I've realised that people might not really have any clue about how #coops are different from regular businesses. So I'm going to write something.
đ€ Questions?
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There are no stupid answers. You might want to ask about things related to everything from politics to money to the history of the co-operative movement. It could be that you just want to know how co-ops make decisions when everyone owns the business? Up to you.
đ€ Questions?
----
There are no stupid answers. You might want to ask about things related to everything from politics to money to the history of the co-operative movement. It could be that you just want to know how co-ops make decisions when everyone owns the business? Up to you.
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no worries if this is a bit too left field but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on co-ops and b-corp certification and how they might overlap (my understanding is that you can structure your business as a co-op AND be a b-corp since the latter is more of an audit/certification layer on top of your company structure)?
Link to source
@jamesravey Excellent question, thank you
Link to source
I'm interested in the ownership structure and how you deal with tenure. Ie. How does a new employee-owner get treated vs someone who was there from the very beginning and how does that change over time?
I'm not sure how to phrase this...
What does sustainability look like? If a coop is membership based, how to build that sustaining membership group so that rotating members in and out isn't A) onboarding all the time, and B) volatile because of member turnover?
What does sustainability look like? If a coop is membership based, how to build that sustaining membership group so that rotating members in and out isn't A) onboarding all the time, and B) volatile because of member turnover?
What does the initial set up of a coop look like? Person I know tried to start one with their colleagues and were under the impression that they all had to form their own LLCs then combine as shareholders into a coop. Is that true? Iâm sure itâs different depending on locality, the specific profession, and many other factors, but an idea or example of how one starts a coop would be great to hear.
I know almost nothing so everything is welcome. One big concern is probably how funding works as well as conflict resolution.
I work at a very large co-op right now that has, effectively, insulated the governance from direct action by co-op members by having elections and electing officers, but only from a pre-selected group of candidates. The group that pre-selects the candidates are the current board of directors. I know this is how *my* co-op works, but what I don't know is if this arrangement is common, the larger the co-op gets, and whether the author thinks this is desirable in some cases.
@spaceraser I'm slowly coming to the notion that coops don't scale well without creating these types of problems. They DO federate well, so the answer might be to create lots of smaller cooperatives and federate them for buying power.
This entry was edited (2 months ago)
@steveediger yeah I think that natural response to the other, the desire to protect the co-op/âour thingâ from people that âdonât share our valuesâ, can cause incremental change that leads to somewhere you donât necessarily want to be. I donât know if you can *guarantee* the culture and mission of a co-op wonât change *and* preserve democratic, âflatâ heirarchy.
@steveediger the way our co-op managed growth was drawing the board from the business/retail professional executive people that happened to be co-op members and making retail executive experience a de-facto requirement for board membership. I donât know if thats great, but I also donât know if you donât need experience leading groups of people at scale to effectively lead a âco-opâ that is itself the largest retailer in its sector. Maybe the solution is to never get that big, like you said
@steveediger been digging in to the WAO site and Iâm currently in the weeds on badges. Is there a co-op principles course on Participate I could dig in to?
@spaceraser@steveediger there's not, but that's what we're talking to the new https://workers.coop about (which is being formed out of CoopsUK)
This work is six years old at this point and we're planning to revisit it soon, especially as it uses our old logo! https://goo.gl/XzLWso
(image by @bryanmmathers)
This work is six years old at this point and we're planning to revisit it soon, especially as it uses our old logo! https://goo.gl/XzLWso
(image by @bryanmmathers)
How can we build and credential coâoperative character? (Co-op conference 2017)
How can we build and credential coâoperative character? Dr. Doug Belshaw We Are Open Co-op 1 https://goo.gl/XzLWsoGoogle Docs
@spaceraser@bryanmmathers so you're involved with the new venture. We, the USFWC Peer Tech Co-op Network, were just informed about it by John Atherton. I hope your venture is successful!
I saw questions and started answering them. I'll let you do your writing and am available as another set of eyes / editor.đ
There are no stupid answers?
Very confident about your responses to our questions arenât you? đ
As for a question, Iâm interested in governance models. Iâve been doing a little bit of reading of late on various options in relation to open source, e.g., do-ocracy, founder leader, etc. Could you speak to governance challenges in the co-op space?
