The new cooperative was named ulgor, which was composed from the initials of the last names of the founders. Cooperative members also have a voice in the control of the organization, and, within the limits of majority rule, it therefore supplies the kind of service they want. In general, wages at mondragon, as compared to similar jobs in local industries, are 30% or less at the. Nov 03, 20 at mondragon, cooperative education is framed as teaching people group process, for example, teaching members how to make decisions together. Jul 18, 20 we briefly analyze the experience of the longstanding mondragon cooperative movement as a relevant case study to illustrate how the value of solidarity plays out.
Basic principles of the mondragon cooperative corporation. The mondragon cooperative was started in 1954 by a jesuit priest named don jose maria arizmendiarreta i will refer to him as don jose from here on and five young men. A consolidation occurs when two or more cooperatives combine to form a new cooperative, none of the old. Such management structures concentrate power in the hands of managers, and it seems that policy setting and control of management activities have moved away from owners producers, workers towards an upper level of senior. Mondragon cooperative corporation mcc is a constellation of 105 worker cooperatives, one of which, the retail merchandiser eroski, is both a consumer and worker cooperative.
Eroski is a retail distribution chain and, most unusually, there are two. The mondragon cooperative corporation australians urgently require more jobs for themselves and their children, accelerated economic development in the regional areas where our highest levels of unemployment and poverty are being experienced, higher productivity from our industries, more exports, higher levels of job satisfaction and. The mondragon cooperative corporation is a 35 year old experiment in building a comprehensive cooperative society in which labor plays the primary and dominant role. Ellerman industrial cooperative association and boston college section a. Institutions and social relations born in the basque region of spain in 1956, mondragon cooperative corporation is a federation of cooperatives whose impressive size and economic success has drawn international attention.
The mondragon model a new pathway for the twentyfirst. Mondragon consists of seventy eight townhouse units ranging in size from one to four bedroom units. Context, success factors and lessons by hazel corcoran and david wilson abstract the objective of this paper is to analyze the public policy environment, capitalization environment, availability of federation support, and the context for the worker coop movements in each of. The mondragon corporation is a corporation and federation of worker cooperatives based in. So we have, in effect, three kinds of income at mondragon. Group health cooperative was a consumer coop, as are rei, pcc, and the credit union movement. The basque region of spain has, in recent years, seen the rise of a system of cooperatives that is unparalleled in its dynamism, growth, and economic impact on a region. Democratic organization all authority is vested in the general assembly, which consists of. From a brass plaque at otalora, the mondragon educational center. Once known as one of the poorest regions in spain, the basque region is now the richest, prospering due to a strong sense of selfdetermination, grassroots participation and nongovernmental intervention.
At the age of thirteen he entered the catholic seminary in vitoria, where he became 7 for a useful account of the anarchosyndicalist tradition in the basque region and adjacent areas and its influence on the mondragon cooperatives, see long m. A few years earlier, these five graduates approached arizmendi with their idea for building a firm. This organization has its foundations in the catholic church and follows catholic principles. The mondragon cooperative corporation is a 35 year old experiment in building a. The worker cooperative movements in italy, mondragon and. Mondragon cooperative corporation, annals of public and cooperative economics 744.
In the last half of the twentieth century, mondragon. The mondragon cooperatives reflect the concern of combining the basic objectives of a business development in capitalist markets with the use of democratic. It holds the savings and retirement funds of the workers and processes all the funds flowing through all the mondragon enterprises. Those who opt to make history and change the course of events themselves have an advantage over those who decide to wait passively for the results of the change. Praxis peace institute has established a special relationship with the mondragon cooperatives and is a proud educator of cooperatives and the ethics and values of cooperatives. We believe cooperatives are an excellent example of a sustainable and socially just economic business model for the 21st century. For most workers, this ratio is smaller because there are few mondragon workerowners that earn minimum wages, because most jobs are somewhat specialized and are classified at higher wage. That is, the general manager of an average mondragon cooperative earns 5 times as. That is, the general manager of an average mondragon cooperative earns no more than 5 times as much as the theoretical minimum wage paid in their cooperative. Spains giant cooperative where times are hard but few go bust this article is more than 7 years old. The worker cooperative movements in italy, mondragon and france. The northern spanish town is dominated by its eponymous 15bn corporation that. Jul 22, 2014 mondragon, a huge basque cooperative that is beating the crisis duration.
Larraitz altunagabilondo is a lecturer at the faculty of humanities and educational sciences and researcher at lanki, the institute of cooperative research, at the mondragon. Oct 19, 2016 mondragon corporations corporate video, 2016. Jose luis lafuente, mondragon s corporate management model specialist some things speak for themselves. Of these 91 are worker cooperatives and 44 are holding companies that are partly or. The parent company in spain was created in 1977, one of the pioneers in the development of production and assembly technologies.
