Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/314369 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] Systems Research and Behavioral Science [ISSN:] 1099-1743 [Volume:] 42 [Issue:] 2 [Publisher:] Wiley [Place:] Chichester [u.a.] [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 411-422
Publisher: 
Wiley, Chichester [u.a.]
Abstract: 
The recent literature on cooperatives includes two distinct and partly conflicting strands. The moral strand emphasizes cooperatives as a sustainable alternative to shareholder capitalism, while the managerial one problematizes the maintenance organizational costs that must be incurred by these organizations. To reconcile the disparity between these strands, we develop a Luhmannian view of how cooperatives navigate the precarious relationship between the economic function system and the societal environment. On this basis, we show that the maintenance organizational costs plaguing many cooperatives are indicative of an imperfect business case for providing a sustainable alternative to shareholder capitalism. Consequently, we view these costs as a reflection of the heightened managerial challenges involved in pursuing elevated moral objectives.
Subjects: 
business case
cooperatives
Luhmann's systems theory
moral case
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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