Social Advancement as a Critical Success Factor in a Model …
25
trade, and new areas or sectors, such as the platform economy and environmental protection.
Given their people-centered business models, cooperatives are owned and operated by their
members and are strongly committed to the development of their local communities.
The Brazilian Cooperative Organization—OCB statement about the cooperative
movement in Brazil is described below: (OCB 2019).
The cooperative movement is “a business model based on entrepreneurship and democratic
participation. Unite people and share results. This is the proposal of the cooperative movement. What is sought is joint prosperity, meeting the needs of the group, not individualism.
In particular, cooperative practice promotes, simultaneously, economic growth and social
inclusion. It is a constant search for sustainable development - which for the cooperative
movement is a priority as part of its principles and is present in its products and services. This
socially responsible and sustainable movement mobilizes tens of millions of Brazilians of all
ages, genders, races, and creeds, and has a significant place in the country’s economy. Their
actions are also grounded in ethical values of honesty, transparency, democracy, and social
responsibility. More than 6,500 Brazilian cooperatives operate in 13 business segments,
leading approximately 360,000 direct jobs. They are societies of persons constituted to
serve their members, representing them in operations, strengthening their bargaining power
and market space. In a cooperative, the distribution of results is linked to the operations
performed and not to the participation by the capital. In it, everyone has the right to vote, and
decisions are made democratically, based on values of mutual aid, responsibility, equality,
equity, and solidarity.
4 Agro-Industrial Cooperatives
According to ICA (2015), a cooperative is defined as follows: “A cooperative is
an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common
economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and
democratically-controlled enterprise.”
This definition is in line with Georg Drahein’s (apud Hanel 1994) concept of the
dual or double nature of the cooperative organization. On the one hand, the cooperative is mainly an association, or a group from the sociological aspect, whose members
are the owners and individual supporters of the organization. On the other hand, the
cooperative is also a joint company of the economic undertakings (the farms) of
the members. The owners of the cooperative company are the individual members
of the cooperative group. In this sense, the cooperative is seen as an organization
that should be directed towards achieving the goals of its members as users, i.e., the
role of the cooperative is mainly the economic and social promotion of its members
(Grosskopf 2009).
According to Staatz (1989), until the 1960s, the debate about cooperative organizations was focused on the discussion if cooperatives represented a form of vertical
organization of farmers, becoming just as an extension of the individual undertakings
of the members; or if cooperatives could legitimately be considered as organizations
with own scope and independent decision-making process, regardless of the interests
of farmers in their farms. In this sense, the debate focused on the discussion if the
cooperative’s management was implementing the wishes of the members, guided by
25
trade, and new areas or sectors, such as the platform economy and environmental protection.
Given their people-centered business models, cooperatives are owned and operated by their
members and are strongly committed to the development of their local communities.
The Brazilian Cooperative Organization—OCB statement about the cooperative
movement in Brazil is described below: (OCB 2019).
The cooperative movement is “a business model based on entrepreneurship and democratic
participation. Unite people and share results. This is the proposal of the cooperative movement. What is sought is joint prosperity, meeting the needs of the group, not individualism.
In particular, cooperative practice promotes, simultaneously, economic growth and social
inclusion. It is a constant search for sustainable development - which for the cooperative
movement is a priority as part of its principles and is present in its products and services. This
socially responsible and sustainable movement mobilizes tens of millions of Brazilians of all
ages, genders, races, and creeds, and has a significant place in the country’s economy. Their
actions are also grounded in ethical values of honesty, transparency, democracy, and social
responsibility. More than 6,500 Brazilian cooperatives operate in 13 business segments,
leading approximately 360,000 direct jobs. They are societies of persons constituted to
serve their members, representing them in operations, strengthening their bargaining power
and market space. In a cooperative, the distribution of results is linked to the operations
performed and not to the participation by the capital. In it, everyone has the right to vote, and
decisions are made democratically, based on values of mutual aid, responsibility, equality,
equity, and solidarity.
4 Agro-Industrial Cooperatives
According to ICA (2015), a cooperative is defined as follows: “A cooperative is
an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common
economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and
democratically-controlled enterprise.”
This definition is in line with Georg Drahein’s (apud Hanel 1994) concept of the
dual or double nature of the cooperative organization. On the one hand, the cooperative is mainly an association, or a group from the sociological aspect, whose members
are the owners and individual supporters of the organization. On the other hand, the
cooperative is also a joint company of the economic undertakings (the farms) of
the members. The owners of the cooperative company are the individual members
of the cooperative group. In this sense, the cooperative is seen as an organization
that should be directed towards achieving the goals of its members as users, i.e., the
role of the cooperative is mainly the economic and social promotion of its members
(Grosskopf 2009).
According to Staatz (1989), until the 1960s, the debate about cooperative organizations was focused on the discussion if cooperatives represented a form of vertical
organization of farmers, becoming just as an extension of the individual undertakings
of the members; or if cooperatives could legitimately be considered as organizations
with own scope and independent decision-making process, regardless of the interests
of farmers in their farms. In this sense, the debate focused on the discussion if the
cooperative’s management was implementing the wishes of the members, guided by