Measures the relationship of creating employment abroad and defending. It is the tenthlargest spanish company in terms of asset turnover and the leading business group in the basque country. The mondragon model a new pathway for the twentyfirst century. Mondragon unibertsitatea, mu is a nonprofit cooperative private university in the basque country, officially established and recognised in 1997. Mondragon divides the cooperative firms and secondary cooperatives into five categories. Richard feldman, an illustrated guide to the internal capital account. Mondragon wanted to connect with other organizations to to show we are excellent. Spains giant cooperative where times are hard but few go bust this article is more than 7 years old the northern spanish town is dominated by its eponymous 15bn corporation that. The case of the mondragon cooperative corporation article pdf available in annals of public and cooperative economics 744. 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.
Founded in 1955 in the basque region of spain by former students of father arizmendiarrieta. In the following 20 years, the cajas holdings experienced a 953% growth, the collective sales of the complex grew by 1200%, and employment grew by 346%. The mondragon cooperative corporation mcc is composed of a group of industrial, retail, service, and support cooperatives primarily in the arrasatemondragon valley in the basque country in spain. The parent company in spain was created in 1977, one of the pioneers in the development of production and assembly technologies. For seven of these seminars, praxis received generous donations from. The evolution of management in the mondragon cooperatives. Headquartered in the city of mondragon, population 30,000, the cooperative corporation has member cooperatives in all four of spains basque provinces. Fagor, spains largest manufacturer of domestic appliances and also part of the mondragon cooperative, has successfully managed down production by 30 to 40% in. In the last half of the twentieth century, mondragon has grown and. The corporation s mission combines the core goals of a. 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. The cooperative congress is a governance body that defines common principles mission, vision and values for the network, the mondragon corporation, sets its sociobusiness policy, and establishes priority action strategies for the network during a given period. The corporations mission combines the core goals of a. In 1941, a catholic priest arrived in the town of mondragon, in the basque region of spain.
Of these 91 are worker cooperatives and 44 are holding companies that are partly or. Based on the mondragon cooperatives activity between 19962006, this paper. Mondragon university has been at the forefront of educational innovation, fulfilling our commitment to generating a positive impact on people. Average earnings in the cooperatives for most rank and file workers. The worker cooperative movements in italy, mondragon and france. The cooperative group has amassed technical, managerial and financial resources comparable to those of a major corporation and used. Thanks to sarah ford for editing assistance, proof reading, and helpful suggestions. Pdf the basque town of mondragon is home to one of the largest and most significant.
Jul 09, 2012 this summary consists of both direct quotes and our summary of the mondragon text. Mondragon assembly is an international group specialising in the development of automation and assembly solutions. It is often said that a company cannot be both efficient and equitable at the same time. At the end of 2006, the mondragon cooperative corporation here after mcc located in the north of spain, had 25 globalized cooperatives with 65 production plants abroad employing 14. 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.
Jun 29, 2014 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 attend a reception at the. The ties that link the mondragon cooperatives are strong, as these bonds emanate from a humanist concept of business, interrelated by a philosophy of participation and solidarity and a shared business culture rooted in a number of basic. The bakery in michael moores capitalism, a love story is fairly innocuous but since mondragon is the 7th largest corporation in spain and is expanding across the globe using contract labor, id have to describe it as a capitalist firm even though it is obviously different than general motors et al. Pdf corporate governance and the mondragon cooperatives. An innovative cooperative group with a worldwide footprint, made up of different businesses and committed to intercooperation. The cooperatives do not discriminate on the basis of religion, politics, ethnicity, or sex when it comes to becoming a member of the cooperative. Cooperative bodies and terminology, mondragon corporation. But here we have the usw, with 850,000 members in the u. Internal regulations of ulgor declared, manual labor should enjoy the. Mondragons cooperatives and the legacy of catholic priest jose maria arizmendiarrieta duration. Join human agenda on an emulation tour tour the mondragon.
The worker cooperative movements in italy mondragon and france. Also that year the united steelworkersthe largest industrial labor union in north americasigned an agreement with the mondragon cooperative corporation mcc to collaborate in setting up mondragon style cooperatives in manufacturing sectors in the united states and canada. Jul 27, 2011 in the following 20 years, the cajas holdings experienced a 953% growth, the collective sales of the complex grew by 1200%, and employment grew by 346%. In just over four minutes, mondragon s new video sums up. The corporation consists of over 160 cooperative enterprises, of which 90 are industrial companies, and has over 21,000 workerowners.
In just over four minutes, mondragons new video sums up. Democratic organization all authority is vested in the general assembly, which consists of. It holds the savings and retirement funds of the workers and processes all the funds flowing through all the mondragon enterprises. Mondragon university has been at the forefront of educational innovation, fulfilling our commitment to generating a positive impact on people, enterprises and society. Mondragon cooperative response to local so cietal and.
