Materials relating to the project "Co-operative Sustainability and Planning Practices: Lessons from Consumer Co-operatives in Atlantic Canada" (Scorecard)
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Date
2015
Authors
Brown, Leslie
Hicks, Elizabeth
Leclerc, André
Petersen, Bonnie
Bourque, Monique
Cormier, Roméo
Leblanc, Léo
Jackson-Wood, Siri
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network
Abstract
Description
The Consumer Co-operative Sustainability and Planning Scorecard is a self-assessment and planning tool that measures co-operative sustainability, including social, economic and environmental performance, in relation to targets and priorities set by the co-operative's key stakeholders. This electronic tool allows co-operative retail grocery stores to measure and track their progress from year to year on a variety of indicators.
The Scorecard was developed and tested in partnership with Co-op Atlantic. A team made up of academic researchers and community co-operative partners created and tested the tool over a number of years, first as part of the Atlantic Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network, and then with the Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network (MCDRN).
Benefits of the Scorecard include: - Helps co-operative boards to assess their performance on financial, social and environmental aspects of their operations, and guides them in strategic planning;
- Provides co-operatives with the ability to assess their adherence to universally recognized co-operative principles and values ;
- Helps co-operatives demonstrate transparency and accountability while fostering greater resilience, innovation and sustainability;
- Gives co-ops an opportunity to survey both members and employees (both member and employee satisfaction surveys are included with the Scorecard);
- Allows co-ops to choose their own priorities, and then helps them stay on track in meeting them, year-to-year;
- With repeated use, provides co-ops with data that enables them to demonstrate the co-operative difference they make in their communities, and compare their performance to the overall patterns for retail co-operatives in the Atlantic region.
Here we include various presentations and materials related to the development and testing of the Scorecard tool, from the period of 2010 to 2015 when the project was part of the MCDRN. For example, we include two presentations given at the Co-operating for Change (Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation) Conference in Montreal, QC in June 2012. The first presentation introduces the project, discussing the research partnership, the reasons for measuring co-operative sustainability, and the status of the scorecard project, as well as next steps. The second presentation outlines the Co-operative Sustainability and Planning Scorecard, discussing the purpose and content of the tool. The presentation then shares the experiences of Co-op Atlantic with rolling out the tool as well as feedback received about the perceived benefits and challenges of using it.