{"title":"Why do SMEs join Co-operatives? A comparison of SME owner-managers and Co-operative executives views","authors":"Shahid Ghauri, Tim Mazzarol, Geoffrey N. Soutar","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100128","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100128","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from membership of a co-operative. This study aims to test previous antecedents of why SMEs join a co-operative. We interviewed members and executives of four Australian co-operatives to investigate reasons why SME owners joined them. All interviewees agreed that the co-operative had to provide economic benefits in addition to information, business support, knowledge, and networking. The SME owners’ disposition of collective action towards a common sense of purpose supported the decision to become a member of their co-operatives. Asset, temporal, location & relational specificity provided the external resources through their co-operative to challenge the environmental uncertainty the SMEs faced.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"Article 100128"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100128","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48151640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Earnings management and the role of MOSAL in co-ops","authors":"Ali R. Almutairi","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100131","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100131","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study provides evidence that consumer co-operative societies (co-ops) drive reported earnings toward zero profit by adjusting sales, discretionary expenses, and costs of goods sold. Evidence also indicates that co-ops with small losses manage earnings up to avoid reporting losses and make small profits. Furthermore, earnings management tends to decrease after the 2013 MOSAL (Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor) regulation. This paper examines a highly significant and currently unresearched segment of the economy using a unique and comprehensive dataset of annual information on Kuwaiti co-ops. It also provides new insights on the role of government regulations in curbing the accounting practices co-ops managers use to misreport financial statements.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"Article 100131"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100131","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41698683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Agricultural cooperatives as social capital hubs – A case in a post-socialist country","authors":"Emelj Tuna , Kostas Karantininis","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100134","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100134","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Agricultural cooperatives in post-socialistic countries often fail to justify their purpose. Lack of trust and social capital are plausible reasons. In this paper we map the relationship structure of farmers that seek information about rural development programs, in a region where cooperatives operate. The Social network analysis demonstrates low levels of social capital, however, the cooperative acts as valuable information provider for its members, serving as information mediator to the rural development program’s resources, required for farmers’ investment initiatives. This is a positive evidence of small-scale farmers' attitudes towards cooperatives and a step forward towards cooperation and re-establishment of agricultural cooperatives in post-socialist countries.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"Article 100134"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100134","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49013582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Governance and different types of value: A framework for analysis","authors":"Silvia Sacchetti , Ivana Catturani","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100133","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100133","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Organisational governance should not be detached from its effects. Based on this premise, this paper presents a selection of relevant theoretical elements and normative concerns for the study of governance and its consequences. Specifically, the paper considers a combination of resource integration mechanisms (contract, authority and cooperation) and structures (markets, exclusive structures and inclusive structures). These combinations are analysed along with their key effects with respect to information, knowledge sharing and creation, involvement and empowerment. The paper contributes to the governance literature by identifying criteria for appreciating the diverse ways of integrating and coordinating resources and anticipating the associated effects.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"Article 100133"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100133","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46337649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Do MOSAL controllers curb agency costs?","authors":"Ali R. Almutairi","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100127","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100127","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper investigates whether and how financial and administrative controllers of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL) decrease agency costs in consumer cooperative societies (co-ops) in Kuwait. It hypothesizes that MOSAL controllers are effective monitors in reducing agency costs. The study employs a multivariate regression model and calculates the <em>t</em>-values using Roger’s robust standard errors, correcting for co-op clusters due to the potential cross-sectional correlation and autocorrelation of the error terms to test a sample of 929 observations for 59 consumer cooperative societies from 2000–2018. The empirical results support the hypothesis. Further tests show that low-performing co-ops have lower agency costs. However, the presence of the financial and administrative controllers has no effect on agency costs in high-performing co-ops. Also, the effect that MOSAL controllers have on agency costs varies among co-ops. This study complements a line of research on co-op governance and adds to the empirical evidence on the association of corporate governance and agency costs. It also helps understand how regulators influence management and board discretion to safeguard co-op shareholder rights. Further, it explores an important sector and analyzes a unique, comprehensive, and rarely tested dataset.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"Article 100127"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100127","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46450644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sanjaya Fernando, Elena Garnevska, Thiagarajah Ramilan, Nicola Shadbolt
{"title":"Organisational attributes of cooperatives and farmer companies","authors":"Sanjaya Fernando, Elena Garnevska, Thiagarajah Ramilan, Nicola Shadbolt","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100132","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100132","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>How collective organisations can provide smallholders access to modern markets is widely discussed. Smallholder farmers collectively gain economies of scale, access to technology, pool their capital resources to invest in value-added activities and gain bargaining power. Different forms of collective organisations have emerged around the developing world, where smallholder farmers are predominant. Nonetheless, information about the organisational attributes of different collective organisations is scant. This study aims to analyse and compare the organisational attributes of two forms of collective organisations namely, Cooperatives and Farmer Companies (FCs). A range of organisational attributes (ownership, control, benefit, governance, marketing, and external factors) of cooperatives and FCs in the Sri Lankan rice sector are analysed and compared. This study employed qualitative methodology, using face to face semi-structured interviews. Results revealed that cooperatives and FCs have similar control and benefit attributes and different ownership and governance attributes. These FCs accepted external investments while the cooperatives accepted products from non-members. The FCs were more specialised in the specific type of rice grain sold to regional and specific markets. Both types of collective organisations had received substantial governmental financial support, however cooperatives were also strongly influenced by external governmental departments and exempted from tax.