Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRYDC.pdf: 836352 bytes, checksum: 2a8354e63c71e0a049b09e6925fa60b2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-11-18 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Co-operatives are been presented as an insertion alternative in trade work for disabled people, with different meaning from the most traditional proposals of leadings for formal jobs under Brazilian CLT (Consolidate Work Laws), in individual functions, in industrial activities, as the earlier proposal of professional rehabilitation models. On the other hand, the work co-operatives besides possibilities of work generation and profits are showed as a participative management and self-management in which there are social and economics goals. Nowadays, the work co-operative, specially the cooperative so named "popular" are been discussed and developed inside Solidary Economy, movement that search from solidary enterprises for an alternative to capital model of production. The popular co-operative involve socially excluded people, without economic sources and sometimes without both technical and professional knowledge which they might be able to develop economic activities like disabled people. With the main objective to know and evaluate the possibility of work cooperatives being able to include disabled people in work as well as to know the challenges and the outlooks, the present research proposed to develop case studies involving three kinds of enterprises. A lot of proposals and management were showed by analysed experiences, by showing the necessity of co-operative formation, challenges presented as a financial resources and technical capacitation, challenges in own participative management (hierarchy, involvement of co-operative workers in aggregative projects and challenges of owner management of choose economic activity (legalization, sources, diffusion, distribution of goods and trading). At last, the conclusion that co-operative management model could possible an alternative work/job generation and amounts to disabled people as well as, their participation and social inclusion. However, their building up there is no easy way and there are no handy formulas. There are a lot of challenges in collective and democratic management and by developing of own enterprise which confrontation involve not only technical meaning but both management and cultural capacitation. / As cooperativas têm sido apresentadas como uma alternativa de inserção no mercado de trabalho para pessoas com deficiência, diferentemente das propostas mais tradicionais de encaminhamento a empregos regidos por CLT, em funções individuais, em atividades industriais, como as propostas iniciais dos modelos de Reabilitação Profissional. Por sua vez, as cooperativas de trabalho, além da possibilidade de geração de trabalho e renda, apresentam-se como um modelo de gestão participativa e autogestionária, nas quais coexistem objetivos sociais e econômicos. Atualmente as cooperativas de trabalho, principalmente as cooperativas denominadas populares têm sido discutidas e desenvolvidas no âmbito da Economia Solidária, movimento que busca a partir dos empreendimentos solidários, a participação mais efetiva dos trabalhadores, em caráter autogestionário e emancipatório, como uma alternativa ao modelo capitalista de produção. As cooperativas populares envolvem a população excluída, destituída de recursos econômicos, e muitas vezes também do conhecimento técnico/profissional para o desenvolvimento de uma atividade econômica, como é o caso também, da população com deficiência. Com o objetivo de melhor conhecer e avaliar a possibilidade de as cooperativas de trabalho constituírem-se como alternativas para inserção da pessoa com deficiência no mercado de trabalho e como alternativa de inclusão social e econômica dessa população, bem como conhecer os desafios e perspectivas colocados, esta pesquisa propôs-se a desenvolver estudos de caso envolvendo três empreendimentos. As experiências analisadas mostraram formas variadas de proposta e gestão, necessidade de formação cooperativista, desafios colocados quanto a recursos financeiros e capacitação técnica, desafios na própria gestão participativa (hierarquia, envolvimento dos cooperados no projeto coletivo) e desafios colocados pela administração própria e pela atividade econômica escolhida (legalização, recursos, divulgação, distribuição e comercialização). Por fim, temos que o modelo de gestão cooperativa pode possibilitar alternativa de geração de trabalho e renda às pessoas com deficiência como também a participação e inclusão social. No entanto, a sua construção não é um caminho fácil e de fórmulas prontas. Há vários desafios colocados pela gestão coletiva e democrática e pelo desenvolvimento de um empreendimento próprio, cujo enfrentamento envolve uma capacitação não apenas técnica, mas também administrativa e cultural.

