Co-operatives, credit unions and principles: a post 2008 critique

Kleanthous, Akis Steliou (2017) Co-operatives, credit unions and principles: a post 2008 critique. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis examines the adherence of credit unions to their co-operative principles. Noting the financial crisis of 2008 and the calls for change to a more ethical, transparent and fairer financial industry co-operatives appear to be a plausible way forward. The analysis of the corporate governance of co-operatives indicates that they are founded on co-operative principles, the cornerstone being the active participation by its members. The study of the previous literature demonstrates instances where co-operatives did not adhere to their principles as well as instances where members were not very active. Credit unions in Cyprus were selected as the specific co-operative industry and geographic location for the collection of data; one of the reasons being that in March 2013, six months prior to the first collection of data, Cyprus suffered a second financial crisis, giving the opportunity to investigate these two issues in a time of scrutiny and pressure. Structured interviews with thirty credit union employees, documents (statistics) from the ex-supervisory body and three focus groups with thirty members (in total) were carried out. The findings show that credit unions do not seem to adhere to their principles and members do not seem to be actively involved with their credit unions. As the warning bells for their long-term survival may have already sounded, credit unions must encourage their members to get involved, rebuild their trust amongst them, among membership and the society in general, provide co-operative-related training and restrict the involvement of the political parties. Finally, ways must be found so that credit unions remain closely involved with the societies they serve. To this extent, Service-Dominant Logic is proposed as a possible way in assisting credit unions to re-focus on their membership.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Co-operatives, credit unions, co-operative principles, member involvement/participation, corporate governance, Service-Dominant Logic.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Supervisor's Name: Paton, Professor Robert A. and Wilson, Professor Fiona M.
• Date of Award: 2017
• Depositing User: Mr Akis Kleanthous
• Unique ID: glathesis:2017-8294
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 06 Jul 2017 15:38
• Last Modified: 18 Jul 2017 12:51
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/8294