Full Project – Social and economic benefit of workers and industrial cooperatives

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CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Interest in cooperative enterprises that are owned and controlled by workers has grown in the United States, Canada and Europe since the mid-1970s. Workers cooperative are a new idea. Historically they have emerged as a countercyclical response to economic downturns. Similarly, the increasing internationalization of the economy, economic restructuring of industry, and high unemployment have spawned the present interest in cooperatives as a means of preventing plant closing and creating new jobs.

Workers cooperatives have also appealed to social theorists and activists. They represent an alternative institutional structure which changes basic property relations and provide a conducive vehicle for worker empowerment and social change. Theorists have argued that cooperative organization is a laboratory for teaching participatory democracy (Mill 1963: Cole 1919; Pateman 1970; Mason 1982), as well as vehicle for democratizing knowledge (Adams and Hansen 1987) and changing the overall distribution of skills in society (Putterman 1982). By raising workers’ consciousness of alternative means of economic organization, cooperatives have been considered a first step for changing the wider economic and political system (Coates and Topham 1968, P. 361; and in their purest models, providing “prefigurative forms of socialists society” (Clarke 1984, P. 117).

Support of cooperatives and workshop democracy also can be based on democratic theory. Dahl (1985) justifies workplace democracy as a basic right, in the same vein as the right to political democracy. In Dahl’s view, the most important benefit of cooperative is broadening the base of property ownership and redistributing wealth, which are critical for political access, power and true political equality.

Public policy interest in cooperatives has focused on more immediate concerns of retaining and creating jobs through cooperative development (Commission for European Communities 1981; Wyte and Blasi 1981; Clarke 1984; and Jackall and Levin 1984). Public support for worker cooperatives, as opposed to other small business, has been based on their economic and social advantages. It has been hypothesized that cooperatives perform better than conventional private sector firms according to criteria of productivity, quality of jobs, job security, and job creation. Greater worker participation in decision-making is generally thought to contribute to increased worker motivation, job satisfaction, increased personal dignity and elimination of conflict between labour and management.

Furthermore, because cooperative are worker-controlled rather than corporate or absentee-owner-controlled, it is more likely the business will stay where the workers live and retain jobs in the community. Like community-employee-owned firms (Stern, Wood, and Hammer 1979), worker cooperatives are another institutional mechanism that increase community control of the local economy and avoid the high social costs of unnecessary plant closings.

Howland (1988) cites substantial empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis that employment in independent and headquarter firms is more stable than branch and subsidiary employment. She notes several theories in the plant closing literature which explain this finding. Single plant enterprises have less resource to identify more profitable investment opportunities than multi-plant firms. Entrepreneurs who are dependent on their business for income and who are rooted in the community are more likely to keep a plant operating, even at a lower rate of return than alternative investments would earn. Financing mergers and acquisitions diverts resources from long-term investment in branch plants. Also, corporations often have little experience managing the firms they acquire. As a result, profit rates fall and branches close.

1.1 BACKGROUND SO THE STUDY

The history of cooperative development in Anambra State may be traced from its origin in Nigeria. It was in the early 1930’s that the agricultural development agents began to organize cocoa farmers in westerns Nigeria into small cooperative organizations.

Efforts were made between those periods to establish a cooperative division. This before it could long. An enviable and viable cooperative division was established. The division was formally under the ministry of local government, but through several resettlements and changes of government. It finally came through the ministry of commerce and industries.

The estate inherited a total number of 685 cooperative societies from the former Eastern State with membership of 15,155. As a result of individual desires and government encouragement coupled with the interest benefits desirable from the formation of cooperatives in the state has increased atomically to 2,757 which also increased membership of 86,812.

