The cooperative movement route: from Rochdale to competitive business strategy

Abstract

This article may be considered as in the continuity of a previously published one, which studied cooperatives as a business strategy for low income earners and small businesses in Brazil, in the 20th issue of this journal. This time, the goal is to analyze cooperatives as a competitive strategy, stemming from one of its links with the business universe: its presumed insertion in the evolution of administrative thinking. Based upon generally accepted concepts, it follows the path of the cooperative movement, from its birth to current days, when it is considered an important strategic tool. Then a comparison between commercial companies and cooperatives, including their flaws, is drawn. The article ends with an example of the versatility of cooperatives, and comments on the similarities between cooperatives and clustering.