The Governance of Large Co-operative Businesses
Resource

This is the second edition, comprehensively revised, of a research study which has been widely recognised as the first comprehensive research study into how co-operative businesses worldwide operate in terms of their governance.
In contrast to the conventional shareholder-led approach to business the report, written by Professor Johnston Birchall of Stirling University and published by Co-operatives UK, examines how the world’s 60 largest co-ops ensure that their customers, employees and suppliers have meaningful influence over what the businesses do.
Professor Birchall’s report analyses the mechanisms used by large co-operatively run businesses as diverse as insurance firms, retailers and manufacturers to ensure that the decisions they make are driven by their members.
Through a mix of member engagement strategies, elections to the board of directors and powerful representative bodies that oversee management, these large co-operative businesses balance the expertise needed to run a global a business with inclusive stakeholder participation.

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