Very confident about your responses to our questions arenât you? đ
As for a question, Iâm interested in governance models. Iâve been doing a little bit of reading of late on various options in relation to open source, e.g., do-ocracy, founder leader, etc. Could you speak to governance challenges in the co-op space?
@robert Yeah yeah đ
Thank you for the non-stupid question Dr Winter, I shall address it in my upcoming paper!
Thank you for the non-stupid question Dr Winter, I shall address it in my upcoming paper!
What is the average lifespan of a co-op business? Why aren't they more common? What are the largest co-ops in the world? How does their level of democracy change with scale?
(Here in Canada, the #AntigonishMovement of the 1920s and 1930s favoured co-ops as a system for economic empowerment. In #Antigonish itself, the only surviving co-ops are a grocery store and the credit union. In Québec, 80% of residents have accounts with the Desjardins credit union group.)
(Here in Canada, the #AntigonishMovement of the 1920s and 1930s favoured co-ops as a system for economic empowerment. In #Antigonish itself, the only surviving co-ops are a grocery store and the credit union. In Québec, 80% of residents have accounts with the Desjardins credit union group.)
@mpjgregoire
Dajb provided some good answers, would add one; incentives for founders can be weaker.
Once co-ops are up and running, they tend to outperform other firms. But for the founder(s), it can often be more profitable to start the firm as a conventional capitalist firm they fully own.
Made an infographic/article article about the topic.
https://www.mutualinterest.coop/2023/02/if-co-ops-and-mutuals-are-better-why-are-they-so-rare-vanguard-and-the-mutualist-paradox
Dajb provided some good answers, would add one; incentives for founders can be weaker.
Once co-ops are up and running, they tend to outperform other firms. But for the founder(s), it can often be more profitable to start the firm as a conventional capitalist firm they fully own.
Made an infographic/article article about the topic.
https://www.mutualinterest.coop/2023/02/if-co-ops-and-mutuals-are-better-why-are-they-so-rare-vanguard-and-the-mutualist-paradox
If co-ops and mutuals are better, why are they so rare? Vanguard and the mutualist paradox. - Mutual Interest Media
If co-ops and mutuals are better, why are they so rare? Vanguard and the mutualist paradox.Leo Sammallahti (Mutual Interest Media)
@LeoSammallahti@mpjgregoire Thanks, Leo. That's a really difficult thing to get across to people, especially in the current economic climate:
"Hey, that cool idea you've got will be more financially profitable to you personally if you set up as a traditional corporation with a hierarchy. But it's better for the world and your community if you set up as a co-op."
"Hey, that cool idea you've got will be more financially profitable to you personally if you set up as a traditional corporation with a hierarchy. But it's better for the world and your community if you set up as a co-op."
@mpjgregoire
Definitely.
We also need to develop mechanisms by which founders of co-ops can be better rewarded if they take disproportionate risk/effort in the early stage.
It is one reason why I'm so optimistic about #exit2community movement. The founder starts off as a conventional company and then sells it to the workers/customers/etc. for a compensation they both agree on.
Ideally they would start off with a coop right away, but #E2C can be a more appealing approach for many.
Definitely.
We also need to develop mechanisms by which founders of co-ops can be better rewarded if they take disproportionate risk/effort in the early stage.
It is one reason why I'm so optimistic about #exit2community movement. The founder starts off as a conventional company and then sells it to the workers/customers/etc. for a compensation they both agree on.
Ideally they would start off with a coop right away, but #E2C can be a more appealing approach for many.
Given that so many companies nowadays are announcing layoffs, how do co-ops handle layoffs? Or maybe a better question would be how do co-ops handle the underlying issues that would often lead to layoffs?
Doug Belshaw likes this.
@hubert Also, in terms of the underlying issues, you may be interested in this post from earlier in the week: https://blog.weareopen.coop/i-got-99-problems-but-recognition-aint-one-47e081a749cb
I got 99 problems, but recognition ainât one - We Are Open Co-op
Weâre publishing this in the wake of mass layoffs in the tech industry, with some people finding out in particularly cruel ways that their employment has been terminated. With that as a touchpointâŠDoug Belshaw (We Are Open Co-op)