A procura de novos modelos econômicos reacendeu a discussão em torno de conceitos de autogestão, de cooperação, de solidariedade, de inclusão social e digital. No Brasil, os Empreendimentos Econômicos Solidários surgem como uma opção de organização social do trabalho, de renda e um ambiente profícuo para a criação coletiva e compartilhamento do conhecimento. O propósito desta pesquisa é entender a construção e compartilhamento do conhecimento nos Empreendimentos Econômicos Solidários, mediante o conceito de Comunidade de Prática, aqui entendido como um elemento de aprendizagem coletiva dentro da organização social do trabalho. Para tal, adotamos a conceituação de Comunidade de Prática proposta por Wenger (2000), cujas características são: domínio (engajamento mútuo), a própria comunidade (empreendimento comum) e a prática (repertório compartilhado). Considerando que os princípios e os valores do Cooperativismo orientam os Empreendimentos Econômicos Solidários, os quais têm no formato de cooperativa, a sua maior expressão e referência, delineamos o escopo da investigação científica. Apresentamos o estudo de caso da Cooperativa de Catadores de Materiais Recicláveis - a CRUMA Cooperativa Reunidos pelo Meio Ambiente (Poá-SP), para exemplificar a relevância da construção e do compartilhamento do conhecimento de modo solidário nos processos associativos, com vistas a impulsionar um desenvolvimento efetivamente sustentado. / The search of new economical models relighted the discussion around selfmanagement concepts, of cooperation, of solidarity, of social and digital inclusion. In Brazil, the Solidary Economical Enterprises appear as an option of social organization of the work, of income and an useful atmosphere for the collective creation and sharing of the knowledge. The purpose of this research is to understand the construction and sharing of the knowledge in the Solidary Economical Enterprises, by Community\'s of Practice concept, here expert as an element of collective learning inside of the social organization of the work. For such, we adopted Community\'s of Practice concepts proposed by Wenger (2000), whose characteristics are: domain (mutual engagement), the own community (common enterprise) and the practice (shared repertoire). Considering that the beginnings and the values of Co-operatives guide the Solidary Economical Enterprises, which have in the cooperative format, her largest expression and reference, we delineated the mark of the scientific investigation. We presented the study of case of the Cooperative of Recyclable Materials - CRUMA - Cooperative Gathered by the Environment (Poá-SP), to exemplify the relevance of the construction and of the sharing of the knowledge in a solidary way in the associative processes, with views to impel a development indeed sustained.

A caracterização social de cooperativas e organizações similares inspirou estudos científicos e ações sociais no Brasil e no mundo. A abordagem do tema inicia-se, pela economia institucional, com enfoque na concepção de estruturas de governança como nível analítico baseado na Economia de Custos de Transação (ECT). Na agricultura, as experiências cooperativas objetivaram a inserção ou manutenção de agentes econômicos no mercado. Por outro lado, no caso da questão da reforma agrária as ações governamentais tiveram a finalidade de promover a organização da produção. O papel das mobilizações sociais em defesa da reforma agrária é constatado como proponente de formas de inserção alternativas, a exemplo ao modelo de cooperativas do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (MST). O objetivo deste trabalho é compreender como as relações de poder da mobilização de grupos, como os movimentos sociais, influenciam a configuração de organizações cooperativas. Para atingi-lo toma-se o caso do assentamento Pirituba II, palco de diversas experiências que continham os elementos da mobilização política, da intervenção agrária do governo e de propostas de cooperação por diferentes atores. Os resultados demonstram que a lógica da ação coletiva intencionada pelos assentados corresponde a uma dinâmica familiar. Tomando as intervenções no sentido da indução da cooperação, observaram-se problemas da sua realização diante desta dinâmica. / The social characteristics of co-operatives and similar organisations inspired scientific studies and social actions in Brazil and around the world. The initial approach on the theme by institutional economics focused on the conception of governance structures as an analytical level based on Transaction Costs Economics (TCE). In agriculture, the cooperative experiences aimed at the insertion or the maintenance of the economic agents in the market. However, in the case of agrarian reform the Governmental actions were in order to promote the organisation of the production. The role of social mobilisations in defence of agrarian reform was observed as a proponent of alternative insertion forms. In this study the co-operatives\' model by the Landless Rural Workers\' Movement (MST) is the object of this phenomenon. The objective of this work is to understand how power relations by groups\' mobilisations, as social movements, influence the co-operative organisations\' configuration. To that end, we used the case of the Pirituba II settlement, since it was the scene of several experiences containing the political mobilisation elements, the government\'s agrarian intervention and the motions of co-operation by different actors. The results show that the logic of collective action intended by the settlers corresponds to a family dynamics. In analysing the interventions aiming to induce co-operation, we observed that problems of its execution were due to this dynamics.

