Revista de Gestão e Organizações Cooperativas

Identity crisis in cooperatives: a case study of the agricultural cooperative

2025-04-17T11:01:51-03:00

This study investigated the causes of the identity crisis experienced by the agricultural cooperative Coacal in Catalão, located in Goiás. To achieve this purpose, a case study approach was employed to deepen the understanding of the subject through interviews and questionnaires. The research revealed that the cooperative did not develop a marketing plan to support its business hub, the central pillar of cooperative balance. Consequently, the cooperative entered into an identity crisis, resulting in the loss of members to competing companies in the same sector. It was identified that maintaining cooperative principles and values continues to be essential to preserve the cooperative identity and achieve a model of cooperative balance. This study can provide valuable insights for decision-makers and leaders of the Brazilian Cooperatives Organization (OCB) to implement appropriate measures that enable cooperatives to face the challenges of increasingly competitive global markets. This can be achieved through actions and strategies distinct from those adopted by capitalist competitors to avoid identity crises.

The ombudsman as a contribution mechanism to organizational management: a study in a credit cooperative in the state of Mato Grosso

2024-10-21T22:56:33-03:00

The ombudsman’s office is a fundamental unit for building trust between an organization and its stakeholders. It represents the availability of an independent communication channel for customers to express concerns, opinions and receive feedback. It also contributes to openness and honesty in organizational relationships, establishing a solid ground for collaboration and loyalty. Given this context, this research aims to analyze the role of the ombudsman’s office as a mechanism for contributing to the organizational management of a credit union in the state of Mato Grosso. To achieve this objective, applied research was carried out with a qualitative and descriptive approach with the help of a bibliographical research through a case study. The data collection instrument used was semi-structured interviews conducted with managers of the credit union. The results demonstrate that managers have similar perceptions about the role of the ombudsman’s office, especially regarding the ethical stance of the ombudsmen, reliability, agility, response time, and effectiveness in mediating the manifestations of demands via the ombudsman’s office. Finally, the research can contribute to the consolidation of the importance of the ombudsman as a mechanism that assists management, especially credit unions that are based on the principle of free and voluntary membership and democratic management by the members themselves.

Corporate governance mechanisms of cooperatives that affect organizational resilience

2025-03-11T08:42:31-03:00

This study aims to verify the causal conditions of corporate governance mechanisms of cooperatives that affect organizational resilience. Among the various forms of business, it is found that cooperative organizations appear to be more resilient in times of crisis and uncertainty, when compared to others. However, their survival is by no means guaranteed, as this model is complex and presents ambiguous objectives. In this regard, this study focuses on the relationship between corporate governance in cooperatives and organizational resilience. To this end, a survey was applied in cooperatives in the condition of continued and discontinued and the QCA analysis technique was used. Our findings suggest that the participation of cooperative members in assemblies and the qualification of the fiscal council are the main aspects for explaining organizational resilience.

Encouraging women to play a leading role in Cooperatives

2024-12-18T17:34:29-03:00

The objective of this research is to understand the importance of actions that promote female empowerment in cooperatives and their impact on socioeconomic development. The initiative arose from an experience at COASA Agricultural Cooperative of Água de Santa LTDA, in Água Santa – RS, conducted by students and professors from the Higher Course in Technology in Cooperative Management at CESURG Sarandi – RS. The work focused on the associated women and the Sustainable Consumption Program, an innovative project that promotes inclusion and empowerment. The exploratory qualitative research utilized semi-structured interviews with 10 associates, the program coordinator, and the researcher’s experiences in the cooperative. The results showed that the Sustainable Consumption Program had a transformative impact on the lives of the participants, promoting financial autonomy, development of entrepreneurial skills, and strengthening of self-esteem.

Cooperative democracy: a critical review of the literature.

