As a duty, a cooperative should add value to three of its key stakeholders: owners, investors, and customers. In some cases all these stakeholders are one and the same thing while others are different parties.
The value derived from the cooperation depends on the mission of the organization and the need it is trying to fulfill for its members. A cooperative needs may also differ from a company objectives and some of these needs many at times go against one another. For instance a member may have a need to access low-interest bearing loan in a SACCO (Savings and Credit Cooperative) while on the hand need more returns to investment. Despite such limitations, the cooperative also have other benefits that members are sure they can only get them from a cooperative and not from anywhere else.What value necessitates a member to join a cooperative and not open a private company? The list may be in exhaustive.
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