Co-operatives are seen as one of the appropriate strategies for intervention in eradicating poverty in rural communities. During the financial year 2007-2008 the Department of Social Development and Special Programmes pronounced on the availability of funds in its budget for the establishment of women’s co-operatives and other livelihood community projects. The initiative of funding rural women’s cooperatives was one of the interventions to address high poverty and unemployment levels among rural women in the province. Rural women co-operatives were nonexistent in the Mbhashe area of the Eastern Cape, as a consequence, co-operatives were speedily formed in order to access funding for women co-operatives that was made available by the Department of Social Development and Special Programmes. The concern of the state initiated rural women’s co-operatives was their long-term sustainability as they were not embedded in the principles of a co-operative as autonomous association of persons who should voluntarily unite to meet their common economic, cultural and social needs and aspirations through a jointly democratically controlled enterprise. It was a top-down approach which negated inherent values of cooperation, namely self help, self responsibility, democracy, equity and solidarity. The aim of the study was to investigate the challenges faced by state-initiated rural women’s co-operatives in reducing poverty in the Mbhashe Area, Eastern Cape Province. Purposive sampling was used to select members of the co-operatives as participants. Study had an applied goal and intrinsic was the research design. Data was collected by means of focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews were used. The findings indicated that there is inadequate capacity in knowledge and skills to manage co-operatives and run a business and lack of co-operative values and principles among co-operatives. The study concludes that lack of knowledge about business, financial management and non adherence to co-operatives values and principles limit the ability of co-operatives to operate independently and succeed as businesses. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Mon étude s’intéresse aux questions de pouvoir, contrôle et résistance au sein des coopératives de salariés. Dans une première partie, j’analyse une situation d’échange entre représentants du monde coopératif de façon à montrer le rôle joué par la critique dans leur appréhension du pluralisme caractérisant leur environnement. Le reste de mon travail repose sur l’étude ethnographique d’une tôlerie coopérative comprenant une trentaine de salariés-associés, et dans laquelle j’ai travaillé comme ouvrier durant une année. J’y détecte deux formes de contrôle principales à l’œuvre. La première repose sur des mécanismes essentiellement verticaux, dirigés du bas vers le haut, et par lesquels les coopérateurs sapent l’autorité de leurs chefs de façon à garantir le fonctionnement démocratique de l’organisation. La seconde s’apparente à une forme de contrôle par les pairs, fondée sur une éthique artisanale, et sur laquelle les coopérateurs s’appuient pour empêcher la managérialisation de leur organisation. Mon travail contribue ainsi à montrer l’intérêt de l’étude de formes alternatives d’organisation telles que les coopératives pour la compréhension des questions de pouvoir, contrôle et résistance ainsi que la façon dont le recours à une culture professionnelle forte peut faire obstacle à la matérialisation du risque de dégénérescence coopérative. / My study focuses on questions of power, control and resistance within worker co-operatives. In a first part, I analyse a situation involving interactions between representatives of the co-operative movement so as to show the role played by critique in their understanding of their pluralistic environment. The remainder of my work draws on the ethnographic study of a co-operative sheet-metal factory with some thirty workers-owners, in which I have worked as an operative during one year. Within this co-operative, I evidence the presence of two main forms of control. The first draws on bottom-up mechanisms, through which co-operators undermine the power of their chiefs so as to insure the democratic functioning of the organisation. The second is a form of peer-control, based on craft ethics, which co-operators rely on in order to prevent the managerialisation of their organisation. My research work thus contributes to show the importance of studying alternative forms of organisation such as co-operatives for furthering our understanding of questions of power, control and resistance as well as the way in which a strong professional culture can serve as an impediment to processes of co-operative degeneration.

The globally dominant form of business organisation, the Investor-Owned Firm or the Corporation, has been challenged in both academic settings and the wide world for falling short on ensuring environmental and social justice and sustainability. Alternative business models like co-operatives, with a rich though somewhat less known history and presence around the world, might prove a better fit for a thriving world and a sustainable future. This study investigates ways in which worker co-operatives can contribute to a more sustainable world, using the theoretical lens of Doughnut Economics (DE) to place enterprises, as a supporting pillar of our economies, at the intersection between meeting social needs and operating within planetary boundaries. A descriptive multiple case study of six worker co-operatives in the UK indicates that this model can contribute to sustainability primarily by embodying a core purpose of fulfilling the needs of workers and their communities, rather than aiming for financial gains. The research suggests worker co-operatives are enterprises with highly generative design traits, distributive of the wealth they generate, and to some degree regenerative by design. Where challenges occur, either internally or wider in their industry or the co-operative movement, the co-operatives appear willing and interested to work on improving themselves by learning from their peers, experimenting and welcoming change. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on sustainability in worker co-operatives, employing DE as a holistic framework which so far has been seldom used in business research.

