Text 2. The co-operative enterprise, another form of entrepreneurship

 

Co-operation is now an actual economic reality, continuing to respond to society’s present and future needs and concerns. Co-operative businesses are truly at the heart of economic development and cover a broad spectrum encompassing all economic sectors.

Solidarity, independence, transparency, democracy, proximity, respect for individuals: these are the strong values on which co-operatives are based. The strength of co-operatives is also derived from powerful regional and national networks.

By giving a human dimension to essential economic activities, co-operatives offer an original and dynamic approach to entrepreneurship. The co-operative enterprise has adopted an operating mode focused on individuals. This value, shared by all entities engaged in the social economy, fosters dynamism, a commitment to entrepreneurship, and therefore, economic success.

Co-operative enterprises are the very core of domestic economy. They are involved in all industries: agriculture, crafts, small or industrial fisheries, retail, education, property, services, transport, banking and finance. Co-operatives may be distinguished among four main categories:

– users’ co-operatives (consumers, low-rent housing, co-ownership);

– co-operatives of entrepreneurs and enterprises (agricultural, crafts, maritime, retailers’ and hauliers’ co-operatives);

– employees’ co-operatives;

– co-operative banks.

To enjoy lasting success, co-operative enterprises must be open to their environment and apply generally accepted business management principles, while remaining true to their values.

Co-operative enterprises are competitive: they adapt and respond to ever- changing market needs. They naturally invest in all industries, including growth sectors, such as new technologies: e-co-operatives are mushrooming.

To cope with more global markets, co-operative enterprises have been able to restructure, gain strength, and develop by forming groups that sometimes include companies with diverse legal statuses. These business combinations enable them to withstand competition and secure a new strategic market positioning.

The strategies of co-operative enterprises are increasingly taking on a more European dimension. They factor in the European market and prospects afforded by the enlargement of the European Union to countries where co-operation is undergoing thorough changes. Co-operative enterprises are joining their efforts to have the European community recognize the status of the European co-operative company in order to allow for their development and the broadening of their operations.

 

Text 3. Roles of co-operatives in the 21^st century

At the turn of the millennium the world is facing problems of a globaldimension. It is no longer possible for any group of people or for any nation to concentrate on solving own problems in isolation. The interdependenceof allinhabitants of our globe is becoming more and more obvious. All are affected and all have to react to problems like changes of climate, pollution ofwater, soiland air,globally spreading diseases like cancer and Aids and poverty or political unrest, forcing millions of people to leave their homes and to migrate toplaces where they expect better living conditions

Themost important changes that have occurred and are still occurring in a world-wide dimension are of political, demographic, social, economic, ecological and technologicalnature.

Political change impliesthe need to pay more attention to economic, social and ecological problems of development.

In terms of demographic change it is estimated that the world population will increase by 93 to 97 million per year and will reach 10 billion in the year 2050.

Social change demonstrates a world-wide decay of value systems: family structures, caring for the aged, role of women may be pointed out.

The most far reaching economic change is the transition from centrally planned economy to market economy. In all countries, there is a growing disparity between the rich and the poor.

Ecological change shows that pollution of water, soil and air has reached dimensions which can no longer be ignored neither by the ordinary citizen nor by the politicians.

Technological change is an actual reality: the development of global information and communication networks has brought people closer together, facilitates the diffusion of information and innovations and allows communication over any distance.

Co-operators and their co-operatives have to react to the changes of their environment. Today, there are additional problems threatening the individual citizen and motivating persons to take self-help actions and form or join cooperative societies.

Fighting unemployment by forming self-managed enterprises for self-employment or developing innovative forms of job-sharing and part-time employment; organizing community co-operatives.

Taking joint action against exploding cost of health insurance by organizing preventive health care on a co-operative basis.

Taking measures against isolation and marginalization of a growing number of elderly persons without family ties, by forming self-help organizations of senior citizens in form of service co-operatives, housing co-operatives, and other mutual aid groups.

Mobilizing citizens for joint action against further destruction of the environment by giving preference to ecologically safe products and technologies, by pooling consumer power through consumer co-operatives, shareholders associations and pressure groups to force producers of consumer goods to adopt ecologically sound production methods.

Promoting the use of renewable sources of energy by encouraging research, production and sale of appropriate technology through industrial co-operatives, consumer co-operatives and specialized service co-operatives.

Avoiding or recycling waste as a branch of activities of consumer co-operatives or special recycling co-operatives.

Forming agricultural co-operatives for ecologically sound production of food and cash crops.

In all these fields co-operators could empower their co-operatives to assume the role of innovators.

If they want to become the forerunners in the post-industrial society, co-operatives will have to invest in member information and education and in new ecologically sound technologies.

In the developing countries, co-operatives in the 21st century will play their classical roles known in the industrialized countries during the 20th century: supply, marketing, savings and credit, consumer, housing, transport, insurance, wholesale and retail trading, services of any kind, industrial co-operatives, etc. But they will also have to cope with problems of high unemployment, degradation of the environment, introduction of new technologies and providing substitutes for a decaying system of family-based social security in form of new social networks beyond family and clan boundaries in an ethnically mixed society.

The main challenge of co-operatives in the 21st century will be to fill the growing value vacuum by offering a consistent and convincing value system, complete with guidelines (principles) which can direct peopletowards finding solutions for their most pressing problems by helpingthemselves, by accepting responsibility for their own future, relying on their own strength and on the force of combined efforts, on self-help and group solidarity.