COOPERATIVES AND GOVERNANCE: FORWARD-LOOKING OR STUCK IN THE PAST?

Compared to equity-based companies, the challenge posed by partnerships resides in the nature of the undertakings given by their partners and owners, which may be backed by all their personal wealth. Although financial performance is rarely questioned, even if it is debatable, the concept of “social performance” remains to be defined, and gives rise to a core question, namely its relationship to financial performance, i.e. an organisation’s ability to generate the necessary surplus for it to expand, and to obtain the funding required to generate that surplus. It is actually the nature of the project that is being questioned, together with the shared view of the resources required to achieve the targets that have been set.