From: Michael Hoover <hoov-AT-freenet.tlh.fl.us> Subject: M-I: A new book on Mondragon (fwd) Date: Sat, 11 Oct 97 6:43:45 18000 Forwarded message: > Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 10:29:04 +0100 > From: lerner-AT-watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (S. Lerner) > To: PROGRESSIVE SOCIOLOGISTS NETWORK <psn-AT-csf.colorado.edu> > Subject: A new book on Mondragon > > FROM MONDRAGON - TO AMERICA: > EXPERIMENTS IN COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT > > DATA AND REFLECTIONS FROM FORTHCOMING > BOOK by Greg MacLeod > tel 902-562-242 > Fax 567-0153 > gmacleod-AT-uccb.ns.ca > > info contact > UCCB Press > Box 5300 Tel 902-539-5300 > Sydney, N.S. Fax 902-562-0119 > Canada B1P 6L2 > > DRAFT ONLY DRAFT ONLY > Contents > > 1. Inside Mondragon > A: Background > B: Mondragon: The Parts > C: Structures and Governance > 1. Single Enterprise > 2. The Zone Group > 3 The General Congress > 2. The Strength of Mondragon > A: Mission Statement > B: Ten Principles > C: Enterprise Creation And Development > D: Providing For Continuance > 3. New Vision > A: Sources > 1. The Church Tradition > 2. The Basque Social Tradition > 3. Socialism and Personalism > B: Don JosČ Maria's Synthesis. > 4. A Critique of Private, Social and State Enterprise > A: Capitalist Corporation > B: Traditional Cooperatives > C: Soviet Model > D: Towards a New Model > 5. A New Model > A: The Cooperative Corporation > B: A New Role for Management > C: Role of Workers > D: Evaluation and Replicability > > 6. The Valencia Experiment > A: Beginnings and Development > B: The Parts > C: Evolution to a New Phase > D: The Future > E: Basic Principles > > 7. North American Glimmerings > A. Community Business Corporations > B. Alternative Financial Initiatives > C. Mexico: A Sustainable Development Project > > 8. Practical Reflections for Community Economic Solutions > A: Community Economic Development > B: Getting Started > C: Person-Centered Economics > > Appendix I: Biographical Sketch of Don JosČ Maria > > Appendix II: List of Mondragon Companies > > Appendix III: Useful Addresses > > > Abstract > > CHAPTER ONE describes the facts about Mondragon, what the visitor will see > on a visit there or what one will read in the annual business report of the > Caja Laboral Popular (Credit Union or Cooperative Bank) which for many years > served as the glue to hold the complex together. The description includes > how the components function and relate to one another. Mondragon exists as a > concrete, functioning and profitable enterprise. > > CHAPTER TWO explains how the strength and success of Mondragon is rooted in > the founders' vision of society and their guiding value system. Aggressive > expansion in response to community needs is seen as a virtue. The complex > techniques of enterprise creation are described in detail. Also analyzed is > their freedom from bankruptcy. > > CHAPTER THREE responds to interest in the original intentions and innovative > ideas that gave rise to all this activity. The researcher will find that > none of the components is original but that each was proposed by some > earlier thinker.1 The genius of Don JosČ Maria was to construct out of these > elements an original synthesis which proved to be applicable to the world in > which he lived. Syntheses are extremely important for the advancement of > knowledge. The synthesis of ideas behind Mondragon is important because it > triggered a collaboration among a variety of institutions that are normally > divided and in competition. > > CHAPTER FOUR contains a critique of different models for a business > enterprise: capitalist, communist or communitarian. With the fall of the > communist systems in Eastern Europe these questions are important. An > extremely simplistic attitude might assume that the capitalist model has > 'won'. However, problems like chronic unemployment, pollution, and events > such as the Los Angeles riots, indicate that traditional capitalist systems > have not provided a formula for human wellbeing. > > CHAPTER FIVE presents the new model as envisaged by Don JosČ Maria, the > communitarian model which has yet to be widely tried in the Western world. > An examination of its success in the Mondragon complex reveals that it is > neither simply cooperative nor simply capitalist. The chapter shows how > Mondragon takes elements from several models and results in a community- > based business system which is very flexible and adaptable to changing > social needs and circumstances. > > CHAPTER SIX describes the Valencia experiment as an example of the > transferability of Don JosČ Maria's model. Founded by a group describing > itself as followers of the Mondragon approach, the Valencian experiment > consists of a community bank, a string of cooperative retail stores, an > insurance company, employee-owned factories and a professional