Mondragon Cooperative Corporation\'s Basic Principles. Four Main

¶ … Mondragon Cooperative Corporation's Basic Principles. Four main factors stand out: 1) the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation's rapidly advancing concept of Work Environment, in accordance with Finance, 2) reasons people change and the nemesis which causes the ever-growing sense of improvement (perceived as advancement) in Retail, 3) Benefits of Autonomy and Self-Reliance in Industry, and 4) the self-determination from which all knowledge is based.

By all means, knowledge poses as the central theme by which these other elements find nourishment; without knowledge, a vital sense of comprehensive awareness, that on-top-of-it characteristic paramount to Mondragon would not exist as it stands.

Work Environment

The move from a mechanized and industrialized culture to a digital society has fundamentally modified what we consider these key-phrases: occupation, employment, profession, career, assignment, and vocation. What's nice, of course, is that advancement and promotional encouragement is much more easily attainable, and will continue to increase as the world's economy strengthens from quite a low that we all currently have. This loss of revenue the entire world has been recovering from, and really still facing, will be compensated soon enough.

Financially, the banking business of Caja Laboral, the insurance company Seguros Lagun Aro, and the Voluntary Social Welfare Body Lagun Aro, all had an asset fund totaling 4.2 billion euros by the end of 2009 (Eroski contigo, 2009). This was more than a year ago; hopefully even now they've still got it straightened all out and continue to prosper.

"The structural reorganization of the Mondragon cooperatives in 1987 and 1989 formalized the basic principles and delineated the legal regulations of the system. Through these meetings, the ten basic principles and the mission for Mondragon were defined."

Fast-forward twenty-plus years. The business setting has changed and is changing to an unprecedented degree.

Conventional cooperatives use accumulated capital for the private use of members. The MCC on the other hand uses accumulated capital for community benefit. The key distinguishing factor of the MCC is not co-operativism per se but the community base as recognized through social equity. Similarly, Gibson-Graham (2006) sees the MCC not as solely a classic cooperative project but as an ethical and political space of decision centered on community. That is, the cooperative form is the tool used to achieve a different end (Social enterprise and socio-legal structure: constructing alternative institutional spaces for economic development).

Regarding advancement, the future must always be regarded as better than the past; this is the significance of history: we then have a base from which to use as a guide. Salaries within any sector do not fluctuate too greatly, and there is always safety to be found in numbers (that is, numbers of other operational employees within any workforce). Therefore, the self-confidence and composure that comes from this assurance instills a sense of serenity and calmness that is inductive to production and progress. Several traditional work ethics and procedures have become entirely unidentifiable to young people entering the workforce of today. In fact, even folks resuming employment after some time off, even a few years, must learn an entirely new code of principles and behaviors.

The financial yield acquired through this structural reorganization of the Mondragon cooperatives will be used to incorporate long-term retirement, widowhood, and invalidity benefits, complementary to those offered by the Spanish social security system. "Caja Laboral, for its part, ended 2009 with 18.6 million euros of deposits in a year in which it granted loans worth 16.4 billion, mainly to household economies and small and medium-sized enterprises. Its extensive experience with the Corporation's Co-operatives enables it to offer SMEs services typical of large companies" (Tonder, 2003).

III. Retail: Reasons People Change

This rapidly advancing technological world seems too rapid and instant to keep track of what has become outdated and discontinued. Everything that was understood as recently developed or modern as recently as three to five years ago is now considered unfashionable, behind the times, old hat, antiquated, square, passe, or outdated. What's more, all the most recent technology that we know as of today will be outdated within three to five years from now. Contemporary, modern, and cutting-edge fits the lingo of the 21st century.

As stated by MacLeod (How to Start a Community Enterprise):

When a group has limited liability the assets of the private citizen are not at risk in the case of a lawsuit. If a society or association carries on a business and is sued, then individual members can be charged and their assets seized in a lawsuit. Under most legal systems, associations and societies are not designed for operating businesses. The legislation of most jurisdictions grants limited liability only to businesses incorporated under a Company's Act or a Cooperative's Act. The three typical forms of incorporation are: a joint stock company, a cooperative company and a not-for-profit company (sometimes called a company limited by guarantee).