Thesis (M.A. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / This research study contends that co-operatives can play a pivotal role in the development of the local economy, if they are properly implemented. The central position of this document is that co-operatives in the Aganang Local Municipality have very little impact, if any, on its local economic development. The study reveals that, there are various challenges facing co-operatives development in the Aganang Local Municipality. According to the participants in the study, performance of co-operatives in the Aganang Local Municipality is, to a large extent, negatively influenced by the following constraints: Lack of viability studies before commencement, inadequate technical and entrepreneurial skills, Lack of finance, lack of access to affordable transport, suitable places of work, water, telecommunication services, electricity, quality raw materials and technology, lack of administration skills and mismanagement of funds. The literature reviewed reveals that throughout the developed and developing world, co-operatives have been a significant force in the local economic development. It is also reflected in this document that in many countries co-operatives are among the largest major enterprises. Examples of those countries are the United States of America, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Tanzania. It is common knowledge that, if enterprises/co-operatives have a number of organisational and resources constraints, they tend to fail. It is also vital to indicate that the extent to which co-operatives members are provided with knowledge and skills, determines their overall performance. On the contrary, and based on the findings of this study, co-operatives in the Aganang Local Municipality have been offered few training courses. For co-operatives in the Aganang Local Municipality to succeed, the following are recommended: viability study before establishment of co-operatives, capacitation in terms of technical and entrepreneurial skills and adequate financing

Co-operative and State Ownership in Northern Saskatchewan Under the CCF Government examines the use of social ownership as a policy instrument by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) government in Northern Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1964. Led by Tommy Douglas, the new government defined numerous policy problems in the North stemming from both an economy dominated by private ownership and unstable natural resource based industries. Using two types of social ownership, crown corporations and co-operatives, the CCF sought to rectify these problems and improve the standard of living in Northern Saskatchewan. This study intends to determine whether the CCF government achieved its policy goals in Northern Saskatchewan and concludes that it accomplished its policy specific goals. Although the CCF may not have revolutionized the Northern economy, it did realize some of its policy goals in the North. <p> This study is significant because it is the first to focus solely on the program of social ownership that the CCF government implemented in the North and assess the success of the program on the CCFs terms. Moreover, this thesis offers a comprehensive review of the political origins and development of co-operatives in Northern Saskatchewan.

