis with confirmatory factor analysis and a partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling.
Findings
The study resulted in a robust model, with a high explanatory factor for the latent variable relational attractiveness and commitment was the most influential factor, followed by expected value and interorganizational trust.
Research limitations/implications
Some limitations of the study can be highlighted: conducting research in a single cooperative and with a single audience; choosing a short-cycle supply chain, which may make it difficult to generalize to other industries; the cross-section nature of data also hinders the analysis to understand how the association between variables of interest may vary over time.
Practical implications
The negative influence of interpersonal trust reinforces the importance of developing collaborative attitudes between parties, whereas the non-significant value for dependence (financial and volume dependence) shows this is not a risk factor for relational attractiveness in a supply chain. Such results provide evidence on how to develop relationship management between suppliers and customers that are part of the same supply chain.
Social implications
It offers a new perspective for research in cooperatives, which still have no consensus on the motivating factors for members’ participation, including as evidence the results of the largest flower producing center in Latin America. The more a cooperative succeeds in increasing relational attractiveness, the greater the cooperative power and the ability to adapt to shocks and changes, which are fundamental factors for the success and longevity of the cooperative.
Originality/value
The research presents a model that is comprehensive enough to fit in different contexts and consider its specific characteristics. Additionally, this paper has added in-depth information on the relational attractiveness relationships in the context of a developing country.
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Marcela Maestre Matos, Jahir Lombana-Coy and Francisco J. Mesías
This study aims to identify informal institutions for bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) business models in the agricultural sector through the case study of banana growers’ cooperatives.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify informal institutions for bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) business models in the agricultural sector through the case study of banana growers’ cooperatives.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of six banana cooperatives from Colombia was conducted. The research followed a mixed design, using both qualitative and quantitative data and the application of structural equations.
Findings
This study shows that social capital, networking and alliances are essential in BoP businesses.
Originality/value
Authors defined a model of informal institutional factors for the generation of economic and social value in inclusive business, using the new institutional theory and the conceptual development of BoP in agri-business.
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Marco Botta and Luca Vittorio Angelo Colombo
It is widely believed that deviating from the “one share-one vote” principle leads to corporate inefficiencies. To measure the market appraisal of this potential inefficiency…
Abstract
Purpose
It is widely believed that deviating from the “one share-one vote” principle leads to corporate inefficiencies. To measure the market appraisal of this potential inefficiency, this study aims to analyse the market reaction to a change from the “one head-one vote” to the “one share-one vote” mechanism by means of a quasi-natural experiment: a 2015 Italian reform forcing all listed cooperative banks to transform into joint-stock companies.
Design/methodology/approach
To investigate the market reaction around the regulatory change, this study uses both a traditional event study and a novel methodology based on the synthetic control method as well as on Bayesian statistical techniques.
Findings
This study estimates the market valuation of the effects of the governance change around the event date being equal to a cumulative average increase in market value of about 14 per cent using an event study methodology, and of about 13 per cent using Bayesian techniques.
Originality/value
This study provides evidence on the fact that the voting mechanism significantly affects the market values of companies. The study also introduces a novel statistical technique that can be extremely useful in analysing single-firm event studies.
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George Cheney, Matt Noyes, Emi Do, Marcelo Vieta, Joseba Azkarraga and Charlie Michel