SEPTEMBER 2018

One way for a co-op to take co-op values into
account in the decisions it makes is to engage
in organisational learning. Instead of spending
most of its resources on getting messages out to
members and other stakeholders, co-ops should
allocate some of those resources to actively
listening to what members, employees and the
community are saying. Active listening requires
an openness to alternative perspectives and a
commitment to respond appropriately. In short,
taking account of co-op values means practising
them on a daily basis. Organisational listening is
key (see s.coop/2aj29 for more details).
HOW ARE VALUES AND GOVERNANCE
INTERCONNECTED?
Closely. Governance is the set of formal and
informal arrangements by which power is
allocated and exercised in any system with
interdependent actors. Governance is thus
the set of formal and informal arrangements
that determines whose (and, by extension,
which) information is privileged, which
individuals and stakeholder groups define
and shape the organisation’s values and
strategy, and who or what shapes the
incentives and norms that focus behaviours.
The co-op values outlined above form a key part
of governance, since they are a critical part of the
norms that determine how power is allocated
and exercised in a co-operative.
Governance – and hence co-op values – affect
the core elements necessary for the financial
and organisational success of the co-operative.
Governance determines how well the various
groups in the co-op are able to solve the myriad
of co-operation and coordination problems
that are critical for strong performance. It also
determines how the co-op views and plans for
the future – determining what is going to be
focused on and how this focus is to occur. Finally,
governance determines the extent to which the
various groups and individuals in the co-op view
its policies and procedures as being legitimate.
Co-op values help address all three of these
challenges – they create the conditions for
co-operation and coordination, they provide
buy-in by members for the direction that is taken,
and they underpin legitimacy.
MERVYN WILSON
FORMER PRINCIPAL
OF THE CO-OP
COLLEGE AND
MEMBER OF THE
ICA PRINCIPLES
COMMITTEE THAT
DEVELOPED THE
GUIDANCE NOTES
WE SEE CO-OPS NOT CALLING
THEMSELVES CO-OPERATIVES
AND CO-OPS PLACING A STRONGER
EMPHASIS ON ETHICAL CREDENTIALS
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. ARE WE
WITNESSING A SHIFT FROM TRADITIONAL
CO-OPERATIVE VALUES AND THE
PRINCIPLE OF BENEFITING MEMBERS
TOWARDS MODERN ETHICAL VALUES?
This is a new problem that the movement has
faced for many years, best described as the
denial of our co-operative identity. In the 1970s
and 80s – when the movement was fast losing
market share to the rapidly growing multiples,
mergers were too often reluctantly entered when
bankruptcy was the alternative, and new trading
names flourished along with management think
– the public perception of co-operatives was
defined by the worse examples.
This was also the era of the management
mantra “We need customers not members”.
That led to the erosion of member benefits
and a cataclysmic collapse in member
recruitment – something only reversed when
boards and management recognised the
vulnerability of societies created by decades
of neglect of the membership function in the
face of the demutualisations in the building
society sector and the attempts of speculators to
gain control of the CWS. In addition, governance
failings in the sector led to recognition that an
active and engaged membership was key to
improving governance.
Key to the renaissance of co-operatives in the
noughties was the adoption of the Statement on
the Co-operative Identity in 1995. By providing
a clear and succinct definition, the ICA secured
policy support from the UN, followed by the
International Labour Organization. 2012 as UN
International Year of Co-operatives could never
have happened without this process.
Some found the six co-op values challenging,
preferring to leave them unmentioned, focusing
instead on the social values. The problem
with this approach is straightforward: any
organisation can, and most do, claim to embrace
them. What organisation doesn’t want to be seen
as socially responsible, honest, open and caring?
It’s the co-operative values that differentiate
co-ops. It’s not a pick and mix list – it is the set of
values that makes co-operatives what they are.
CAN WE STILL REFER TO UNIVERSAL
CO-OPERATIVE VALUES?
The Statement on the Co-operative Identity
was adopted after a global consultation lasting
several years. The Co-operative College arranged
workshops throughout the UK. They were seized
36 | SEPTEMBER 2018