RETAINING IDENTITY AND ACHIEVING SCALE: A STUDY OF UNIVERSITY CO-OPERATIVE CONSORTIUMS IN JAPAN YASHAVANTHA DONGRE UNIVERSITY OF MYSORE INDIA

THE PLIGHT OF SMALL CO- OPERATIVES  Strengths: Cohesiveness, Member centrality, Democracy  Problems: Scale, Expertise, Sustainability

STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE BENEFITS OF SCALE  Federation  Mergers/Acquisition  Subsidiaries

LIMITATIONS OF MAINSTREAM STRATEGIES Federation – Super structure – Big Brother Merger – Bee hiving – High cost Subsidiary – Deviation from coop model

ALTERNATIVE MODEL  Success of small co-operatives rest on achieving economies of scale without sacrificing co-operative identity.  The strategy should have the features of an efficient Supply Chain Managememnt and at the same time that of a cohesive Social Network

UNIVERSITY CO-OPERATIVES IN JAPAN  Consumer co-operatives having campus community – students, teachers and staff - as members and catering to their needs  About 225 individual co-ops, wit NFUCA as federation  Strong presence in universities as well as within the consumer co-op sector  Many innovative business practices to sustain under competitive setting without losing their identity

UNIVERSITY CO-OPERATIVE CONSORTIUMS (UCC)  Solidarity based consortiums at regional level  Legally federations, but at the local level  Consortiums are representatives of member organizations and focused on business development

Status of UCC NAME OF THE CONSORTIUMNUMBER OF MEMBERS TURNOVER (Billion Yen ) Hokkaido UCC Tohoku UCC Tokyo UCC Tokai UCC Keiji-Nara UCC Hokuriku UCC Hanshin UCC Chugoku-Shikoku UCC Kyushu UCC

STRUCTURE OF UCC NATIONAL FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS (NFUCA) BUSINESS CONSORTIUMS LOCAL BRANCHES OF NFUCA PRIMARY CO-OPERATIVE MEMBERMEMBER MEMBERMEMBER MEMBER SERVICE/FEEDBACK SERVICE FEEDBACKFEEDBACK FEEDBACK

DIVISION OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY FUNCTIONROLE OF CONSORTIUMROLE OF MEMBER CO-OP MerchandiseSelection of Vendors, Selection of Products, Procurement, Delivery, Pricing decisions Ordering products through UCC based on requirements, Implementing UCC’s merchandise plans, Procuring and pricing products specifically required by the co-op and not included in the UCC’s merchandise Finance and Accounting Handling payments to vendors, Handling inventory, Maintaining accounting records of all members Maintaining records of properties, membership register, Salary register, Handling and maintain records related to Investments and borrowings if any. Human Resource Management Planning HR policies, Recruitment of Executives and Full time staff, Training arrangements Recruitment of part-time staff, Allocation of job responsibilities General Management Decision on Management policies, Guidance to member coops on management practices Implementing the managerial policies as suggested by the consortium, Unit level operational management OthersAny other matter as entrusted by the member co-ops All other matters not covered by the UCC

GOVERNANCE  1. BUSINESS EFFICIENCY  2. AUTONOMY  3. GOAL COMPATIBILITY  4. INTERFIRM RELATIONS  5. DEMOCRACY

EXPLAINING THE SUCCESS  UCC’s are a Social Network Supply Chain  Solidarity is the foundation and business development is the objective  Willingness to forego short term individual gains for long term collective gains  Belief that consortium’s survival depends on strength of primaries  Least compromising model