Co-operative principles as ‘action recipes’: what does their articulation mean for co-operative futures?

Andrew Passey

This paper offers a theoretical and empirical analysis of how co-operative principles are instituted at the level of organisational practice. Theoretical approaches suggest organisations are composed of both explicit rules and tacit norms (cf Reed, 1992). However, co-operatives are an exemplary case of how norms might be formalised within a particular organisational structure. A mail survey of senior staff in co-operatives in the Australian state of New South Wales is used to explore the extent to which these norms are articulated in practice. Survey results and financial data drawn from official sources are then used to consider what the findings might mean for the future of co-operatives in increasingly competitive markets.