Bakgrund: I Sverige finns det många företag både stora och små som använder sig utav den kooperativa organisationsmodellen. Trots att kooperativa företag är en stor del av näringslivet är kunskapen om dem begränsad. Kooperativa företag ägs av sina medlemmar bygger på principen demokratisk medlemskontroll, vilket innebär en medlem en röst. Eftersom kooperationer bygger påmedlemskontroll påverkar detta hur beslutsfattande ser ut i organisationen, vilket gör beslutsfattandeett intressant ämne att studera djupare i kooperationer. Det finns mycket tidigare forskning om beslut däremot finns det inte det när det kommer till kooperationer. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att öka kunskapen inom beslutsfattande i kooperativ genom att ur styrelsens och ledningens perspektiv undersöka hur de resonerar sig fram till beslut, vad deras roll ibeslutsfattande får för konsekvenser och hur de arbetar med att representera sina medlemmar i besluten. Metod: Studien har genomförts som en kvalitativ flerfallstudie. Studien följer en abduktiv ansats och har ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv. Det empiriska materialet från fyra olika kooperativ har samlats in med hjälp av semi-strukturerade intervjuer med subjekten. Slutsats: Beslutsfattare inom ett kooperativ använder sig huvudsakligen av ett konsekvenslogiskt resonemang för att komma fram till beslut och beslutsfattarna eftersträvar rationalitet i sina beslut genom att välgrundade beslutsunderlag ses som viktigt. När besluts resoneras fram är det viktigt att desom är involverade i beslutsfattandet måste få möjlighet att förstå sig på beslutsunderlaget och det bör det förankras bland involverade parter. Studien påvisar vikten av kommunikation och motivation bakom de beslut som har tagits av organisationen för att hantera motstånd, ge beslutet legitimitet samt underlätta implementering. Genom studien kan vi dra slutsatsen att medlemsdeltagandet är inte lika stort som det kunde ha varit och de kooperationer i vår studie som upplevde skilda åsikter bland medlemmarna, som var av majoritet, såg inte det som något negativt utan att det var bra med många åsikter. Styrelsen och ledningen arbetar med att representera medlemmarna genom att ta beslut som är i organisationens bästa intresse däremot orsakar informationsasymmetrin mellan medlem och styrelsen/ledningen att medlemmens styrsignaler inte alltid får gehör. / Background: In Sweden there are many companies both large and small that use the cooperativeorganization model. Although co-operative enterprises are a large part of the business community, the knowledge of them is limited. Co-operative enterprises are owned by their members based on the principle of democratic member control, which means one member one vote. Since cooperatives are based on member control, it affects how decision-making is constructed in the organization, which makes decision-making an interesting topic to study in depth in cooperatives. There is a lot of previous research on decision-making, but not when it comes to co-operatives.  Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to increase knowledge of decision-making in co-operatives by examining, from the perspective of the board and management, how they reason their way to decisions, the consequences of their role in the decision-making and how they work to represent their members in the decisions.  Method: The study has been conducted as a qualitative multi-case study. The study follows an abductive approach and has a phenomenological perspective. The empirical material has been collected from four different co-operatives through semi-structured interviews with subjects. Conclusion: Decision-makers in a co-operative mainly use consequentialist reasoning to reason their way to decisions, and the decision-makers strive for rationality in their decisions which is shown through the emphasis of having well-informed decision-making materials. When decisions are reasonedout, it is important that those involved in the decision-making process must be given the opportunity to understand the basis of the decision and it should be anchored among the parties involved. The study demonstrates the importance of communication and motivation behind the decisions taken by the organization in order to manage resistance, give the decision legitimacy and facilitate implementation. We can also conclude that member participation is low, and the subjects that experienced differingopinions among members, did not see this as something negative, rather useful. The board and management work to represent the members by making decisions that are in the best interest of the organization, but the information asymmetry between the member and the board/management means that the member´s control signals are not always heard.

