Developing Successful Worker Co-Operatives

During the last few years there has been a dramatic resurgence of interest in worker co-operatives, fuelled by a rapid increase in their numbers. Developing Successful Worker Co-Operatives discusses this recent phenomenon, showing how with the right procedures, attitudes and conditions, co-operatives can succeed as viable businesses, while contributing to the solution of some of the most important economic and social problems of our day. By contrasting successful with less successful co-operatives, the authors identify the factors that are necessary for healthy co-operative development and the main difficulties facing them. This volume demonstrates how co-operatives can perform on equal terms with other forms of commercial organization despite the challenges faced from operating in an environment not suited to their needs. The authors examine how co-operatives perform in practice as businesses, as places to work and as vehicles for local economic development. They present the first large scale survey of co-operatives′ economic performance, a survey of co-operative support organizations and detailed case studies of co-operatives of different types. Finally, they evaluate the main policy initiatives designed to encourage co-operative development and suggest ways in which these policies could be improved.

`The book is both optimistic and practical. The authors have identified the main factors responsible for the success or failure of co-operatives (such as organisational skills, and commitment) and have shown how to implement this knowledge. They demonstrate that with the right procedures, attitudes and conditions, co-operative can succeed as viable businesses, while also contributing to some of the most important socio-economics problems of our day. Developing Successful Worker Co-operatives is thus more than a penetrating and incisive over-view of the movement, it is an indispensable handbook for co-operators who need to find the necessary blend of idealism to keep co-operative principles alive and pragmatism to succeed in business′ - Co-operative News

`the book is rich in new empirical and practical observations, and contains some interesting case studies... the book makes a major contribution to the literature, and should become a key source for all those who wish to understand the problems facing co-operative enterprises in the UK′ - International Small Business Journal

`Essential reading for all who are concerned with the progress of co-operation′ - Labour Research

`this is probably the most detailed, balanced and well researched analysis of the position of worker co-operatives in Britain today. Information is well set out, with a comprehensive bibliography and useful summaries at the end of each section. Sixteen case-study co-ops are referred to throughout the text, and provide a useful balance to the academic analysis and discussion.′ - NOW News

`this book provides a fascinating overview of where the British co-operative sector presently is and where it might be heading′ - London Co-operative News

`The authors of this book offer an inspiring combination of theoretical and empirical discussions on worker cooperatives in the UK... The book is recommended to anybody interested in the debate on worker cooperatives, as it presents a wide range of theoretical arguments... For the same reason, the book will also be of interest to people outside the UK′ - Economic and Industrial Democracy

`concise, well-written... provides a theoretical framework I would highly recommend to American students of cooperatives′ - Contemporary Sociology

`This study... provides comparative intellectual history, original field research, and practical prescriptions′ - World Development

`The authors of this book arrive at a more optimistic prospect. They see ways of solving the fundamental dilemma of worker co-operatives, by finding an appropriate and stable balance `between the idealism needed to keep co-operative principles alive and the pragmatism needed to survive as a business′. Both the success and failure of worker co-operatives will crucially depend on their ability to experiment, keep an open mind and learn from experience. I share the authors′ hope that this book will contribute to the process of developing successful worker co-operatives.′ - Organization Studies