Institucionalização dos princípios cooperativistas: o caso da Copaia

Abstract

Cooperative principles are norms that seek to guide cooperative organizations, which are formulated in view of the need to establish determinations to guide the structure and functioning of these organizations. In this sense, this work aims to analyze the institutionalization of cooperative principles in the Cooperativa Agroecológica Ireno Alves - COPAIA, in the light of the perception of its internal members (management and other workers) and external members (cooperated) in relation to the cooperative principles. As for the objectives, this research is classified as exploratory and descriptive, as the data collection procedure, the research is framed as a case study. To achieve the research objectives, based on the social statute of the cooperative, the organizational structure of COOPAIA was presented, in order to extract information about the knowledge and practice of cooperative principles, surveys were carried out with the governing body, workers and active cooperative members of COOPAIA , thus allowing greater verticalization towards the research proposal. In this sense, interviews were carried out with executive members (administrative and fiscal councils) and workers. As for the active members, questionnaires were applied with statements about each cooperative principle, in order to extract their degree of agreement with the respective statements. In this sense, the data extracted from the field work will unveil the structural and corporative environment of COOPAIA, as it envisages to lay bare the process of institutionalization of the cooperative principles. The research findings allow us to extract some reflections, if not conclusive, that signal some considerations. Among the governing members, the knowledge about certain principles can be found more clearly, and this knowledge is linked to the training and qualification of part of the interviewees in this group. Among the working members and the cooperative members who participated in the research, there is a need and potential to advance knowledge about the cooperative principles. This fact indicates opportunities for improvement in relation to training and training of its members and workers about cooperativism.