Cooperative governance amongst social cooperatives: the experience of the consortium InConcerto, Italy

This work illustrates the emergence and growth of a consortium of 22 social cooperatives located in the Veneto Region, Italy, whose main aim is to provide rehabilitation through work integration services for disadvantaged... [ view full abstract ]

This work illustrates the emergence and growth of a consortium of 22 social cooperatives located in the Veneto Region, Italy, whose main aim is to provide rehabilitation through work integration services for disadvantaged groups. The targeted groups are individuals with psychiatric conditions and “new poverties,” i.e. people with very low household income.
The originality of this experience lays in the rationale and growth strategy of the consortium, which aimed at creating a system of interdependencies between cooperatives that offer rehabilitation (called Type A cooperatives) and cooperatives that offer work-integration services (called Type B cooperative). The paper explains how the consortium has perfected its governance model and system of interdependencies which have, in turn, supported its growth.
Specifically, our data evidence that the consortium has been able to generate scope and positive feedback effects between the activities carried out by Type A and Type B cooperatives, by generating a sustainable system of demand and supply within the consortium, as well as by developing partnership and joint policy development with suppliers of technology and public administration units. The development of these interdependencies built on the cooperation of a group of like-minded actors, who shared the same cognitive framework (a shared social objective and common governance rules) under the leadership of the founder. The endogenous creation of common resources, which are collectively managed by the consortium members, also contributed to foster sustainable growth.
Our conclusions emphasise that a shared understanding of values and aims on the one hand, and the identification of consistent production practices and rules of cooperation on the other, have given to the consortium the stability it needed to prosper and grow.