The mondragon cooperative corporation is a 35 year old experiment in building a. Successful formation, successful operation and rapid expansion of cooperative enterprises was the result of. In the late 1990s these units reorganized themselves as the mondragon cooperative corporation mcc that is now among the largest and most successful spanish firms competing in the european union. David ellerman, the mondragon cooperative movement, harvard business school case study 1982 8. Oct 03, 2017 mondragon today consists of 102 individual cooperatives united in a federation called the mondragon cooperative corporation, which is also organized as a cooperative. The case studypart i is a retrospective study tracing back to the. The group was successful and had been making rapid progress. 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. Mondragon corporation mc is the most successful business group in the basque country, and the seventh largest in spain. Discover innovative thinking, an innovation model based on cooperation and knowledge sharing among professionals with different. Many scholars have studied mondragon as a strong example of an industrial cooperative with a. 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.
The mondragon cooperative corporation or mcc commerce essay. The basic principles of the mondragon cooperative experience were approved at our first cooperative congress held in october 1987. The mondragon cooperative corporation was formed in 1991, though its first coop, fagor, started in 1955. Tour the mondragon cooperatives itinerary june 30july 4, 2014 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. We are part of the mondragon corporation, the largest cooperative group in the world. In the last half of the twentieth century, mondragon has grown and developed a unique worker democracy in. The history of an experience cancelo alonso, antonio mondragon corporacion cooperativa p jose maria arizmendiarreta, 5 20500 arrasatemondragon biblid 02127016 1999, 44. The mondragon cooperative corporation, or mcc, is often considered the most successful example of workerowned enterprise in the world. Annual report, corporacion mondragon mondragon corporation. Media in category mondragon corporation the following 11 files are in this category, out of 11 total. Apr 30, 2014 mondragon is a cooperative that has 147 companies employing 80,000 workers. The mondragon cooperative corporation has grown from its initial 25 workers in. All workers and the mondragon cooperatives must use this bank.
The worker cooperative movements in italy mondragon and. In fact, co operatives are the only form of corporate en. Following the global financial crisis in 2008, the mondragon cooperative corporation was used as an example of an alternative to capitalist development. Mondragon, northern samar, a municipality in the philippines. Although the actual cooperative format itself provides us with clear advantages in the application of todays most advanced management concepts, these have to. 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. Drawing from a qualitative case study of the mondragon cooperative group, this article discusses the obstacles to. Mondragon today consists of 102 individual cooperatives united in a federation called the mondragon cooperative corporation, which is also organized as a cooperative. We believe cooperatives are an excellent example of a sustainable and socially just economic business model for the 21st century. The mondragon model a new pathway for the twentyfirst. At mondragon, cooperative education is framed as teaching people group process, for example, teaching members how to make decisions.
Industrial, retail, finances, knowledge, and corporation. It is made up of 650 members who are delegated by the cooperatives, and it meets on an annual basis. Corporacion mondragon grupo empresarial internacional. It was established by a catholic priest, jose maria arizmendiarrieta jma, in the basque country in spain. At the same time, much of the recent literature on mondragon has questioned whether mondragons democracy has degenerated, without drawing definitive conclusions. 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. In 1996 mcc published their first corporate management model rooted in the european quality standards. Corporate governance and the mondragon cooperatives article pdf available in management research 42. The mondragon cooperative corporation, or mcc, is often reflected the most successful example of workerowned enterprise in the world. Taking its name from the small town in the basque country of spain where it was founded, the mccs reach now spreads across spain, europe and all over the world. Cooperation and shared progress the focus on people is one of the values of mondragon, people who come together to achieve extraordinary feats and grow together we are committed to sustainable development of our businesses, our society and our planet we have our own model different, inclusive, responsible, fair and solidary. By 1982, twentyfive years after starting the first cooperative, the mondragon group of cooperatives consisted of 85 industrial, 6 agricultural and 14 housing cooperatives. The mondragon cooperative corporation mcc, a system of worker cooperatives located. 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.
Taking its name from the small town in the basque country of northern spain where it was founded, the mccs reach now extends across spain, europe and the globe. It is the tenthlargest spanish company in terms of asset turnover and the leading business group. The town was quite small, with fewer than 10,000 residents, but had a strong industrial tradition. Dec 06, 2009 i honestly havent given much thought to coops in terms of v. The mondragon corporation is a corporation and federation of worker cooperatives based in the basque region of spain. Mondragon university, a private university in the basque region of spain. The mondragon cooperative movement, born in the 1950s around the local technical training.
Mondragon cooperative complex, of which ulgor was the first of many connected cooperatives, had 21,241 member employees. Established in 1954, this constantly expanding group includes over 280 companies employing 80,000 people. Taking its name from the small town in the basque country of spain where it was founded, the mccs reach now extends across spain, europe and the globe. 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. The largest worker cooperative in the world, mondragon corporation, is based in the basque region of spain, best exemplifies this claim. Nov 03, 20 some coops are building up their cooperative education programs. Simply put, the mondragon cooperative bank risks its capital to grow and develop the job base of the community.
Oct 29, 2016 the largest worker cooperative in the world, mondragon corporation, is based in the basque region of spain, best exemplifies this claim. It was founded in the town of mondragon in 1956 by graduates of a local technical college. For example, im part of a book club at my food coop, mariposa food coop, that looks at the role of cooperatives in building social justice. Thanks also to praxis board member laurie gallian for support and suggestions and to keith wilson for his assistance and support of the praxis mondragon seminars. Basic principles of the mondragon cooperative corporation. Oct 19, 2016 mondragon corporations corporate video, 2016.
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