-
Mondragon Cooperative, where employees participate in management
-
- Mondragon Cooperative Corporation
from NAM Principles p.30
- About [cooperative
-
An organization created with the development of capitalism with the idea of improving the status of workers, small producers, and consumers, who individually are forced to be squeezed by the power of capital due to their weak economic power, by cooperating in the economic activities of their respective positions. One of the visionary socialists of the early 19th century Owen is called the father of cooperatives. Specifically, it began with a sales store established by about 30 weavers in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, in 1844. The success of this cooperative’s activities led to the establishment of the
-
- Free to join
-
- Democratic management of one person, one vote
-
③ Restrictions on dividends to capital
-
- Distribution of surplus funds to members in proportion to their use of the cooperative
-
-
A number of consumer cooperatives based on the so-called Rochdale Principle, such as the “Rochdale Cooperative,” were established one after another, spreading from various European countries to the whole world. Today, the production cooperative Mondragon, formed by the Basque minority in Spain, is developing on a large scale in opposition to capital-based companies.
from teal organization p.580
In the corporate sector, worker cooperatives have not been able to fully expand their clout. Many of the organizations that have grown in strength have operated by adopting a combination of achievement-oriented (orange) and pluralistic (green) practices. One of the most frequently cited examples of success is Mondragon. The company is a collection of cooperatives based in Mondragon, Basque Country, Spain (about 250 companies, with about 100,000 employees and sales of about 15 billion euros), all of which are owned by their employees. The leaders are elected. The wage gap is lower than in other cooperatives (but still quite large, 1:9 or even higher). Temporary workers have no voting rights, creating a two-tier community: those with a high degree of “equality” and those without. In the education sector, there are several models of schools where there is no authority structure of adults over children. The first of these is Summerhill School, a British boarding school established in the 1920s. The school practices a thoroughly democratic system. Students and teachers have the same voting rights and, above all, classes are not compulsory. Turning to social institutions, many supranational organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union (EU), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are formed at the top level at least partly according to the principle of pluralism (green), with democratic or unanimous decision-making among the various member states, or with a rotating chair. The member countries are at least partially formed in accordance with pluralistic (green) principles. These pluralistic (Green) principles of decision-making are difficult to maintain, and the richer or more powerful a country is, the more votes it demands and the more likely it is to pass (though often implicitly, rather than explicitly). The staff departments of these institutions usually operate as adaptive (amber) organizations.
from Motivation 3.0 p.231-235
summary
- This text describes the changing values in the economy and society and the resulting emergence of new business models. Specifically, it begins with the Baby Boomer generation and their children (known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers), who have changed the traditional definition of “success” to emphasize non-monetary rewards. These generations see value in working on great teams and contributing to society through their work. This shift in values is epitomized by companies like Tom’s Shoes. This company employs a unique business model in which it donates a new pair of shoes to a child in a developing country with every purchase. This model positions itself as a “for-profit company with an underlying spirit of philanthropy,” rather than simply pursuing profit.
- In addition, the document introduces the concept of “Motivation 3.0,” which refers to a new form of motivation in which individuals and companies focus on maximizing their objectives. This new form of motivation has led to the emergence of a variety of organizations that are rethinking the traditional profit-seeking model, such as social interest groups, B-Corps, and L3Cs. Cooperatives such as Mondragon Cooperative are part of this change and are becoming increasingly important as business models with motivations other than profit maximization. The document emphasizes that these “purpose-driven” enterprises are part of a new business paradigm that seeks to use profits to achieve a greater purpose, rather than to pursue profit.
- The Mondragon Cooperative has been around for a long time, but it’s starting to get a lot of attention.
-
[Cooperative] — A business model that has existed for some time and has motives other than profit maximization … According to writer Marjorie Kelly, Coop membership has doubled in the past 30 years to reach 800 million worldwide. In the United States alone, more people belong to co-ops than shareowners. In Colombia, SaludCorp provides health care services to a quarter of the population. Spain’s Mondragon Cooperative is the seventh largest company in the country,” noted Kelly.
-
/plurality-japanese/mondragon.
This page is auto-translated from /nishio/モンドラゴン using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.