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An exploration of the relationship between member openness and perceived organisational openness at a particular point in the co-operative lifecycle

Co-operatives are essentially relational entities which are jointly co-created by members and the co-operative. This relational co-creation is particularly important in the founding years of the co-operative and at points of crisis and regeneration in the co-operative lifecycle. This paper explores the relationship between member openness towards relational engagement and their perception of the co-operative’s openness to that input (perceived openness) in a credit union context, prior to a major period of restructuring.

Authors

Noreen Byrne, Olive McCarthy, Deirdre O'Loughlin

Year
2023
Journal Name
Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management
Category
Journal Article
Keywords
Credit unions, Ownership, Relationality, Perceived openness and member openness
Full Citation

Byrne, N., McCarthy, O. and O’Loughlin, D. (2023) An exploration of the relationship between member openness and perceived organisational openness at a particular point in the co-operative lifecycle. Journal of Co-Operative Organization and Management, 11(2), p.100218. 

Link to Publication
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcom.2023.100218

Abstract

Co-operatives are essentially relational entities which are jointly co-created by members and the co-operative. This relational co-creation is particularly important in the founding years of the co-operative and at points of crisis and regeneration in the co-operative lifecycle. This paper explores the relationship between member openness towards relational engagement and their perception of the co-operative’s openness to that input (perceived openness) in a credit union context, prior to a major period of restructuring. Perceived openness is examined from two distinct perspectives, that is, awareness of right of involvement as owners (which in this paper we equated with co-operative member ownership structure) and possibility of involvement or perception of organisation openness (which in this paper we equated with co-operative process). It was found in the multivariate Logistic model that possibility rather than right of involvement is related to member openness. This suggests that the process of co-operation in a co-operative plays a greater role than the organisational structure of that co-operative in facilitating member input. This is a significant finding and suggests that greater attention needs to be given to process and openness in co-operative research and practice. It also suggests that co-operatives cannot just draw on their member ownership structure, in building member engagement at time of crisis.

Centre for Co-operative Studies

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