After a brief introduction to the models of the new cooperative paradigm and cooperative equilibrium, this first video focuses on the malaise (crisis) of identity. My starting point was the words heard (first of all) from the experience managers of a major Canadian cooperative. Also the analysis of (11) case studies written as part of the research on cooperative holdings. These case studies covered several sectors and offered an international perspective. Also, from managers who had participated in my courses and executive seminars on cooperative management.

Seeking to understand the unease they expressed when they said they no longer knew how to differentiate themselves, from a management point of view, from a private company, I analyzed the major trends that have impacted both the associative dynamic and the cooperative enterprise dynamic.

In this second video, I introduce the NCP and the key questions I’ve sought to answer in order to lay the conceptual and theoretical foundations for it: what are the emerging strategies in a context of market transformation, what are the links between the foundations of these strategies and the foundations of the cooperative mode of organization, and finally, what competitive advantages do cooperatives hold with regard to these strategies?

I then turn to the question of organizational values and business performance… where the congruence of values between those of the organization and those of its employees is an important performance lever.

To address the importance of cooperative values, from the perspective of a new paradigm (a new perspective), I introduce the taxonomy of values developed by Schwartz, an internationally renowned social psychologist. This taxonomy, universally validated, enables us to approach cooperative values as reflecting what Schwartz calls self-transcendence (benevolence and universalism).

While little (if any) research links cooperative values to performance, many researchers use Schwartz’s taxonomy and demonstrate the (significant) impact of self-transcendence on cooperation, commitment, ethics and so on. What’s more, Schwartz (and colleagues) find that the self-transcendence profile is the dominant profile worldwide.

Seen from this new perspective, cooperative values are of strategic importance, as well as being levers of performance for the cooperative.

In this third video, I look specifically at the new cooperative paradigm and the strategy of psychological ownership. Over the past twenty years or so, this concept has established itself in marketing as an explanatory factor in consumer behavior. Such a feeling manifests itself at both individual and collective levels.

Humans develop a sense of psychological ownership of a multitude of objects, both tangible and intangible… seen as an extension of the self. At root, then, ownership is a matter of possession, stewardship and the need to control something.

Four sources of motivation underlie this feeling: First, the person’s ability to interact effectively with his or her environment, to experience a degree of control over that same environment; second, identification with the object, insofar as possessions serve as symbols of identity…and determine who I am, was, will be; third, the need to have a place, a privileged space, so as to establish security via familiar objects; finally, stimulation, i.e. the need for activation and excitement.

Three recognized routes to developing this feeling are: the exercise of control, intimate knowledge of the object, and self-investment in the form of time, ideas, emotions, etc.

Motivations and itineraries, the keys to the emergence of this sense of psychological ownership, are closely interwoven with the heart of the cooperative nature and structure. The raison d’être and cooperative principles prove to be powerful levers facilitating the development (and maintenance) of such a feeling.

As I discovered the concept of psychological ownership, I realized that the true meaning of cooperative ownership was primarily inspired by psychological ownership, both individual and collective.

I therefore invite you to watch this 3rd video to judge the strategic importance of this emerging concept, not only in the context of market transformation, but also to better appreciate the relevance and competitive advantage of cooperatives in the context of this NCP.

This concept of loyalty proved to be the starting point for my quest for an NCP. From 1999 to 2008, I accompanied a financial services cooperative in the implementation of loyalty management. It was thus within the framework of an action-research approach that I was able to develop the model presented in this fourth video.

Beyond satisfaction, loyalty management requires a focus on the person, rather than the consumer. This means paying greater attention to fundamental needs such as security, justice and self-esteem. Satisfying these needs, without neglecting consumer expectations, enables us to aspire to loyalty, beyond the satisfaction that too often leaves the consumer in a situation of ambivalence.

While the cooperative form of organization offers several advantages when compared with a strategic approach focused on loyalty, it is mainly in its ability to meet basic needs that the cooperative stands out. The result is a sustainable advantage.