Mondragon also hosts a retail leader within Spain; this unit posted "a turnover of 8.4 billion euros in 2009" (Finez, 2009). According to the Mondragon Cooperative Corporations website, "It operates all over Spain and in the south of France, and maintains close contacts with the French group Les Mousquetaires and the leading German retailer Edeka, with whom it set up the Alidis international partnership in 2002." Evidently, Spain is a hot-spot for the Mondragon Cooperative Corporations. Even further, these points are only furthered on other websites as well (Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa, Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, Mondragon Corporation -- Whitesagebundles.com - sageheart, and even Mondragon Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as well as several others):

The worker-owners and consumer-members are involved in the management of Eroski, with both groups participating in the Co-operative's decision-making bodies. At the end of 2009, Eroski was operating an extensive chain of almost 2,400 stores made up of 113 EROSKI hypermarkets, 1,063 EROSKI/center, Caprabo and EROSKI/city supermarkets, 224 branches of the EROSKI/viajes travel agency, 58 petrol stations, 40 Forum Sport stores, 289 IF perfume stores, 7 Abac leisure and culture outlets and 40 goods depots. In addition to this chain, there are 481 self-service franchise outlets. Moreover, in the south of France it has 4 hypermarkets, 16 supermarkets and 17 petrol stations and 4 perfume stores in Andorra (Eroski Contigo, 2009).

Evidently this Mondragon Cooperative Corporation is elusive. Though the term elusive typically carries a negative connotation, here it stands for the indefinable quality of this corporative method of intervening.

At an Assembly held In 2008, its worker-members approved by a majority vote the process to expand the transformation into co-operatively run businesses to the Group as a whole. So work started on turning the Group's subsidiaries into co-operatives, as well as on making their salaried workers worker-members. This process will be carried out gradually over the next few years. The retail area is also home to the food group Erkop, which operates in the catering, cleaning, stock-breeding, and horticulture sectors and has as its leading name Auzo Lagun, a co-operative engaged in group catering and the cleaning of buildings and premises, and also offers an integrated service in the health sector (Eroski Contigo, 2009).

Moreover, Mondragon, under the leadership of Eroski, formed a collaboration with the United Steel Workers: "The United Steelworkers (USW) and MONDRAGON Internacional, S.A. today announced a framework agreement for collaboration in establishing MONDRAGON cooperatives in the manufacturing sector within the United States and Canada" (Sturr, 2009).

The USW and MONDRAGON will work to establish manufacturing cooperatives that adapt collective bargaining principles to the MONDRAGON worker ownership model of one worker, one vote" (Sturr, 2009).

"The USW is North America's largest industrial union representing 1.2 million active and retired members in a diverse range of industries" (Sturr, 2009).

IV. Benefits of Industrial Autonomy and Self-Reliance

As is currently quite opportune, the convenience of this technological age resides with the broad availability that this technology brings with it. The Mondragon Corporation announced a Total Turnover of 16.8 billion euros in 2008; 6.5 billion corresponded to Industry, while 9 billion to Retail and 1.2 billion to the Finance arena. Evidently, it is quite accommodating; in fact, far more accommodating than ever before in history. This is definitely a benefit.

In a major sense, this enhanced sense of self-reliance brings a newly formed sense of job security with it. Both metaphorically and literally, this broadening sense of situational and environmental advancement will bring with it far more career availabilities, and even options with it. Moreover, this will invite training and build work experience at an unprecedented rate.

Our perception of loyalty and commitment has shifted and is shifting. The prolific and energetic focus is now placed on the self, as opposed to solely appeasing the supervisor in charge at the moment. Employment issues will be more focused inward, therefore, and the person who made any error will the only one accountable. Thus, if the mistake is not fixed, then that individual will face the heat as opposed to sneaking around and desperately being able to search for someone else to blame. This sensational pace of change is being catapulted by technological innovation and it offers exhilarating opportunities and stimulating options for conglomerates, corporations, and individuals to make working life more satisfactory, serene, untroubled, and expeditious.

The Industrial Outlook:

The Mondragon Corporation's companies "manufacture consumer goods, capital goods, industrial components, products and systems for construction, and services to business" (Eroski Contigo, 2009). Quite a vast collection.

"For their part, the 12 technology centres, with a workforce totaling 742 people and an overall budget of 53.7 million euros in

2009, continue to play a fundamental role in the development of the sectors in which they focus their activity" (2009 Mondragon

Yearly Report).

Surely upon entering any Mondragon office setting would seem similar to walking into an IKEA store or a Costco store and not getting easily sidetracked. But what would one come across in one of these affiliates?

In capital goods, MONDRAGON posted a turnover of 976 million euros in 2009, and is the leading Spanish manufacturer of chip removing (Danobat Group) and sheet metal forming (Fagor

Arrasate Group) machine tools. In the consumer goods sector, with sales totaling 1.5 billion euros, MONDRAGON produces white goods: refrigerators, washing machines, ovens, dishwashers, and boilers, under the brands Fagor, Brandt, and Mastercook, and maintains a leadership position in Spain and France and co-leadership in Poland and Morocco. It also produces office furniture and home furniture. In the leisure and sports area, it manufactures Orbea bicycles, exercise equipment and items for camping, the garden and the beach (Organisational Estructure in Mondragon, consumer goods sublet).

