Factors Needed for Cooperative Work
Factors for the success of cooperatives are as follows:
1. Knowledge and Understanding of the Members on Cooperative Principles As a cooperative is an association of persons, these persons must understand the purpose of association, realize their rights and duties including cooperative principles and practices; so that its operations can be carried on smoothly, soundly and actively in giving its members the benefits according to its purposes. The cooperative organizers, therefore, need education on these aforesaid matters.
2. Operating Capital Operating capital can be derived from shares, deposits, loans, donations and accumulated surpluses. The cooperative organizers should assess how much capital and from where should be needed. If not sufficient, additions should be raised by which ways?
3. Sufficient Volume of Business A cooperative has to bear operating cost. Some are fixed cost which are not variable with the volume of business, e.g. salaries, depreciations, etc. Therefore, the cooperative has to gain much enough volume of business, so as to have income covering its cost. The organizers have to consider what kinds of business and how much of its volume they are going to undertake, and launch a campaign to encourage the members to do business with the cooperative as much as possible.
4. Manager of Cooperative A cooperative has to run a business, so it employs a manager to be responsible for operating and controlling closely the affairs of the cooperative. He must work fulltime and have experiences in the business concerned. He must also be honest, diligent and knowledgeable well on the cooperative principles and practices. The organizers, Therefore, have to deliberately select a suitable person to be a manager of the cooperative.
5. Needs of Persons to Unite in a Cooperative If persons want to form a cooperative for solving the common problems that they cannot individually solve them, the cooperative will be successful it is really organized from the common needs of its members.
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Rights of Members of a Cooperative
A right of cooperative members is the power they can act within the limit of the laws including the cooperative law, rules, regulations and the by-laws of the cooperative.
They are for example:
1. Members can attend a general meeting of the cooperative in order to express their opinions and desires or wants. They can also ask questions, propose ideas and recommendations, and vote under the principle of �one man, one vote�. However, a proxy vote is not allowed.
2. Members enjoy the right to elect a board of directors and the right to be elected as such in the general meeting.
3. Members can always inquire a director, a manager and employees of the cooperative over its performance, and can inspect documents and minutes of meetings of the cooperatives.
It can see the importance of cooperative members for the success and failure of the cooperative, since they are both its co-owners and customers. Therefore they have to democratically control the cooperative and be interested in fully applying their rights of participating and supporting actively in the affairs and businesses of the cooperative with a sense of solidarity; so that the cooperative will be successful, otherwise it will finally fail.
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Duties of Members
Duties are obligations which the members are obliged to perform, or they may be liable for a penalty or civil liability. Non-performing duties sometimes causes losses of personal and common interests of the members themselves, and weakens the strength of the cooperative concerned. The followings are examples of the duties of members:
1. to abide by the by-laws, regulations and resolutions of general meetings of the cooperative;
2. to attend cooperative meetings, especially the annual general meeting, for it enables members to know the performance of the cooperative;
3. to have a spirit of solidarity, honesty and dedication for common interests;
4. to give financial support by holding more shares capital or more deposits in the cooperative;
5. to be interested in the affairs and to propose ideas in the general meetings including to vote for the suitable and good members to become board members of the cooperative;
6. to be a well behaved person with broad mindedness and contribution to the progress of the cooperative;
7. to support the cooperative with loyalty and to encourage good persons to become members of the cooperative.
The prosperity and progress of the cooperative in rendering services to the members, it can be seen, depends significantly on the roles played by the membe