Extrema skyfall till följd av klimatförändringar blir att vanligare och när de inträffar riskerar de att leda till urbana översvämningar. Den ökade frekvensen av skyfall är anledningen till att urbana översvämningar har lyfts som ett problem i svensk lagstiftning. Enansvarsproblematik har identifierats i relation till detta, då fastighetsägare inte är medvetna om sitt eget ansvar och därför inte anpassar sina bostäder. En kunskapsbrist bland fastighetsägare samt uppfattningen om deras exponering och utsatthet har identifierats som grunden bakom denna problematik. Sommaren 2021 inträffade ett skyfall i Gävle vilket ledde till omfattande översvämningar. Många fastighetsägare drabbades, däribland bostadsrättsföreningar. Hur bostadsrättsföreningar påverkas och resonerar kring översvämningar är ett relativt outforskat forskningsområde i svensk kontext. Av den anledningen blev därför syftet med denna studie att undersöka föreningarnas uppfattning om risk och anpassning. Detta genom att studera ordföranden inom föreningarnas uppfattning om utsatthet, sårbarhet samt möjlighet till hantering i relation till översvämningen. För att ta reda på detta genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultaten visar på att föreningarna har fått en något högre riskuppfattning kopplat till översvämning. I kontrast till tidigare studier kan respondenterna även identifiera ett samband till klimatförändringar. Den faktor som främst påverkade föreningarnas anpassningsförmåga negativt var att det rådde en utbredd kunskapsbrist inom föreningarna. Det finns därmed ett fortsatt stort behov av en ökad kunskap och vägledning från externa aktörer. / Extreme cloudbursts due to climate change are increasing and when these events occur urban flooding is a potential consequence. This is the reason urban flooding has been addressed in the Swedish legislation, at a national level. However, liability issues have been identified, as property owners are not fully aware of their responsibility and therefore neglect adaptation. A lack of knowledge has been identified as the main reason, as well as perception of risk. In the summer of 2021, cloud bursts struck Gävle and caused substantial urban flooding. Many housing co-operatives were affected. Housing co-operatives and how they are affected by flooding is a relatively unexplored research area in a Swedish context and therefore the purpose of this study became to: analyze how experiences of flooding has affected housing co-operatives' perception of risk and adaptation by exploring chairmans perceptions of exposure, vulnerability and flood risk management. Semi structured interviews were performed with chairmans within the boards of the housing co-operatives. The results proved there had been a slight increase in flood risk awareness. The respondents were also able to connect the flood with climate change. However, a large lack of knowledge negatively affects the adaptive capacity of the housing co-operatives. The need for further knowledge and guidance from external actors is therefore large. / Stöd för aktörssamverkan och mångfunktionell anpassning av bostadsområden

The purpose of this research is to determine the extent of public participation in waste management, willingness of the community to assist the municipality in waste management and how the officials involve the community as partners in waste management. Waste management has become a big environmental challenge in Sedibeng District Municipality due to rural- urban drift leading to population increase in the region. In cities and towns where there is population increase there is excessive generation of waste which demands new methods of waste management including public engagement and participation. This can be achieved through education and awareness campaigns in all municipality Wards to capacitate residents to minimize waste at household level. Community participation in waste collection, prevention of waste generation, recycling methods and assistance of waste management departments is one of the recommended methods and solution to waste collection challenges. The challenge in waste management is how to identify the informal sector stakeholders that can be involved in sorting of recyclable waste material that has been separated at source. Another challenge is how private sector can be approached to participate in household refuse collection to reduce backlog of un-serviced areas in the three local municipalities of Sedibeng District Municipality. The objectives of the research are: firstly, to determine the status quo of the household waste collection in the three local municipalities comprising Sedibeng District Municipality. Secondly, it is to determine the extent of backlogs emanating from the un-serviced households in Emfuleni; Midvaal and Lesedi local municipalities. Thirdly, it is to determine how local communities, informal sector and private sector can be involved in waste solutions. Fourthly, it is aimed to identify limitations; constraints and challenges that confront municipalities in engaging stakeholders in waste management solutions. The responses were from the officials of the three local municipalities, relevant supporting departments and stakeholders. Qualitative research and data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. Findings of the research indicated, among others, that: *Though sustainable household collection services are rendered in the three local municipalities, there is a backlog of 10 000 houses at Emfuleni, 270 at Midvaal and 6 000 at Lesedi local municipalities *There are no other stakeholders rendering waste management services in the region except for the operations of the landfill sites *Only 35% of householders recycle at source. The residents are prepared to participate but lack knowledge *The study revealed that in public participation, the