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"Article 100132"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100132","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48552556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“Concern for community”: Case of cooperatives in the Cordillera region, Philippines","authors":"Cheryll C. Launio, Mary Cris B. Sotelo","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100130","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100130","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>One area where cooperatives supposedly differ from corporate capitalism is their higher level of concern for the community beyond its membership base. ICA seventh principle is thus “concern for community.” Philippine cooperative law mandates cooperatives to allot at least three percent of their yearly net surplus for community development funds (CDF). This study presents how cooperatives build and use their CDF and determine their constraints in conducting community projects. It used data from a mailed survey and annual performance reports. Findings indicate high compliance in allocating for CDF but a relatively low actual utilization rate, especially among small cooperatives. Actual CDF spending is highly positively associated with total assets, net surplus, cooperative size, and the total number of cooperative members. Common projects implemented are mostly in the area of education, health, and the environment. Perceived challenges in implementing community development projects include limited funds, lack of member-participation, poor coordination with partner organizations, and lack of a concrete plan for using CDF. The study recommends strengthened support for cooperatives to plan for intentional CDF use through capacity building on project planning and management, more functional monitoring and evaluation of development plans, and social audit reports, and further impact research.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"Article 100130"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100130","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45200876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel M. Munch , Todd M. Schmit , Roberta M. Severson
{"title":"Assessing the value of cooperative membership: A case of dairy marketing in the United States","authors":"Daniel M. Munch , Todd M. Schmit , Roberta M. Severson","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The existence of cooperative organizations in today’s business environment, particularly in agriculture, signals their continued ability to provide value to their member owners. However, due largely to data limitations, we know very little about the monetary value of ownership held by members and how value changes across members of differing characteristics. Through a discrete choice experiment with more than 200 dairy farmers in the United States, we examine these issues explicitly for dairy marketing cooperatives that purchase their members’ milk and process it into finished dairy products. Results suggest that dairy farmers, on aggregate, are willing to accept lower per hundredweight compensation, 2.3% of the average milk price, to be cooperative members relative to selling to independent handlers. Results also suggest dairy farmers actively consider the industry wide impacts within pricing offers on preferences for other milk pricing attributes. The inclusion of demographic covariates highlights preferences important to understanding heterogeneous member interests and, thus, informing improved cooperative governance strategies and board decision making to address them.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"9 1","pages":"Article 100129"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100129","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"137151485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interplay between coopetition and institutions: How Japanese airlines enhance bargaining power","authors":"Yoshinobu Nakanishi","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100120","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100120","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Organisations engage in coopetition, the simultaneous pursuit of competitive and cooperative activities, because of various environmental factors. The concept of coopetition continues to gain attention as global competition increases. However, the analysis of the influence of institutional elements on coopetition has been limited. This study bridges this gap. We use a case study to examine the coopetition framework among competing Japanese airlines formed to negotiate with major institutional elements: a monopolistic supplier and a government regulatory authority. First, this study identifies the mechanisms through which institutions promote coopetition. The findings point to coercive isomorphism and external hazard as influential institutional mechanisms; through coercive isomorphism, the shared benefits increase, and the cost of cooperation is reduced; through external hazard, organisations are encouraged to unite, and coopetition is promoted. Second, the study identifies the mechanisms through which organisations in coopetition enhance their bargaining power. Specifically, we find two sources of enhanced bargaining power: intensified pressure as a larger group and improved persuasiveness with consensus. These findings have important implications for the theory and management of co-operative organisations, such as for the interaction between co-operatives and institutions, since the coopetition framework we analysed has characteristics close to the values and principles of co-operatives.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"8 2","pages":"Article 100120"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100120","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43299505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The uniform co-operative value core – Evidence from Austria","authors":"Gregor Rabong, Stefan Radakovics","doi":"10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100118","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100118","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Co-operative enterprises differ from other organizations since their values are influenced by historical co-operative principles set out by their pioneers, which leads to the establishment of a uniform value core across co-operatives that operate in different sectors. Despite their dense constitutive roots, co-operatives adapt to their environment as a means to survive and thrive, which influences their appearance vis-á-vis members and customers. Until now, an empirical comparison of co-operatives across sectors remained unexplored despite various sources that suggest that a uniform co-operative identity for co-operatives of different industries may exist. This article fills this gap by uncovering parallels and deviations in the perception of values of credit co-operatives, housing co-operatives as well as a mixed general group of co-operatives. To this end, a principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to condense the set of values of the co-operative industries to underlying factors. The findings uncover that the perception of co-operatives of different sectors can be reduced to congruent value cores, which for each sector comprise the subsequent three components: “responsible business conduct”, “regionality and tradition” and “economic soundness”. Furthermore, Austrian co-operatives differentiate themselves from other legal forms with regard to a number of characteristics that belong to these components.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":43876,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management","volume":"8 2","pages":"Article 100118"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.jcom.2020.100118","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49608672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}