2024-12-17T09:10:52-03:00

This article explores cooperative democracy through a critical review of the literature, analyzing how democratic principles manifest themselves in the context of cooperatives. The research adopts a qualitative, bibliographic and exploratory approach, with data collected in databases such as Web of Science®, Scopus® and Scielo®, analyzed via NVivo® software and content analysis techniques. The results highlight that, although democracy is a core value of cooperatives, it is often limited to formal decision-making processes, neglecting broader participatory, deliberative and representative practices. Challenges such as "cooperative dissonance", where the declared values are not reflected in practice, are recurrent. This study reinforces the importance of aligning cooperative principles with democratic values, offering theoretical and practical insights to strengthen the role of cooperatives as inclusive and sustainable models of organization.

Analysis of suchman’s legitimacy strategies in the pre, during and post-pandemic period in credit unions in the midwest of Paraná

2025-02-15T22:46:22-03:00

The study aimed to analyze the reports voluntarily disclosed by two credit unions in order to verify whether the information disclosed about their social actions was intended to gain, maintain or recover legitimacy, according to Suchman's typology (1995). Regarding the methodology, this study is characterized as descriptive and with a qualitative approach, through content analysis. The results indicate that the cooperatives disclosed information about social actions that are characterized as a form of legitimacy, in most cases, in a pragmatic way, followed by the way of maintaining legitimacy. It is understood that these organizations act to understand the needs of society and work to solve them, generating greater reliability and consequently better results. It is concluded that credit unions use more ways to gain legitimacy in a pragmatic way through the disclosure of social actions carried out.

Spirituality at Work: emphasis in a Brazilian credit cooperative institution

2025-03-11T08:40:01-03:00

Issues related to the promotion of spirituality at work are increasingly recurrent, enabling a new perspective on how to manage and retain people within the organizational environment. This study has the general objective of presenting the levels of spirituality at work, based on the perception of workers at a Brazilian credit union. Through a quantitative and descriptive survey, 702 employees from different occupational positions and Brazilian states participated. The main results were high levels of Spirituality at Work, as well as its respective dimensions: Sense of Community and Work as a Purpose in Life. These results are positive for the credit union, since its actions are designed to promote people management and the work environment.

Analysis of value distribution of the largest agricultural cooperative in brazil (2018–2022)

2025-01-08T14:30:15-03:00

Cooperativism has been present in human history since the beginning, when the first groups came together to defend their common interests, and, currently, it has become an important economic system for society. Brazil has a prominent position in this scenario, with cooperatives that are among the main ones in the world, including Coamo, the agricultural cooperative that is the subject of this article. The study aims to analyze the generation and distribution of value in an agricultural cooperative in the period from 2018 to 2022. This is a descriptive and quantitative research, with documentary data collection. The research results indicated that, even with the increase in the number of permanent employees and spending on state and federal taxes, the cooperative became more efficient in generating its own wealth and reduced its dependence on third-party companies. The study sought to contribute to the appreciation of cooperativism, since cooperatives can strengthen the local economy and stand out on the world stage in a positive way, being responsible for generating wealth. And also, due to the need to disclose to its members, employees, government and the general public how the cooperative's wealth is generated and distributed.

Standard index of MS and MT Credit Unions: an analysis based on PEARLS system indicators

2024-09-03T15:36:32-03:00

This research aimed to develop, from indicators of the PEARLS system, standard indices as a benchmark for comparison for the credit cooperatives of the Sicoob and Sicredi systems of the states of MS and MT in the year 2019. Thus, eighteen indices were calculated from the PEARLS system, and it was possible to prepare a standard index for the year 2019. The sample consisted of 16 credit unions from the Sicoob and Sicredi system in the states of MS and MT. This article is classified as exploratory and descriptive research with a quantitative approach with document analysis. The results obtained demonstrate that, in general, it was possible to classify the indexes of the cooperatives as excellent, good, regular, and unsatisfactory if compared with the sectorial standard, where they were presented and discussed. From the data collected, it can be analyzed that two cooperatives presented a better result, being Sicredi União MS/TO and Sicredi Sudoeste MT/PA, followed by Sicoob Ipê - MS and Sicredi Celeiro Centro Oeste - MS.