In his book published in 2012, the cooperative solution, e. Discover innovative thinking, an innovation model based on cooperation and knowledge sharing among professionals with different. In just over four minutes, mondragon s new video sums up. The system, which spreads throughout the surrounding basque region, is named after mondragon, a town in the mountains of guipuzk. Mondragon corporation project gutenberg selfpublishing.
A unification may also take the form of a consolidation. Six features that characterize the mondragon cooperative group model have been identified as crucial in making it a unique case. Mondragon assembly is an international group specialising in the development of automation and assembly solutions. In peace and solidarity, georgia kelly, founderdirector praxis peace institute 7079392973. Mondragon corporation is the embodiment of the cooperative movement that began in 1956, the year that witnessed the creation of the first industrial cooperative in mondragon in the province of gipuzkoa. Most of the cooperatives are located in the basque country and. Apr 30, 2014 mondragon is a cooperative that has 147 companies employing 80,000 workers. The basic principles of the mondragon cooperative experience were approved at our first cooperative congress held in october 1987. The mondragon cooperative experience mce is a general but recognized term that refers to the totality of contexts surrounding the mondragon cooperatives in the basque country, spain. Mondragon cooperative group, this article discusses the obstacles to. Critics from both the socialist and capitalist worlds are known to say mondragon is a mistake, that it cant really survive or work. The mondragon cooperative group today the mondragon cooperative corporation mcc is a highly complex federation of cooperatives bound together by much more than a formal contract of association. Humanity at work, a reflection on how mondragon, the worlds largest workerled cooperative represents a highly successful social innovation ecosystem. Mondragon cooperative bank risks its capital to protect the job base of the community.
Irizar, 2005 through which they aimed to combine their cooperative values with the. The largest worker cooperative in the world, mondragon corporation, is based in the basque region of spain, best exemplifies this claim. Pdf the basque town of mondragon is home to one of the largest. The mondragon cooperatives were restructured about 1992 into three divisions, namely industrial, finance and retail. The mondragon cooperative experience is open to all men and women who accept these basic principles without any type of discrimination. Don jose was a fascinating man whose background shows courage and a willingness to stand up for his beliefs. What has 120 different companies, 42,000 workerowners, 43 schools, one college, does more than 4. Employee ownership report making mondragon is an extremely wellwritten, wellorganized. But luckily the lowly platypus doesnt know its a mistake, and just keeps on thriving and reproducing. Oct 03, 2017 i recently completed a study tour to mondragon, a small town in the basque region of spain, which is the home of the worlds largest and most advanced cooperative economy. Mondragon today consists of 102 individual cooperatives united in a federation called the mondragon cooperative corporation, which is also organized as a cooperative. Reception at the headquarter of mondragon cooperative group, paseo arizmendiarrieta 5 building lk3, arrasatemondragon. The highest governance authority in a mondragon cooperative company is the general assembly of workermembers. Eroski was founded by merging ten small local consumer cooperatives.
They include a set of ideas forged over more than 30 years of operation as a cooperative, and are set out below in a condensed version. Mondragon corporacion cooperativa or the mondragon cooperative corporation mcc is a businessbased socioeconomic initiative with deep roots in the basque country, created for and by people and inspired by the basic principles of our cooperative experience. The cooperative group has amassed technical, managerial and financial resources comparable to those of a major corporation and used. The mondragon cooperative federation mcf is a community of economically highly successful workerowned, workercontrolled production and consumption cooperatives centred around mondragon, a town in the basque region of northern spain, and now spreading throughout the basque provinces and beyond. Cooperative is the predominant employer and economic force. Mondragon, a huge basque cooperative that is beating the crisis duration. It was created in 1956 when a catholic priest inspired five engineers to start it. The mondragon cooperative corporation mcc, a system of worker. You will learn about the history of regional autonomy in spain and of the mondragon cooperatives, visit service and industrial cooperatives, engage the mondragon innovation and knowledge research center, receive presentations on careers at mondragon university including on the new career of leadership and entrepreneurial innovation leinn and team academy, and.
Anyone interested in the mondragon story needs this book. Overview of the mondragon cooperative movement today there are over 85 industrial cooperatives in the mondragon cooperative movement with around 20,000 workermembers. The mondragon model a new pathway for the twentyfirst century. Entrepreneurship in the mondragon cooperatives by david p.
The 2012 usw mondragon union coop template takes this appeal one step further by elaborating a formal model for developing a new generation of unionized worker cooperatives in the united states witherell, cooper, and peck 2012. In just over four minutes, mondragons new video sums up. Okc catholic worker index home it 1 thing the church got right. Cooperatives have been merged into functional product lines. By 1982, twentyfive years after starting the first cooperative, the mondragon group of cooperatives consisted of 85 industrial, 6 agricultural and 14 housing cooperatives. Fagor, spains largest manufacturer of domestic appliances and also part of the mondragon cooperative, has successfully managed down. The mcf is an experiment in participatory economic democracy rooted in a powerful. Successful formation, successful operation and rapid expansion of cooperative enterprises was the result of. Spains giant co operative where times are hard but few go bust this article is more than 7 years old. Cooperation at work david morris may 1992 institute for local selfreliance 927 15th st. It became the fifth cooperative enterprise to join the ularco cooperative group, which was a promising reality on the threshold of 1966.
