A Lecture Presentation CDA Trainers' Training for Cooperatives Lingayen, Pangasinan Aug. 29-31, 2012

1. Cooperative Values
ICA Core Values of Cooperation
Jo B. Bitonio
Presenter
Cooperative Trainers Training, Lingayen, Pangasinan
Aug. 29-31,2012)

2. Much of the cooperative concepts
set by the intellectual thinkers of the
Cooperative Movement have been
concerned with values and ethics.

3. Values remain to be the cornerstone of a
cooperative and without these the
Cooperative Movement would simply not
exist. The possession of deeply felt values
and ethics are what make committed
cooperators different from their
counterparts in all other types of business
enterprises.

4. Traditionally, the Cooperative Movement has
had deep ties to the wide array of the world’s
religions and ideologies. It has consciously and
continuously explored its own belief system
and attempted to identify those personal
values and ethics that are shared by
cooperators which motivate its future actions.

5. In its background paper on the Statement
of Identity, ICA explains, “Any discussion of
values within cooperatives must inevitably
involve deeply-felt concerns about
appropriate ethical behavior. Achieving a
consensus on the essential cooperative values
within a rich array of belief systems is a
complex but rewarding task.” (ICA,1995)

6. Governance by Values and Ethics
The newest versions of
values, as propounded by
ICA are as follows: self- help,
self-responsibility,
democracy, equality, equity
and solidarity.

7. Self-help
is based on the belief that all people can and
should strive to control their own destiny. Full
individual development can take place only in
association with others. Through joint action
Ethics
and mutual responsibility, one can achieve
more, by increasing one’s collective influence
in the market and before governments.

8. Self-Responsibility
Self-responsibility means that members assume
responsibility for their cooperative, for its
establishment and its continuing vitality.
Members are responsible for ensuring that
their cooperative remains independent from
other public and private organizations.

9. Equality
means that the basic unit of the cooperative is
the member who is either a human being or
grouping of human beings. Members have
rights of participation, a right to be informed,
a right to be heard, and a right to be involved
in making decisions. Members should
associate in a way that is as equal as possible,
one that is a continuing challenge for all
cooperatives.

10. Equity
Equity is a never ending challenge since this
refers to how members are treated within the
cooperative. Members should be treated
equitably in how they are rewarded, normally
through their patronage dividends, allocations
to capital reserve in their name or reductions
in charges.

11. Solidarity
Solidarity ensures that cooperative action is not
just a disguised form of limited self interest,
that cooperative is more than just an
association of members, but affirmation of
collective strength and mutual responsibility.

12. Ethics
Ethics are concerned with
honesty, openness, and social
responsibility and caring for
others

13. Concluding Statement
Members have the responsibility to ensure that all
members are treated as fairly as possible; the general
interest is always kept in mind; that there is a
consistent effort to deal fairly with employees as well
as with non-members associated with the cooperative.
It also means that cooperatives must stand together
and inspire to the creation of a united coop movement
locally, nationally, regionally and internationally.
Solidarity is the very cause and consequence of self-
help and mutual help and a philosophy which
distinguishes coops from other forms of economic
organizations.