Environmental disclosure of the poultry cooperatives of the state of Paraná

2024-03-20T16:52:12-03:00

This research aims to determine the level of disclosure in the financial statements of poultry farming cooperatives in Paraná. This study was classified as explanatory descriptive because it aims to explain the factors that determine the disclosure of environmental data. About the approach to the problem, qualitative and quantitative methods were used. To verify the data, a metric was used for content analysis and three indices were developed: level of adherence of poultry farming cooperatives to voluntary disclosure; level of disclosure of cooperatives in relation to the maximum information they could disclose; and level of disclosure in relation to the total number of cooperatives analyzed. Thus, it was concluded that all cooperatives present some level of environmental information, however, there is a need to expand disclosure regarding the categories of Carbon Credit Market and Impacts of Products and Processes on the Environment.

Perceptions of technicians and cooperators on the relevance of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension in an agricultural cooperative

2024-12-08T15:34:31-03:00

Agricultural cooperatives provide services to their members, being seen as intermediary organizations between the cooperative member and the market. Therefore, they must be attentive to the needs of the members' private companies, aiming to satisfy their needs. The objective of this study is to understand how cooperative members and technicians perceive the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension services provided by the Technical Department of an agricultural cooperative in the Center Region of Rio Grande do Sul. As a methodological procedure, a qualitative study was carried out, which used the case study strategy of descriptive purpose. Three sources of evidence were used to collect primary data – semi-structured interview, survey and direct observation. Discourse analysis and SPSS 23.0® software were used to analyze the data and cross-comparative analyzes were carried out between qualitative and quantitative data. The results show that technical assistance services are considered the main link between the cooperative and its members. It is concluded that there is a gap between what members expect to be offered by the cooperative’s Technical Department and what has actually been made available to them.

Credit Unions: A comparative analysis between the Credit Union systems of Germany and Brazil

2024-12-13T15:03:32-03:00

This article's goal is to conduct a theoretical and comparative examination of the Brazilian cooperative credit system and Germany's country model, which served as a prelude to both nations' creation and implementation of the cooperative credit system. The key characteristics of financial cooperatives in Brazil and later in Germany are revealed through bibliographical analysis of books, journals, and websites. After comparing the two systems, it was discovered that the European nation had continued to develop and increase its population. We conclude the work with recommendations for how the Brazilian credit union should conduct itself going forward in order to match the caliber of the German cooperative system, including the promotion of credit unions across the nation in order to increase their visibility and accessibility to all Brazilians.

Associativism and rural development: the contributions of a Cooperative Manager in a family farming enterprise in Bahia

2024-11-28T14:51:33-03:00

The objective of this article is to present the importance of associations for rural development, based on the experiences of a cooperative manager at the Associação dos Remanescentes de Quilombos Vila Guaxinim (ARQUIVIG), located in the municipality of Cruz das Almas in the Recôncavo of Bahia. Methodologically, this article can be described as a case study, for the included fieldwork in which a Participatory Rural Diagnosis (DRP) and a semi-structured questionnaire were applied to characterize the associated farmers and their respective establishments. The research demonstrated that family farmers in the community still face numerous challenges, highlighting models of agricultural practices, diversification of marketing channels, technical assistance, among others. This makes clear the need for new public policies and financing that will contribute to strengthening the community's agricultural production, strengthening technical assistance, new marketing channels, among other actions necessary to achieve community development.

The creation process of coopaiter - Paiter Suruí indigenous people’s production and development cooperative – RO/MT

2025-01-29T11:18:37-03:00

This article aims to present how the process of creating COOPAITER - Paiter Suruí Indigenous People's Production and Development Cooperative, located in the September Seven Indigenous Land, delimited between the states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso, occurred. The theoretical-methodological basis is based on case studie and bibliographical research, from the theoretical perspective of the Solidarity Economy. COOPAITER was the result of a long journey of frustrated attempts by these people to find an alternative socioeconomic, cultural and environmental livelihood. Its formation went through internal and external challenges, which are gradually being overcome, through awareness and training of members and their leaders, and partnerships with governmental and non-governmental institutions. The cooperative provided adding agro-industrial values to its products, achieving fair prices, establishing relationships in the domestic and foreign markets, establishing marketing credibility associated with its cultural identity and offering better socioeconomic conditions to its members.