Comments on: ViewPoint: Corporate Reform -The Bigger Picture http://www.cchange.net/2009/03/03/viewpoint-corporate-reform-the-bigger-picture/ Covering the transformations to social, environment and economic sustainability Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:51:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/2009/03/03/viewpoint-corporate-reform-the-bigger-picture/comment-page-1/#comment-4682 Bill Baue Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:02:01 +0000 http://www.cchange.net/?p=611#comment-4682 Hey Rodney, Thanks for adding co-ops to the corporate reform agenda. Equal Exchange has been at the vanguard of proving the success of the co-op model for years. If my memory serves me well, co-ops played a key role in the Corp 20/20 vision of corporate reform. The white paper from the first Summit on the Future of the Corporation included a case study on Organic Valley, a vibrant cooperative. http://www.corporation2020.org/pdfs/CorporateDesign.pdf Bill Hey Rodney,

Thanks for adding co-ops to the corporate reform agenda. Equal Exchange has been at the vanguard of proving the success of the co-op model for years.

If my memory serves me well, co-ops played a key role in the Corp 20/20 vision of corporate reform. The white paper from the first Summit on the Future of the Corporation included a case study on Organic Valley, a vibrant cooperative.

http://www.corporation2020.org/pdfs/CorporateDesign.pdf

Bill

]]> By: Rodney North http://www.cchange.net/2009/03/03/viewpoint-corporate-reform-the-bigger-picture/comment-page-1/#comment-4549 Rodney North Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:41:05 +0000 http://www.cchange.net/?p=611#comment-4549 As Vice Chair (& co-owner & employee) of a company, Equal Exchange, that is in the thick of the movement to reform how business works and for what ends I'm glad to see this post and to see what's being tackled at this Summers Summit 20/20. However, from what's mentioned here, and mentioned at the Summit 20/20 website, there is missing a key tool to re-evisioning the corporation, a tool that has been quietly used, and at scale, for 150 years. Its the cooperative business model. Co-ops range from small worker co-ops like ours ($35M revenue, 105 employees) to multi-billion enterprises operating in most every sector (finance, agriculture, energy, housing, retail, etc.) and in so many ways the co-op structure speaks directly to the hopes expressed here and that are implicit in the Summit 20/20 agenda. I suppose co-ops do not get much attention because they do not offer any sexy get-rich-quick speculative potential, but rather simply go about providing a reasonable product or service, at a reasonable return in a manner that serves the long-term needs of their broad base of owners (which could be the employees [eg Equal Exchange], or the consumers themselves [eg REI & credit unions], or mom & pop retailers[Ace Hardware]). I hope that as society continues to re-examine the nature of business it will give the tried & true (& rarely tainted) co-op model a good long look. For more see www.ncba.coop As Vice Chair (& co-owner & employee) of a company, Equal Exchange, that is in the thick of the movement to reform how business works and for what ends I’m glad to see this post and to see what’s being tackled at this Summers Summit 20/20.

However, from what’s mentioned here, and mentioned at the Summit 20/20 website, there is missing a key tool to re-evisioning the corporation, a tool that has been quietly used, and at scale, for 150 years. Its the cooperative business model. Co-ops range from small worker co-ops like ours ($35M revenue, 105 employees) to multi-billion enterprises operating in most every sector (finance, agriculture, energy, housing, retail, etc.) and in so many ways the co-op structure speaks directly to the hopes expressed here and that are implicit in the Summit 20/20 agenda.
I suppose co-ops do not get much attention because they do not offer any sexy get-rich-quick speculative potential, but rather simply go about providing a reasonable product or service, at a reasonable return in a manner that serves the long-term needs of their broad base of owners (which could be the employees [eg Equal Exchange], or the consumers themselves [eg REI & credit unions], or mom & pop retailers[Ace Hardware]).
I hope that as society continues to re-examine the nature of business it will give the tried & true (& rarely tainted) co-op model a good long look.
For more see http://www.ncba.coop

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