This thesis, which consists of three self-contained essays, examines, both theoretically and empirically, some of the economic and identity strategies and mechanisms that federated co-operatives, in particular, and strategic alliances, in general, can use to achieve co-operation and coordination. To accomplish this objective, the thesis uses a combination of industrial organization and game theory concepts from economics, insights from social and cognitive psychology, and evidence from in-depth interviews with decision-makers in the Co-operative Retailing System (CRS) - an association of 264 independent Western Canadian retail co-operatives and their wholesaler, Federated Co-operatives Ltd. (FCL).<p> Essay One combines a case study of the CRS with an examination, in a game-theoretic framework, of the co-operation and coordination problems arising among firms in alliances and the potential solutions to these problems suggested in the economics and business strategy literatures. One of the contributions of this essay is to provide examples of the mechanisms that can be used to implement these theoretical solutions in a business setting - i.e., the essay identifies practical ways for alliances to alter partner firms' payoffs, to provide private rewards, to monitor behaviour, to establish long term goals among partners, to build high group identification within the alliance, and to focus partners' expectations on the efficient outcomes. Another contribution of this essay is to identify some of the second-order co-operation problems that arise in strategic alliances - e.g., lack of incentives by alliance partners to contribute resources that are necessary to develop alliance management mechanisms - and to offer examples of the strategies that can be used to deal with these problems.<p> Essay Two draws upon social identity theory and develops an economic model of behaviour to show how the core firm in a strategic network can promote effective co-operation among network members by inducing them to identify with the network. In addition, the essay offers empirical evidence from the CRS that identity has successfully been used, together with economic mechanisms, to foster co-operation among member retails, and provides examples of the most important mechanisms that FCL, as the core firm in the CRS, has used to manage the identity of the retails. More generally, by incorporating the psychology (and sociology) of identity into an economic model of behaviour, Essay Two contributes to an emerging view that non-economic (behavioural) factors are complementary to the economic ones in the management of strategic partnerships.<p> Essay Three considers the collective action problems that arise in co-operatives when it comes to financing growth and identifies the conditions under which retained patronage can be an effective way for co-operatives to raise growth capital. The essay develops a game-theoretic model to examine the trade-off between the share of patronage refunds a co-operative wholesaler pays to member retails in cash and the share of patronage refunds it retains and invests, so as to provide retails with enough short-run benefits to encourage them to patronize their organization, while still retaining resources to invest in long-term growth. Analytical results show that when there are increasing returns in patronizing the co-operative wholesaler, retails' decisions to patronize their organization are complementary strategies and, as a result, multiple equilibria are possible. Some of these equilibria are ones with high patronage and high investment, while others are characterized by low patronage and low investment. Retails' expectations about the actions of their counterparts are critical in determining the prevailing equilibrium. The analysis also shows that the existence of the horizon problem further constraints the ability of the wholesaler to raise growth capital. Taken together, these results suggest that the retention of patronage refunds can be an effective way for the co-operative wholesaler to raise growth capital, provided it acts to focus retails' expectations on the 'good' equilibrium and to mitigate the horizon problem.<p> By examining the strategies and mechanisms that the CRS has used to achieve co-operation and coordination, and in so doing illustrating the mechanisms that firms can use to manage partner opportunism and prevent coordination failure, the thesis contributes to the alliance management literature. Firms today are increasingly forming strategic alliances with suppliers, buyers, and even competitors in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, despite their increasing popularity and value-creation potential, alliances more often fail than succeed, with alliance failure often attributed to opportunistic (non-co-operative) behaviour by one or more of the partners and to coordination failure. As a result, it is important to identify strategies and mechanisms that alliance partners can use to achieve co-operation and coordination, and thus realize the benefits from their association.<p> The thesis also contributes to the co-operative literature by shedding light on the age-old debate on whether federated co-operatives need to be centralized to ensure efficiency. In particular, the thesis shows that federated co-operatives can be efficient, provided they address the co-operation and coordination problems that arise among their members, and provides examples of the mechanisms that federated co-operatives can use to achieve co-operation and coordination. In addition, the thesis offers the first analytical treatment of how the horizon problem influences investment decisions in co-operatives.

The study of retail and consumption geographies has become increasingly popular areas of research in the broader discipline of geography over the last decade. Research has covered many aspects of retailing structure and practice, including retailing formats, shopping patterns and consumer identities. However, consumer co-operatives and their members as of yet have not been studied in geography, which is interesting given their considerable presence in the retailing environment. The success of consumer co-operatives in the retailing landscape hinges on the loyalty and economic participation of their members. Their loyalty in the co-operative may in turn be influenced by their identification with the organization. This can pose both challenges and opportunities for co-operatives to succeed in the face of strong retailing competition. <p>This research is thus an attempt to examine the membership identities of co-operative members, and how this influences their consumer behaviour. To this end, self-administered questionnaires were distributed among members and non-members who patronized the Calgary Co-operative Association. They were asked about aspects of the consumer behaviour, shopping preferences, and identification with the co-operative. It was found that overall, members and non-members did not differ in their consumer behaviour. They traveled the same distances, showed the same levels of shopping loyalty at the Co-op, and had the same preferences for the ideal shopping environment. The greater difference however, lay within the membership. When members were disaggregated based on their levels of identification with the Co-op, it was found that members who more highly identified with the Co-op exhibited more loyal shopping behaviour with the Co-op, and those that had a lesser identification with the Co-op exhibited lower shopping loyalty to the Co-op. This has implications for further research on consumer identities with different retailing formats, co-operatives in other areas, and further adds to the growing body of research in geographies of retailing and consumption and co-operative studies.

