Developing Successful Worker Co-Operatives

Starting any business is a risky venture, but more and more people in Britain are choosing to start in business as co-operatives. This in-depth study looks at the causes of the success and failure of co-operatives, and provides the most complete survey of British co-operatives to date.

Table of Contents:
Introduction The Worker Co-operative Sector Extent, Survival and Growth Economic Aspects of Co-operative Performance Factors Affecting Co-operative Business Development Sixteen Cases The Costs and Benefits of Co-operative Working Democratic Control or Degeneration? Co-operative Management "...for the benefit of the members..." The Role and Impact of Co-operative Support Organisations Building New Theory Typology and Life-cycles Strengthening the Worker Co-operative Sector

Review :
`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