Cooperative economy is associated with an alternative draft of economy – as a counter model to maximization of profit. Usually the idea gains in importance in periods of economic crisis. Currently the number of cooperatives is growing, e.g. in Germany continuous since 2009 (DGRV 2014). This includes worker cooperatives, mostly small enterprises which are based on the principles of self-help, democracy and solidarity.
The idea of worker cooperatives is more than 150 years old and their development has been changeful in different countries and during history. In Latin America, developing countries and parts of Southern Europe, worker cooperatives are a perceptible form of enterprise, whereas in Western Europe and the United States, these companies are at most active in niches. Also in business administration they only appear peripheral (Müller-Plantenberg 2005). Already in the 19th century worker cooperatives were doomed to fail in literature. Franz Oppenheimer put forward the thesis that this form of organization would either transform into a normal capitalistic company or fail. This transformation thesis continues to be referred even today, although at least since the 1980s it has drawn fundamental and methodological criticism (Kruck 1993; Attmacca 2002). Furthermore, in practice, worker cooperatives persist for decades (Haider et al. 1997). But still, the scientific debate is marked by opponents and supporters facing each other irreconcilably. While the first group declare that it is impossible to keep the organization model in the long term, the others emphasizes the possibilities of the cooperative values. Participation in decision-making, a more even distribution of income, a bigger solidity and job security and less risk of offshoring are claimed as their advantages (Flieger 1996; Vogt 2011; Klemisch/Flieger 2007). Especially the field of research solidarity based economy recognizes it as an emancipated way of work, according to the needs of the employees (Voß 2010).
Research of worker cooperatives is nevertheless very rare, which leads to a larger gap between theory and practice (Kramer 2003). Therefore this dissertation project is about why and how worker cooperatives persist in free market economy. In contrast to other organization-theoretical research projects which concentrate on the inner-organizational context (Villegas Velásquez 1975), this study focuses on the environmental conditions and the resulting consequences, (power) relations and strategies of the organizations. The theoretical approach is the resource dependence theory which explains the stability of organizations from a materialistic view out of the environmental conditions. Empirical base are own case-studies in self-determined firms of the 1970/80s in Germany. The comparison of still existing and failed worker cooperatives in their real environment should also answer the question, if and how worker cooperatives could maintain themselves and keep their principles in a competition and profit orientated environment. This could help new worker cooperatives and seems to be necessary in the scientific debate, not only in cooperative science, but also in the field of solidarity economy where theoretical and empirical research is still rare (Kerber-Clasen 2012).
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