school. > > CHAPTER SEVEN examines how the original motivation which inspired the > Mondragon experiment is shared by many groups in North America, including > one in Mexico, who are struggling to fight unemployment and economic decline > in their own communities. Also discussed are examples of other community > businesses which contain, in various degrees, some of the values associated > with the Mondragon experiment. > > CHAPTER EIGHT explains how technology is a way of thinking and a way of > organizing. Based on his involvement in community economic development in > Atlantic Canada during two decades, as well as his visits to the Spanish > projects, the author proposes that basic guiding values and good technology > are essential in making a new economy for a sustainable future. > > Appendix II is a useful list of the 96 member-enterprises of the > Mondragon > Cooperative Corporation, including product lines and addresses. > > MONDRAGON DATA: - > The Mondragon Cooperative Corporation now functions as four groups or > divisions: > 1. Corporate, responsible for planning and development. This also includes > the university. 15 enterprises > 2. Finance including the Caja Laboral or Credit Union, along with insurance > and social security. 6 enterprises > 3. Industrial which includes the factories and agricultural units - 67 > enterprises (a sub-set of this group is subsidiary enterprises-13 total of > 80 enterprises > 4. Distribution which includes the Eroski retail chain. > 8 enterprises > These four divisions are united under the general coordinating role of THE > CONGRESS which is comprised of delegates from all the divisions. > MONDRAGON COOPERATIVE CORPORATION -Jan. 1997 > CONSOLIDATED FIGURES (Canadian Dollars) > > 1994 1995 1996 > TOTAL ASSETS $10.8 bill $12.3 bill $13.8 bill > > I. PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION > SALES - GOODS $4.9 bill $ 5.5 bill $ 6.0 bill > > EXPORTS $ .8 bill $ 1.0 bill $1.1 bill > WORKER-MEMBERS 26 thou 28 thou 29 thou > > II. CAJA LABORAL ( CREDIT UNION) > > ASSETS $ 4.6 bill $ 5.8 bill $ 6.06 bill > INVESTMENT $ 2.9 bill $ 3.2 bill $ 3.5 bill > Equity $ .6 bill $ .7 bill $ .8 bill > WORKER-ACCTS$ 1.5 bill $ 1.7 bill $1.9 bill > The Caja ( co-operative bank) is still the key resource and instrument of > growth. > > Internal Investments : 1995-96 > Industrial group $147 mill > Distribut. $ 240 mill > Finance 9 mill > Corporate 5 mill > total $ 401 million > Special Purpose Expenditures by the Caja: > Education and Co-operative Development - 6.7 mill > Research .3 mill > Support for Youth Entrepreneurship .3 mill > Promotion of Basque language .4 mill > Institutional grants .4 mill > Cultural Activities and other .7 mill > $8.8 mill > CAJA LABORAL POPULAR ANNUAL REPORT 1996 > > JOBS in Mondragon Cooperative Corporation: > 1995 1996 > > Industrial Group 15,000 15,839 52,% > Distribution group 10,974 12,377 40.7% > Finance 1,777 1,830 6.0% > Corporate activities 387 400 1.3% > Total 28,228 30,446 100.0% > 2, 218 added in 1996 Most of these were from retail system . Still from > non-retail we have a net gain of 905. > > STRATEGIC PLAN 1996 TO 2000 > (cf. Lankide, April 1997) > CREATE 8,800 NEW JOBS BY THE YEAR 2000 > ( From present 28,250 to 37,050) > > 1996 2000 > Industrial 16,040 20,000 > Distribution 10,030 - 14,530 > Finance 2,180 2,520 > total 28,250 37,050 > > In this book we have looked at Mondragon, Valencia and a number of > smaller > examples of community initiative to set up businesses dedicated to the > common good. The ones that survive seem to be the ones that maintain a set > of ideals and values but who admit that they cannot be all achieved. Rather > , they hold the ideals as a kind of horizon which we aim at. Progress is > judged not simply in attaining the ideal, but rather coming closer and > closer to the ideal. The danger is that the incomplete, compromise > situation will be accepted as the ideal and that no effort will be made to > change and improve what we have. > While almost every other corporation in the world is cutting back and > reducing the number of employees, MCC has as part of its five year plan the > goal of creating at least 8,800 new jobs in Spain. This is accepted as a > duty to the general community which is suffering from unacceptably high > levels of employment. While for the Guiness Corporation, the priority is to > increase profits, the priority for Mondragon is to increase jobs and > preserve the community. This manifests the over-riding fidelity of > Mondragon to its most basic distinguishing characteristic: THE PRIORITY OF > PEOPLE OVER CAPITAL. > -- > Greg MacLeod > University College of Cape Breton > P.O. Box 5300 > Sydney, N.S.- B1P 6L2 > CANADA > > FAX 902-567-0153 > Univ. tel 902-539-5300 > Res. 902-562-2420 -- --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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