PMES Lecture Cooperative Development Authority Dagupan Extension Office

1. From
bottom to
top
Service
oriented
Business
enterprises
ARD Jo B. Bitonio
CDA Dagupan Extension Office
A PMES Lecture

2.  Cooperatives are organized to serve their
members by providing goods and service
at reasonable cost. Members contribute
the capital of the cooperative so that
goods and services can be appropriately
provided through its business activities
and not to maximize the profit or
dividends their capital contributions will
earn from the business.
 Cooperatives, in servicing the members,
do not act as charitable organizations.
Members are aware that the benefits
come from their contributions, patronage
refund, and mutual efforts to help one
another. The motto is ”Cooperatives are
not for profit and not for charity but for
service. ”

3.  Cooperatives work for the welfare
of their members by integrating
themselves into the life of the Cooperatives are
community in particular and the community-oriented
nation in general. Cooperatives
enhance the people’s welfare
through increased productivity
both the members and the
communities where they are
located. By the very nature of their
concerns, cooperatives strengthen
the economic, social, cultural and
ecological base of the communities
where they operate.

4.  Cooperatives are not merely
economic instruments
concerned with dividends and People
related economic and financial
returns. They are the oriented
mechanisms of change of total
human development. This
means the total development
of man as a human being in all
the economic, political,
cultural, and spiritual aspects.

5.  Cooperatives are member-owned,
member-controlled and member-used.
Ownership is a very important factor in
the success of any cooperative. It is very
important that have full authority to
manage and control their cooperative. If a
cooperative starts and operates solely
owned, from borrowed capital, it violates the
managed, principle of self-help and loses much of its
and autonomous character. Cooperatives most
patronized depend on the patronage of their own
by members members and not from non-members.
However, in certain cases a limited
patronage by non-members may be
allowed mainly for reasons of business
viability and service to the community.

6.  Cooperatives engage in businesses with
social responsibility. They play a
meaningful economic role in the
community life by serving and performing
as effective and responsively as the other
financial and business enterprises.
Cooperative have to generate surplus to be
able continually improve and expand its
businesses services. They have to be viable, creative,
With enterprising and efficient to continually
social grow and serve the needs of their
responsibility members. Increasing patronage cannot be
maintained without good quality service,
management and performance. The net
surplus generated from business
operations are allocated to the members at
the end of each year.

7.  Robert Owen advocated the philosophy of
self-help that inspired the “Rochadale
Pioneers” to organize. He said “if you want
something done, do it yourself”. This
philosophy has been responsible for the
success of many cooperatives all over the
developed best world – and it is the best alternative for the
through poor in any country to unite and help
self-help themselves out of their depressed
and mutual help condition. This is not to say that they
should not be assisted. But assistance from
outside, whether technical or financial,
must not stifle but stimulate initiative, self-
help, and self- reliance. The principle of
subsidiarity also applies – that before
asking or soliciting aid from the outside,
self-determination and self-capability
should be considered.

8.  It is important therefore that proper serve best
approaches and techniques are employed when they
to ensure that the real needs of the answer
members are identified and recognized the real and
before any cooperative is organized. The felt needs of
assisting agency or agencies should make the members
the real need be felt by the members. The
assistance should be begin from the
organization stage and sustained through
the developmental stage up to the point
when the cooperative begins to operate
on a self sustaining basis.

9.  Organizationally, their development
should be from the primary level to
the secondary, tertiary and up to the
apex. Geographically, they should developed
develop from the barangays to the best from
municipal, provincial, city, regional
and national. bottom to top
 The primary cooperatives foundation
stones of the whole cooperative
structure. Organizing the apex before
the base is like building the roof of
the house before its foundation.
Sooner or later, in such a case, the
roof topples down because the
foundation is weak and unable to
support its load.

10.  Having in mind the specific roles of Development
each sector – the government, non- of cooperatives
government, and cooperative sector – is enhanced
must play, a multi-sectoral approach through a
can ensure that all aspects of the
multi –sectoral
development process are considered.
approach
This enhances the smooth and
continuous development of the
cooperatives. This approach involves
the participation of all sectors from
the planning stage to the
implementation, evaluation and
monitoring all activities. Such
approach enhance true people power
– enlightened, democratic and
participative – in all levels, both
organization and geographical.