Governance of Co-operative Organizations: A Social Exchange Perspective

Abstract

This paper introduces social exchange theory as a promising framework for analyzing co-operative organizations and a helpful tool for deepening our understanding of their governance. We suggest that social exchange is one of the foundational elements of co-operation among member-owners as it provides the impetus for initiating organized co-operative activity among those actors, which is then facilitated with formal co-operative arrangements. Further, we suggest that there is a connection between key constructs of social exchange, e.g. members' motivations for exchange, the resources they exchange, and the forms the exchange takes, and the sustainability and success of co-operative exchange relationships. Overall, the ideas set forth in this paper may offer a number of avenues for future research, especially in the area of formation, governance, and management of co-operative organizations.

Member Commitment in Co-operatives: The Utilitarian Approach

“…Co-operatives rely on long-term and repeated exchange relationships with their members to generate a collective benefit that is greater than the sum of inputs of individual members. On the other hand, the decision to join the co-operative organization is processed at the individual level, where perceptions of individual benefits and costs are key inputs to the projected surplus at the individual level (Jussila, Goel, & Tuominen, 2012). Thus, understanding and organizing this calculus conceptually has immense utility to the study of co-operative organizations, as well as developing practical insights to their formation, organization, and operation.…”

“…The concluding section provides several suggestions for researchers to advance knowledge in this area, and for co-operative managers wrestling with the challenge of increasing member commitment. This is critical as in various fields around the globe co-operatives occupy a remarkable economic and social role (Jussila et al, 2012) and member commitment is one of the most essential building blocks in the survival and success of these organizations (Österberg & Nilsson, 2009;Fulton, 1999).…”

No Heir apparent? Exploring the Worker Co-operative Model as a Solution to Family Business Continuity

“…Both types of organisation are viewed as dominant economic forces (Goel, 2013). Co-operatives are defined as member-based organisations that are owned and controlled by their members who use their services and share in their benefits (Briscoe et al, 1981;Parnell, 1999;Jussila, Goel and Tuominen, 2012;Birchall, 2014). The focus of this paper is on the workers' or employee-owned co-operative model, which has achieved some attention as a possible solution to business succession problems (DEON 3 , 2005;Hough, 2005;Artz and Kim, 2011;Messing, 2011;Nuttall, 2012;Abell, 2014;Berner et al, 2014;ILO, 2014;Lingane and Rieger, 2015), although predominantly in co-operative writings.…”

Leading Together for Mutual Benefit: Shared Leadership in the Context of Co-operative Banking

“…It did not smoothly fit the centralized and individualistic notions of leadership in the first place. This is because co-operatives are built on the idea of association: joining together, coalescing, combining, integrating and remaining united in order to satisfy common needs, achieve common ends, or derive mutual advantage (Jussila, Goel, & Tuominen, 2012;Watkins, 1986). Consistently, co-operative studies describe co-operatives as democratically controlled network organizations (e.g., Uski, Jussila & Saksa, 2007;Spear, 2004) in which collective decision-making skills are an essential part of managerial competence both on the level of co-operatives and their multiparty alliances (Tuominen, Jussila, & Rantanen, 2010).…”