Mondragon university is a cooperative university, which combines the development of knowledge, skills, and values, and maintains close relations with business, especially mondragon cooperatives. Our salaries, the growth in our equity in the company and the interest mondragon pays on that equity. Education education and training have played a decisive role in the creation and development of the mondragon cooperative. The mondragon cooperative is one of the few organizations which are successful despite the use of alternative systems of business. The evolution of management in the mondragon cooperatives.
Frequently, mondragon in the spanish basque region widely considered the most successful workerowned cooperative enterprise in the world is discussed as a model. Corporate governance and the mondragon cooperatives article pdf available in management research 42. Pdf the mondragon experience oxford handbook of mutual. Started in the 1950s as a catholic action project, today, the mondragon group includes 257 financial, industrial, retail, and research and development concerns, employing.
Please contact me at praxis peace institute if you are interested in contributing to this important fund. Pdf corporate governance and the mondragon cooperatives. Mondragon unibertsitatea, mu is a nonprofit cooperative private university in the basque country, officially established and recognised in 1997. At mondragon, there are agreedupon wage ratios between the workerowners who do executive work and those who work in the field or factory and earn a minimum wage. The mondragon cooperative movement, born in the 1950s around. Mondragon cooperative homes coop living in brampton. We are very grateful to mondragon for allowing us to do this. In the last half of the twentieth century, mondragon has grown and developed a unique worker democracy in. The mondragon corporation is grounded in democracy, competitiveness, and solidarity, making it for an economic model that is much more efficient and equitable than the standard ones. The challenge of mondragon george benello in the beginning. What are the strengths and weaknesses of cooperative. Oct 29, 2016 the largest worker cooperative in the world, mondragon corporation, is based in the basque region of spain, best exemplifies this claim.
The case of the mondragon cooperative corporation article pdf available in annals of public and cooperative economics 744. It is a history compiled with care and obvious admiration. What are the strengths and weaknesses of cooperative business. In a consolidation, a new cooperative is formed and both of the existing cooperatives disappear. All workers and the mondragon cooperatives must use this bank. Mondragon up to date and summarize its core philosophy in a way that helps the cooperative movement, and the wider socialist movement as well. The cooperatives do not discriminate on the basis of religion, politics, ethnicity, or sex when it comes to becoming a member of the cooperative. Lessons from the mondragon cooperative experience nothing differentiates people as much as their respective attitudes to the circumstances in which they live. Simply put, the mondragon cooperative bank risks its capital to grow and develop the job base of the community. Mondragon is one of the leading spanish business groups, integrated by autonomous and independent cooperatives with production subsidiaries and corporate offices in 41 countries and sales in more than 150. Jun 29, 2014 presentation of mondragon university and leinn new career in leadership and entrepreneurial innovation and team academy. Or, one cooperative may purchase or acquire all of the assets of the other without formal combination of any aspect of the two organizations.
Michael young, our founder, would have been thrilled with this opportunity because he was a great admirer of mondragon. The corporations mission combines the core goals of a. Internal regulations of ulgor declared, manual labor should enjoy the. Basic internal structure of a mondragon cooperative. In this new book, whyte and his wife and colleague, kathleen whyte, have provided the definitive narrative of the growth of the. Jul 09, 2012 likewise, through otalora, which is our business and cooperative training centre, we try and disseminate cooperative culture on the basis of our own socialeconomic experience, developed over the last 40 years.
The mondragon cooperative corporation has grown from its initial 25 workers in. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the. The mondragon cooperative group is composed of 289 institutions, of which 110 are cooperatives, 147 are subsidiary companies, and the rest are foundations, benefit societies, umbrella organizations, and international services. In 1956, five graduates of the escuela politecnica started the first worker cooperative in mondragon. These advantages, which tend to tie the patrons to the organization by making them full partners, help build an assured volume of business. Mondragon corporation is the embodiment of the co operative movement that began in 1956, the year that witnessed the creation of the first industrial cooperative in mondragon in the province of gipuzkoa.
In exchange for this monopoly of money, it provides services no. It was established by a catholic priest, jose maria arizmendiarrieta jma, in the basque country in spain. An econometric case study of mondragon we provide the first econometric study of efficiency for a member of the mondragon group of worker cooperatives. Searching for the cooperative values in times of internationalization article pdf available in organization 215. The group was successful and had been making rapid progress. In the process of restructuring, some cooperatives were merged with others in the. Corporacion mondragon grupo empresarial internacional. Mondragon cooperative complex, of which ulgor was the first of many connected cooperatives, had 21,241 member employees. Cooperative education like that is not currently being offered on an easily accessible basis in the philadelphia area. Drawing from a qualitative case study of the mondragon cooperative group, this.
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