<p>"Co-operative and State Ownership in Northern Saskatchewan Under the CCF Government" examines the use of social ownership as a policy instrument by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) government in Northern Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1964. Led by Tommy Douglas, the new government defined numerous policy problems in the North stemming from both an economy dominated by private ownership and unstable natural resource based industries. Using two types of social ownership, crown corporations and co-operatives, the CCF sought to rectify these problems and improve the standard of living in Northern Saskatchewan. This study intends to determine whether the CCF government achieved its policy goals in Northern Saskatchewan and concludes that it accomplished its policy-specific goals. Although the CCF may not have revolutionized the Northern economy, it did realize some of its policy goals in the North.</p> <p>This study is significant because it is the first to focus solely on the program of social ownership that the CCF government implemented in the North and assess the success of the program on the CCF's terms. Moreover, this thesis offers a comprehensive review of the political origins and development of co-operatives in Northern Saskatchewan.</p>

This study examines the development gap that has emerged between the co-operative sectors of the Canadian provinces of Québec and Saskatchewan since 1980. It harnesses historical research, textual analysis, and semi-structured interviews to better understand how some movements are able to regenerate their movements in the face of crisis. The study finds that the regeneration of the Québec movement reflects the concertation (concerted action) of social movement, sector, and state actors. Deeply rooted in a collectivist tradition of cultural nationalism and state corporatism, this democratic partnership supported the renovation and expansion of the co-operative development system in a virtuous spiral of movement agency, innovation, and regeneration. Concertation of social movement and state actors created momentum for escalating orders of joint-action, institution-building, and policy and program development. By contrast, the degeneration of the Saskatchewan movement reflects the decline of the agrarian economy and movement and a failure to effectively coordinate the efforts of emerging social movements and the state for development action. This has yielded a vicious spiral of movement inertia, under-development, and decline. Although green shoots are in evidence, regeneration efforts in Saskatchewan lag Québecs progress in rebuilding the foundations for effective democratic partnership. The study concludes with a detailed comparison of these diverging movements, offering conclusions and recommendations for the repair of the Saskatchewan development system and the regeneration of its co-operative movement.

This study examines the development gap that has emerged between the co-operative sectors of the Canadian provinces of Québec and Saskatchewan since 1980. It harnesses historical research, textual analysis, and semi-structured interviews to better understand how some movements are able to regenerate their movements in the face of crisis. The study finds that the regeneration of the Québec movement reflects the concertation (concerted action) of social movement, sector, and state actors. Deeply rooted in a collectivist tradition of cultural nationalism and state corporatism, this democratic partnership supported the renovation and expansion of the co-operative development system in a virtuous spiral of movement agency, innovation, and regeneration. Concertation of social movement and state actors created momentum for escalating orders of joint-action, institution-building, and policy and program development. By contrast, the degeneration of the Saskatchewan movement reflects the decline of the agrarian economy and movement and a failure to effectively coordinate the efforts of emerging social movements and the state for development action. This has yielded a vicious spiral of movement inertia, under-development, and decline. Although green shoots are in evidence, regeneration efforts in Saskatchewan lag Québecs progress in rebuilding the foundations for effective democratic partnership. The study concludes with a detailed comparison of these diverging movements, offering conclusions and recommendations for the repair of the Saskatchewan development system and the regeneration of its co-operative movement.

<p>"Co-operative and State Ownership in Northern Saskatchewan Under the CCF Government" examines the use of social ownership as a policy instrument by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) government in Northern Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1964. Led by Tommy Douglas, the new government defined numerous policy problems in the North stemming from both an economy dominated by private ownership and unstable natural resource based industries. Using two types of social ownership, crown corporations and co-operatives, the CCF sought to rectify these problems and improve the standard of living in Northern Saskatchewan. This study intends to determine whether the CCF government achieved its policy goals in Northern Saskatchewan and concludes that it accomplished its policy-specific goals. Although the CCF may not have revolutionized the Northern economy, it did realize some of its policy goals in the North.</p> <p>This study is significant because it is the first to focus solely on the program of social ownership that the CCF government implemented in the North and assess the success of the program on the CCF's terms. Moreover, this thesis offers a comprehensive review of the political origins and development of co-operatives in Northern Saskatchewan.</p>