One hundred and fifty years ago, this country gave birth to the Co-operative movement. The Rochdale pioneers created an innovative, inspirational and successful business model in which commercial and community interests were uniquely combined. It is a model which has been adopted throughout the world – and a movement which retains its global vigour.
In the UK, the Co-operative movement has survived turbulent change where other investor-owned companies and high street names have fallen. But survival has had its price. The Co-op is perceived by many to be an organisation rooted in the past.
This perception is an injustice to parts of the Co-operative movement that are renewing themselves, but is also firmly rooted in reality. In some areas of business, notably in its attempt to compete with the large multiple stores and supermarket chains, the Co-op has palpably failed.
If we are to move beyond survival, to create a vigorous and flourishing movement for our future generations, then the movement has to change. We have to rethink co-operation. We must renew and revitalise the business and social performance of the movement. This is both in the interests of the Co-operative movement and the wider labour movement as a whole. The Co-op needs to listen to its stakeholders’ views, admit its failures and act to get things right for customers, employees, members and the wider community.
The Co-operative movement has taken the vital first step towards modernisation. The independent Co-operative Commission has been set up to review the business and social performance of the Co-operative movement and to identify opportunities to modernise and change. It is composed of representatives from the Co-op, business community, trade unions and the Labour Party and is endorsed by Tony Blair. We are due to report in January 2001. The Commission is examining four key areas:
- The Co-operative business and how to improve and enhance.
- Democracy and membership in the Co-operative movement.
- The social goals of the movement and how they can best be met.
- New markets such as social care and to combat social exclusion.
Co-op members, activists and members of the wider labour movement can all have their say as part of the largest ever consultation of its kind carried out by the Co-operative movement. Over the last few months we have been running our ‘Listening to the Future’ consultation campaign, hearing the views of activists and members, reading letters from customers and employees and taking representations from experts and advisers.
The 21st century provides new challenges for co-operation. Co-operatives are facing increasing competition both at home and abroad. Globalisation, the emergence of new markets and the internet are fundamentally changing the way markets work.
Co-operatives have to be competitive if they are to deliver their social goals. They must provide goods and services of a quality and price comparable with their plc competitors. The best companies understand the value of co-operation and consultation in building economic success. They use these values to market their products and services.
But the 21st century provides unique opportunities, too, for the Co-operative movement. Take the information society. In the digital age, networking through interaction and co-operation with other people is vital to success. Customers are increasingly participating in designing products of their choice and to their specifications. The knowledge economy provides new opportunities to contribute to the collaborative development of the social economy. Consumer power increasingly wields the consumer axe against companies with bad corporate reputations. Consumers like to buy products and services from companies that they trust.
Unlike plcs, honesty, openness, care and concern for the community are integral to the Co-operative movement. They are not a marketing add-on but they are a marketing advantage. The movement must use these values to achieve further business success and deliver its social goals.
Take the Co-operative Bank. This is the only bank with comprehensive ethical policies. And it proudly markets these. It has used its Co-operative advantage as integral part of its economic success. It has transformed itself from behind the pack to leader of the pack. It is a successful business and an ethical one, too.
We should strive to ensure that the social enterprise sector is a genuine rival to the relative newcomer on the scene, the plc. It is high stakes but the Co-operative movement’s future depends on it.
We have to seize this opportunity to revitalise the Co-operative movement and the social enterprise sector as a whole. We must manage change the co-operative way to help build a new model for 21st century business: one which is managed in the interests of all of its stakeholders and not merely its shareholders. And one that helps build a society where social justice is the natural partner of economic efficiency.