Book description
The United Nations has declared 2012 to be the International Year of Co-operatives in recognition of the impact that co-operative enterprise has on more than three billion people across the globe. Co-operatives contribute to national and local economies in virtually every country, by championing an ethical approach to business underpinned by internationally agreed values and principles. Yet despite the wide-ranging successes of co-operatives, in financial terms as well as in the development of sustainable communities, the study of these democratic forms of enterprise remains surprisingly absent from the curricula of most university business schools around the world.
Designed for undergraduate students, Democratic Enterprise provides an introductory-level analysis of democratic models of enterprise, namely cooperatives and employee-owned businesses. A supplement to any course or module that deals with these topics, it also stands alone as a template for academics who wish to incorporate material on democratic models of enterprise into their courses/modules.
Contents:
- Introduction
- The ethical alternative: co-operative values and principles
- More than just profit: the co-operative business model
- ...of the people, by the people, for the people: cooperative governance
- Co-operative societies in society: classifications and incorporation
- Democracy in the workplace I: worker co-operatives
- Democracy in the workplace II: employee ownership
- An acceptable face of capitalism?: arguments for and against employee ownership
- The rise and fall of industrial democracy: employee ownership and the business cycle
- Democratic enterprise: the invisible giant?