These machines are complemented by automation and control products for machine tools, packaging machinery, machinery for automating assembly processes and processing wood, forklift trucks, electric transformers, integrated equipment for the catering industry, cold stores, and refrigeration equipment. Specifically focusing on the automotive sector, the Corporation also manufactures a wide variety of dies, molds and tooling for casting iron and aluminium, and occupies a leading position in machinery for the casting sector.

In Industrial Components, MONDRAGON posted a turnover of 1.5

billion euros in 2009, a sector in which it operates as an integrated supplier for the leading car manufacturers, offering from the design and development of a part to the industrialisation and supply of components and assemblies. It has different business units such as brakes, axles, suspension, transmission, engines, aluminium wheel rims, fluid conduction, and other internal and external vehicle components. It also produces components for the main domestic appliance manufacturers in three business areas: white goods, home comfort, and electronics.

And it manufactures flanges and pipe accessories for processing oil-gas, petrochemical plants and power generation, copper and aluminum electrical conductors, and components for conveyors

(Industrial Components sublet).

In construction, sales totalled 974 million euros in 2009. This is a sector in which MONDRAGON has constructed emblematic buildings and important infrastructure projects. It designs and builds large metallic (URSSA), laminated wood and prefabricated concrete structures; supplies prefabricated parts in polymer

concrete; offers solutions for formwork and structures (ULMA

Group) as well as public works machinery and the industrialisation of the construction process, including engineering and assembly services. It also produces elevators (ORONA Group).

Let's see if we can discover any continuity within these statistics and overall revenue:

In services to business, sales totalled 248 million euros in 2008,

including business consultancy services, architecture and engineering, property consulting, design and innovation (LKS

Group), systems engineering for electromechanical installations, and integrated logistics engineering. It also offers a modern language service, manufactures educational equipment, and provides graphic arts services (MccGraphics).

"In 2009 59.4% of total turnover came from international sales" (2009 Mondragon Corporative Profile). These sales, it turns out, are the product of 'export of products abroad and production generated in the 75 subsidiaries located in 17 different countries." China maintains thirteen subdivisions; France comes in second place with nine; Poland, next, with eight; both the Czech Republic and Mexico with seven each; Brazil has five; Germany and Italy next with four apiece; Romania and the United Kingdom with three each; the United States, Turkey, Portugal, Slovakia, and India, surprisingly, with two each; and lastly Thailand and Morocco both with one lone subsidiary.

Of course China maintains the most of these Mondragon "plants," since, for one, China maintains the greatest population in the entire world, and two, this is paramount to any form of leftist collectivism. "Overall, in 2009 these 75 plants produced goods worth 3.1 billion euros and provided work for 14,506 people. The corporate industrial park in Kunshan, close to Shanghai currently houses seven subsidiaries."

IV. Self-Determination: what to do with the attained Knowledge

The truly difficult task that we all must face to get beyond this great world-wide economic slump, is to manage the change effectively and principled. By principled, though, managers as well as individual employees must maintain and advocate a strong sense of morals and ethical upstanding, but also the ability to change with the times. That will be one of the biggest shifts.

By far the most beneficial and productive element of this technological age that brings humanity to take part in, and is therefore crucial to consider in terms of information technologies, is the process of self-determination. Acknowledging and adapting an aptitude toward this state of life-long-learning has become and will continue to be essential. This recognition will continue to be the most integral part of corporate culture. Training is nonstop, and that is a bonus. To reap the most favorable benefits and the full potential of leading technologies, personnel will exist in a state of perpetual training. Thus, life will only continue to become faster paced. Rather than accepting that as overwhelming or frightening or out of control, humanity must embrace it for the benefits.

V. Finance, Retail, Industry, and Knowledge Collective

For one, we will be working intellectually smarter, and not physically harder. This will draw a more strengthened state of generalized consciousness and further human evolution. Accordingly, we will not pessimistically waste time blaming the group; each of our mindsets will have shifted from the utmost need to find social acceptance on the job. That shift will soon placed on the expeditious completion of every chore so as to have time to then socialize. Humans are social mammals, no doubt. Therefore, we will only continue to further human evolution.

For another, new technological innovations will always be on the rise, and as a team we will always be trying to competitively accelerate more quickly than other corporations. In order to optimize all prospective enhancements to their fullest, individual employees will need to be equipped with -- right alongside the comprehensive knowledge of the inception of the newest technology -- all options available in the implementation of pliable and functional practices able to facilitate technology.