Managing and resisting ‘degeneration’ in employee-owned businesses: a comparative study of two large retailers in Spain and the UK

Employee-owned businesses have recently enjoyed a resurgence of interest as possible ‘alternatives’ to the somewhat tarnished image of conventional investor-owned capitalist firms. Within the context of global economic crisis, such alternatives seem newly attractive. This is somewhat ironic because, for more than a century, academic literature on employee-owned businesses has been dominated by the ‘degeneration thesis’. This suggested that these businesses tend towards failure – they either fail commercially, or they relinquish their democratic characters. Bucking this trend and offering a beacon - especially in the UK - has been the commercially successful, co-owned enterprise of the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) whose virtues have seemingly been rewarded with favourable and sustainable outcomes. This paper makes comparisons between JLP and its Spanish equivalent Eroski – the supermarket group which is part of the Mondragon cooperatives. The contribution of this paper is to examine in a comparative way how the managers in JLP and Eroski have constructed and accomplished their alternative scenarios. Using longitudinal data and detailed interviews with senior managers in both enterprises it explores the ways in which two large, employee-owned, enterprises reconcile apparently conflicting principles and objectives. The paper thus puts some new flesh on the ‘regeneration thesis’

Report.

Mode of access: Internet

A comparison of agricultural credit co-operative systems and functions in France, Federal Republic of Germany and Japan Based on research over the period 1977-1980

3.20SIGLELD:8489.3(16) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Year book of agricultural co-operation.

Issue for 1925 includes a report of the "Conference on agricultural co-operation in the British empire" held at Wembley, July 28-31, 1924.None published for 1926; 1927 issued in Nov. 1926.Issue for 1925 includes a report of the "Conference on agricultural co-operation in the British empire" held at Wembley, July 28-31, 1924.Mode of access: Internet.Issued with the International Co-operative Alliance

Developing a regulatory framework for the financial, management performance and social reporting systems for co-operatives in developing countries: A case study of South Africa

PURPOSE : This report is on a team effort to advise the Department of Trade and Industry on the development of a regulatory framework for the auditing of Financial, Management. Performance and Social Reporting Systems for co-operatives. ORIENTATION : There was no framework in place prescribing requirements for reporting on financial, management and social performance of co-operatives. As a result, the team assisted the Department of Trade and Industry with the development of a proposed reporting framework with reference to international best practices and existing financial reporting frameworks. FINDINGS : The research performed showed that existing reporting frameworks and practices do not meet the reporting requirements of co-operatives in all aspects because of the different nature of co-operatives as opposed to shareholder-owned entities.http://www.actacommercii.co.za/am2016Business Managemen