The participants in the SYY work shop at 18.5.2010 worked in two groups that came up with ideas about the co-operatives and the ltds.
There are several kinds of co-operatives, both small enterprises that function as work co-ops and big ones within e.g. financing or food industry. In this discussion we mostly talk about small co-ops as well as micro or small scale private enterprises (ltds). It is possible to turn a co-op into an ltd but not vice versa. Also hybrid structure within ltds is possible with non-profit owners as a majority of the shareholders. Both an ltd and a co-op are legal entities and regulated by the law.
A co-op is owned by the members jointly and in case there are more than 7 members in a co-op each of them owns less than 15 % of the enterprise and is therefore a worker in the co-op, not the owner of an enterprise. An ltd can be owned by one person only. An owner of more than 15% or equal is an entrepreneur. A co-op is a good option for people who are not keen on owning anything and who want to work together with other people.
A co-op is easy to establish, no official requirement for capital, whereas an ltd a capital of 2500 euros is required with more bureaucracy involved. An ltd is a limited enterprise and it is up to the owners if they want to sell shares or give out new shares for the market. The shareholder leaves the enterprise by selling all his/her shares. It is technically easy for an individual to join and leave a co-op. The member candidate applies for a membership, the management makes a decision and the candidate pays the share as agreed. If the member wants to leave, the co-op pays him/her out by returning the value of the share.
In an ltd the power that the shareholder has depends on how many shares s/he owns and on what kind of shares they are. In a co-op all members have one vote irrespective of the number of the shares they might hold. The co-op is a team of people where all parties are equal. In an ltd there is a hierarchy of power. So a co-op means objective equality, an ltd does not.
In an ltd it is the shareholders that own the majority of the shares that usually also make the decisions and run the business. Other shareholders can be less involved in the daily basis as they often see themselves as investors. Shareholders can take up issues to be decided on in the meetings. Each member is a co-op can decide how actively involved s/he wants to be. The members can take up any matter that s/he wishes.
Different organs in the enterprise make decisions in the co-op and in an ltd. In a co-op there is no one person who can make the decisions. Different practical matters require different paths of decision making; the ltd is more flexible than the co-op. The leaders in the ltd can make quicker decisions and they can therefore act more quickly when needed. For the official leadership it seems that the ltd owners have more options available whereas for the inofficial leadership there is no difference. In the co-op the people need to co-operate in terms of decision making within the rules and regulations regarding the majority in voting etc. In an ltd the people have a sense of associateship whereas in a co-op it is more like a joint companionship. An ltd can act quickly, a co-op cannot.
An ltd can share profit for the shareholders whereas in a co-op it is more seldom, although possible. The decision between using the funds for re-investment vs. profit applies to both. Nowadays there is no difference in how the co-op and the ltd are regarded as clients or as service providers but it might be easier to create a marketing plan for an ltd than for a co-op as the (work) co-op can consists of a variety of people with different skills and needs.
