An Introduction to Cooperation and Mutualism

Reviewed by Andrew Taylor, Associate Professor, American University on 11/7/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

A great introductory primer to cooperatives (and less so mutual organizations), but with a dominant emphasis on producer or purchasing cooperatives in agricultural contexts. This makes sense, since this is a dominant industry and modes for cooperatives. But I would like a bit more on worker cooperatives, consumer cooperatives, and social cooperatives.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Clear and clean discussion of economic, financial, governing, and legal aspects of cooperatives.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

A good mix of historical and more recent cooperatives. As a faculty member, I could (and would) supplement this text with current news and case studies.

Clarity rating: 4

Really clear and easy to read, although a bit thick and difficult in Chapter Three on income distribution and equity decisions.

Consistency rating: 5

Strong and singular voice throughout. I appreciate the author's personal reflections on cooperatives in his own life, which help to ground the abstract concepts in lived experience.

Modularity rating: 5

The book could easily be assigned in chunks, either by chapter or portions of chapters. Each chapter has natural breaks within it that would help scale the assigned readings appropriately.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Well organized and consistent.

Interface rating: 5

I experienced no problems with the PDF file.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

I noticed two grammatical issues: Page 5, top line, "More business units in a firm has may lead to may lead to greater diversification" should probably be "More business units in a firm may lead to greater diversification." Page 36, last paragraph, "Member are vertically aligned with..." should be "Members".

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The book would benefit from a more diverse array of examples from a larger variety of constituencies -- urban and rural.

Comments

A strong introduction to the topic, clearly written. I'm grateful for the author's efforts to write a short primer that could be enhanced and extended by each instructor's additional materials. Again, this author has a dominant emphasis on agricultural contexts, leaving out other forms of cooperative and mutual organizations that could add depth and balance to the work.

Reviewed by Stephen Davis, Professor, Southwest Minnesota State University on 8/2/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

This text is not a comprehensive overview of Cooperatives or Mutual Businesses. It is focused on certain managerial and economic issues that both forms of business structure have in common. It is not indexed, and has a glossary of only a couple of dozen terms. These terms are those most likely to be misunderstood or confusing to the reader, but are hardly a comprehensive list of terms common to cooperatives and mutuals, nor are they a complete list of terminology discussed in the text.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This text is highly accurate. I could find only one error in the text, and it was more typographical than inaccurate or ungrammatical. The areas it does cover are analyzed with considerable understanding and awareness of their context.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This is a very up to date text. Not only was it recently published, but the examples and discussion reflect the most current thinking on the topics covered. In other texts, including proprietary textbooks by major publishers, these topics are often covered in a woefully out of date fashion, including using examples of firms no longer in existence at the date of publication.
Further, this text was carefully written so as not to go out of date quickly. The examples are drawn from a wide variety of historical and current sources, and developed using very generally accepted terminology. It would probably be easier to implement future updates if even more of the examples in the text were set off by boxes or similar stylistic devices.

Clarity rating: 4

This book is clearly written, so long as the intended audience is already well informed as to some basic facts about business and industry structure. The discussion of some basic business concepts assumes the reader, while not necessarily a business major, is either a practicing business professional or has a strong undergraduate background in business concepts. The glossary in the back is short, no doubt, because it is intended to address those terms in the text that might be considered jargon or technical terms by the well-educated reader.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is consistent both as to level, conceptual development, and analysis. Some of the chapters are more readable, while others, especially Chapter 3, assume more in the way of a business or accounting background.

Modularity rating: 3

Each of the five chapters could be discussed, assigned, or read on its own. Self-references are mostly confined to introductory and concluding remarks in each chapter. It would be nice if the sub-chapter sections were marked numerically, e.g. 2.1, as are the figures in the text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization and structure of the text flow naturally from the thesis developed at the beginning of the text, and the logic is reinforced throughout. The text is a bit more of a monograph on the topic of cooperative and mutual businesses, than it is an overview of either of these business forms - which is what the reader might expect from the title.

Interface rating: 5

The layout and interface of the text is nicely done. The charts and graphs, boxed examples, and stylistic features are quite attractive. I would have been a little more clear in sub-chapter designations, but for such a short text this is not much of a problem.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I only spotted one - really just typographical - error. (and I got a 790 on my English GRE back when; one of my boys just nailed a perfect 36 on his Verbal ACT).

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Excellent, in using both US and international examples from a variety of cultural perspectives, especially in such a short text.

Comments

There is not enough material here for a semester long undergraduate class. Anyone planning to develop an undergraduate course on that topic would be well advised to look at "Cooperatives: Principles and Practices for the 21st Century" by Kimberly A. Zeuli and Robert Cropp, 2004. It is a University of Wisconsin publication, and widely available for download or print for a small charge. Between the two short publications, it should be possible to develop a class with low cost or open source materials as the core.