Through, the number of cooperative societies in the state has drastically reduced since the creation of Abia State. It will be necessary to know that the benefit of workers cooperative sine the topic is social and economic benefits of workers in industrial cooperative. Workers in industrial cooperative it involved workers share in the profits and it is a business in which the workers retain a majority control of the enterprise control is exercised democratically on the basis of one person one rote-membership is open as far as possible to all workers there are limit in the return to capital invest in the enterprises.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Problem why industrial works do not enjoy their desire economic and social benefits.

Lack of solidarity among themselves: They sometimes cling to their independence in fear of the consequences of risk or change.
Lack of self-confidence of risk change: The workers do not believe that they can provide and maintain jobs for themselves. In companies with the rich factory or industries owners in that area.
Ignorance of management and the complexity of business administration: In some cases the workers of the industries lack management skill. In order to acquire this, they must either undergo management training or live qualified managers either temporarily or permanently.
Inequalities among the worker in financial capacity: In power, rank of remuneration etc. may lead to friction because the workers are assumed to be equally. In this process, cliques may develop to destroy the consensus.
The general low level of education, technical training among industrial workers.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

They work is designed to achieve the order listed objectives.

To find out the social and economic objectives of workers in industrial cooperatives of Inyaba Co-operative farms Ltd in Anambra State.
To find out the specific roles and activities performed by Inyaba co-operative farms since their inception.
To identify the general problems militating against the smooth and orderly operation in Inyaba co-operative farms Ltd.
To know their prospects in the future having in mind the poor co-operative habit in Nigerian.
Finally to proffer recommendations that could be useful to the co-operative.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions are:

How many of the objective have been realized?
What are the efforts made by the various workers co-operative in Anambra State in educating the people about the immense benefit derived from workers in industrial co-operative?
What is the hindrance towards their effective performance in Nigeria?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research tends to reveal the need and usefulness of co-operative societies in the social and economic benefits of workers in industrial co-operative. Its job cannot be over looked. Since they play a prominent role in price stabilization of agricultural product in the state.

Moreover, they determine the quality and price of products that entire the market so that products will market their products effectively. By so doing, they minimize the excessiveness of middlemen. In most states today particularly Anambra State where self sufficiency in the production of agricultural products is embarked upon by almost every household including the government, hence comes the need for the research work to enable both the header and the government at large to recognize the enormous role of co-operative go a long way to alleviate the current problem of food storage in Anambra State.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Undoubted the topic social and makes an interesting research work.

However, its thorough analysis could be inhibited by some unavoidable various prominent among which is time contracts. The research was carried out in line with normal academic works which made a more vivid grass roots researchers findings highly difficulty. Apart from the fact that lecture schedules made it difficult to conduct desk interview were granted, one still had to go through the frustration or frustrating bureaucratic arrangement of the workers in question. Another problem that inhabited the conduct of the research project was the willingness and reluctance of the official of the Inyaba farm to disclose vital information even those them who were kind to grand interview answered to some question with reservation, therefore preventing one from knowing facts and finding concerning the farm.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

As already explain the prevision sub leading farm was numerous. Though great efforts was made to lift. All these impediments. The problem encountered can be divided into natured and man-made. The formal include the problem of time, age harrier the distance and problem involve in availability of adequate funds and the partial lack of current records on the parts of the society.

However, time available was limited when compared with the amount of work to be embarked on. This then required that, more effort will be made squeeze a lot of study into the available time. The problem of distance of the society to our school cannot be eliminated or bribe. So our only option was to make sure that if we transport ourselves to the society we must then strive to achieve a lot before training lack to school.

Moreover, interesting to know all these problems made this study more challenging were taking care of happily. These entire problems mere squarely met. A lot of people involved in the project appreciated these entire problem and did their almost to help.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Industrial co-operative: This is a type of co-operative that result from the facts that over the years capital has turned labour and has treated it till an expendable factor of production.

Capital: This is any amount set aside for investment.

Workers co-operative: This can be defined as a business owned and controlled by the people who work in it.

Social and economic benefit: These are returns or profit a progressive entity offers to the society as well as its members.

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