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Cooperative Business in Germany – A Case Study-Based Introduction

Business Models, Management, and Organization

In times of economic turmoil, marked by glaring global environmental problems, unequal distribution of wealth, demographic shifts, and financial and/or debt crises occurring at more or less regular intervals, corporate behavior focused on financial gain is increasingly reaching its limits and, as a result, can no longer meet all consumer needs. Such “market failure” has recently become apparent, among other things, in connection with the energy transition at the local level, the provision of adequate medical care in rural areas, and the serious problems surrounding the provision of affordable housing. The legal form of the cooperative, as a time-honored model of collective economic activity, offers a solution to these (and many other!) challenges, so it is not surprising that the cooperative organizational form shapes many sectors of the German economy, both at the local level (e.g., banking and housing) and on a national scale (e.g., retail), and will continue to gain in importance in light of current upheavals and challenges.

Against this backdrop, the course aims first to provide a practice-based overview of the specific characteristics of the cooperative organizational form and its integration into a comprehensive overall structure, in order to analyze, on this basis, its prevalence across various sectors and thus its scope. In this context, the course also covers the theoretical foundations of cooperatives. The focus, however, is on case studies of various fields of activity of cooperatives, which include industry analyses, address management aspects, discuss the specifics of the legal form, and finally also address current economic and social challenges.

The course will be taught by Dr. Andreas Wieg, an alumnus of the School of Business & Economics at Philipps University of Marburg, who currently serves as head of the executive staff of the DGRV e.V. (German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation) and heads the federal office for “Energy Cooperatives.”