community, Office of the Speaker, officials and Executive Mayor are the most important stakeholders to promote sustainable waste management services. They should ensure that public participation policies and strategies are implemented in the region. The study recommends, among others, that municipalities must support the community in the form of education and awareness campaigns, recycling at source, establish infrastructure for recyclable and separated goods, how to establish co-operatives and public-private-partnerships in waste management. New approaches such as composting of organic waste, proper disposal of electronic, medical and hazardous waste need to be communicated to the public. The study ends with recommendations for further research to be pursued in the following fields of study: *The role of the private sector in a municipality. *Integrated Waste Management Plans as tools to promote public participation in the Sedibeng District Municipality *Education and awareness to the public as a strategy to promote sustainable development in waste management in the Sedibeng District Municipality *The impact of waste storage containers in the prevention of illegal dumping in local municipalities *The role of environmental committees within a municipality in waste management and public participation / PhD (Public Management and Governance), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This research report examines the relationship between state-sponsored worker co-operatives, local markets and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM, on the East Rand, South Africa) in the 2000s, to examine how state support impacts upon democracy in worker co-operatives (“co-ops”) more generally. Worker co-ops are democratic and voluntary organisations, simultaneously owned and managed by their members (“co-operators”), have a substantial history in South Africa and elsewhere, and have often been seen as a potential alternative to capitalism. But are they? An extensive literature demonstrates market pressures erode co-op democracy (e.g. Philips): to survive, worker co-ops develop increasingly into capitalist enterprises, which fundamentally challenges notions that co-ops can challenge capitalism. Several commentators (e.g. Satgar) admit this problem, but see the solution in state support, which can purportedly shield worker co-ops from the market, so enabling their democratic content and socialist potential to be maintained. This pro-state approach is tested by examining actually-existing worker co-ops in the EMM, where a number of state-sponsored worker co-ops were established from the 2000s; the two most successful co-ops are the subject of this case study. It is shown that, on the contrary, state sponsorship fostered dependency and subtle (and less subtle) forms of state control over the co-ops. Most of the co-operatives failed to survive, as state control foisted upon them impractical goals (e.g. competition in poor community markets with overwhelming rivals,) while creating additional problems (e.g. failing to allocate marketing budgets) and also undermining co-op democracy (e.g. through imposing external priorities on the co-ops). The co-ops that survived remain trapped between state patronage and the capitalist market: unable to ensure accumulation, they remain dependent on the state, but as a result, are continually pushed by the state back into the market. It is not the South African state’s push to constitute the co-ops as black-run capitalist firms that is crucial to this story, but what this push reveals: state sponsorship was irredeemably linked to state control, and it was state control that enabled the state to force its agenda on iii the co-ops in the first place; an alternative state policy framework would simply change the goals imposed. The hierarchical and elitist class logic of the state is fundamentally incompatible with the popular, self-managed logic of worker co-ops. In short, the findings on the interaction of internal co-op dynamics with the state and open market pressures suggest that democratic worker co-ops are basically fundamentally incompatible with both markets and states. They are also fundamentally incapable of transcending either, as their survival requires either emulating capitalism or embracing the state. Lastly, this research report argues that the erosion of democracy in worker co-ops cannot simply be reduced to external forces (the state, the market), although these play a central role in such erosion. Of the two co-ops examined as case studies, one is characterised by authoritarian decision-making, the other by a fairly democratic practice. A key factor in such divergence were the co-operators’ own political and work cultures. Argued Bakunin: while worker co-ops can play a demonstrative role, challenging authoritarian politics by showing the possibility of workers’ self-management, they cannot provide a transformative role, overcoming capitalism or the state. A state-sponsored worker co-ops movement cannot form the heart of a radical, democratic and working class strategy for fundamental change. To answer the research question, the research asks which factors are important in determining the internal democratic or authoritarian form of the co-ops under study. Two state-sponsored worker co-ops are taken as case studies. The first co-op is characterised by authoritarian decision-making, while the other is characterised experiences democratic decision-making. The findings of the research agree with Philip’s (2006) argument that market factors are important in determining the internal form of a co-op. However, this research clearly shows that while market factors are important, they are by no means the sole determinant of the internal dynamics of a co-op. Non-market factors are equally important in determining the internal form of a co-op.

L’évolution du secteur agricole a demandé l’adaptation des coopératives dans un contexte de mondialisation. L’émergence des groupes coopératifs formés par des sociétés à statut coopératif, en amont de la production, et des sociétés de droit privé, en aval des filières, provoquent une crise identitaire, résultat de la rupture du lien avec les adhérents. Cette thèse aborde le rôle du conseil agricole dans le renforcement du lien coopérative-adhérent pour résoudre la crise identitaire inhérente des groupes coopératifs agricoles. Une méthode qualitative basée sur la réalisation d’études de cas auprès de cinq groupes coopératifs agricoles français nous a permis d’étudier l’interaction de communautés de nature différente à travers un nouveau mode de gestion des connaissances caractérisé par l’interaction des groupes fonctionnels et de communautés de pratique: le Mode 3. Nous montrons que les conseillers agricoles sont au centre du dispositif de conseil et jouent le rôle de traducteurs entre les deux communautés cognitives. Nos résultats mettent en lumière quelques voies d’amélioration et des possibilités d’intervention de la profession, en répondant à la demande de Coop de France. Ces résultats peuvent être mobilisés de manière plus large dans le champ de l’Economie Sociale et Solidaire afin d’explorer les processus de gestion des connaissances de ce type particulier d’entreprises. / The evolution of the farming sector has required co-operatives to adapt to globalisation. The combination of the emergence of co-operative groups created by companies with a co-operative status, upstream production, and private companies, downstream, resulted in the rupture of their relationship with their members. This thesis addresses the role of the agricultural extension in strengthening the co-operatives/members’ relation in order to resolve the inherent identity crisis of such groups. A qualitative method based on the case study of five French groups allowed us to study the interactions between communities with different profiles through a new mode of knowledge management characterised by the interaction between functional groups and communities of practice: the Mode 3. We show that agricultural advisors are central to the extension system and act as translators between the two cognitive communities. Our results highlight some areas for improvement and potential measures the agricultural extension could take, answering Coop de France’s request. These results can be broadly extrapolated to the field of Social and Solidarity Economy in order to explore the knowledge management in these specific companies’ type.

<p><strong>Syfte:</strong> kooperativa företag arbetar för en hållbar utveckling av sina lokalsamhällen. Samtidigt är social ekonomi bäst på socialt ansvar med en hög tillväxt inom Europa. Hållbarhetsredovisning har införts som lag för statliga företag from den 1 januari 2008. Därför undersöker jag hur olika konsumentkooperativ arbetar med den sociala redovisningsprocessen. Syftet med studien är alltså att undersöka och jämföra den sociala redovisningsprocessen hos de kooperativa företagen HSB och Coop, dvs vilka metoder, processer och mått för att mäta de sociala målen används och vilka fördelar och nackdelar har dessa.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> Ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt (och en induktiv ansats) har använts för att utföra studien. Data har samlats in genom intervjuer som kompletterats med annan relevant information. En kvalitativ analys och jämförelse av resultaten har gjorts mellan de två kooperativen.</p><p><strong>Resultat & slutsats:</strong> Coop och HSB har hållbarhetsredovisningar där de ekonomiska målen integreras i de sociala. HSB har en egen metod medan Coop har utgått från GRIs riktlinjer. HSB fokuserar på några frågor medan Coop har fångat de flesta frågor med social betydelse. Både den sociala redovisningsprocessen och dess resultat, det sociala bokslutet, anses vara nästan lika viktiga för båda kooperativen, lite större vikt läggs på processen hos HSB. Processen hos båda kooperativ liknar mycket varandra och är i princip samma. För mätningen av de sociala målen använder Coop både kvantitativa och kvalitativa mått medan HSB använder, än så länge, främst kvantitativa mått. För datainsamling används enkäter/webbenkäter av båda kooperativen och är den vanligaste metoden hos Coop. Orsaken till detta kan vara att via dessa kan man få både kvalitativa och kvantitativa svar. HSB använder dessutom medlemstidningen och gemensamma datakällor, medan hos Coop erhålls synpunkter genom medlems- och butiksråden och Medlemspunkten, en särskild plats i butiker där medlemmarna enkelt kan ge förslag på förbättringar eller lämna synpunkter (Coops hållbarhetsredovisning 2007, pdf, s. 38).</p><p>Bland fördelarna anges av Coop trovärdighet genom en transparent redovisning och av HSB att den underlättar samsyn och utveckling vilket bidrar till en effektiv verksamhet samt att den underlättar kommunikationen. Den sociala redovisningens nackdelar enligt HSB är att koppla indikatorer till aktiviteter medan Coop anser att icke-finansiell information kan uppfattas som svårtolkad och lättmanipulerad. Icke-finansiell information kan således vara svårt att tolka och mäta. Andra nackdelar är avsaknad av etablerade redovisningsregler (Coop) och kostnaderna ifall man skulle misslyckas (HSB).</p><p><strong>Förslag till fortsatt forskning:</strong> Eftersom studien har begränsats på två kooperativ skulle det vara intressant att undersöka flera andra kooperativ och jämföra dem med varandra. Dessutom kunde man även undersöka de två andra områdena inom socialt ansvar som inte behandlats i studien nämligen mänskliga rättigheter och produktansvar. En annan aspekt som kunde undersökas är hur utvecklingsarbetet för social redovisning utförs inom kooperativ.</p><p><strong>Studiens bidrag:</strong> Studien har bidragit till ny kunskap om den sociala redovisningsprocessen hos kooperativa företag, om metoder, processer och mått som används. Den kan vara värdefull för studenter eller andra som är intresserade av hur olika kooperativ arbetar med social redovisning.</p><p><strong>Nyckelord:</strong> social redovisning, metoder, mått, sociala mål, intressenter, kooperativ, HSB, Coop.</p> / <p><strong>Aim:</strong> Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities. At the same time, social economy is best in social responsibility with a high growth in Europe. Sustainability accounting has been introduced as law for state companies from 1 January 2008. For these reasons, I investigate how different consumer co-operatives work with the social accounting process. Thus, the aim of the study is to examine and compare the social accounting process in the co-operatives HSB and Coop, i.e. what methods, processes and measurements to measure the social goals are used, and what are its benefits and drawbacks.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> A qualitative approach (and an inductive) was used for the study. Data was collected through interviews completed with other relevant information. A qualitativ analysis and comparison of the results between the two co-operatives has been done.</p><p><strong>Result & Conclusions:</strong> Coop and HSB has sustainability reports with the economical objectives integrated into the social goals. HSB has its own method while Coop has started from GRIs guidelines. HSB focuses on a few issues whereas Coop has captured most of the issues with a social importance. Both the social accounting process and its result, the social account/report, is considered to be almost equally important for both co-operatives, but a little more weight is attached to the process by HSB. The processes by both co-operatives are very similar and, in principle, the same. For the measuring of the social targets, Coop uses both quantitative and qualitative measurements whereas HSB uses mainly quantitative measurements. For the collection of data questionnaires/web questionnaires are used by both co-operatives and are most frequently used by Coop. The reason to this could be that through these both quantitative and qualitative answers can be obtained. In addition, HSB uses the member paper and common data sources while Coop obtains viewpoints through the member- and shop council and the Memberpoint i.e. a special place in the shops, where members can give proposals for improvements or their point of view (Coops sustainability report 2007, pdf, p. 38) Among the advantages indicated by Coop is reliability through a tranparent accounting. HSB indicates that it facilitates a common view and development that contributes to an effective business and it facilitates communication. The disadvantages of social accounting according to HSB are to connect indicators to activities whereas Coop deems non-financial information possible to be seen as hard to interpret and easy to be manipulated. Non-financial information can thus be hard to interpret and measure. Other disadvantages are the lack of established accounting rules (Coop) and the costs in case of a failure (HSB).</p><p><strong>Suggestions for future research:</strong> As the study has been limited to two co-operatives it would be interesting to investigate several other co-operatives and compare them. Besides, the two other areas of social responsibility that were not discussed in the study, i.e. human rights and product responsibility could be examined. An other aspect that could be looked into is how the work for the development of social accounting is carried out within co-operatives.</p><p><strong>Contribution of the study:</strong> the study has contributed to new knowledge about the social accounting process in co-operatives, about methods, processes and measurements that are used. This can be valuable for students or others who are interested in how co-operatives are working with social accounting.</p><p><strong>Key words:</strong> Social accounting, methods, measures, social objectives, stakeholders, co-operatives, HSB, Coop.</p>