A Survey on Finnish Co-Operatives : Business Performance, Challenges, and the Sustainable Mindset

This article provides insights into Finnish co-operatives using evidence from 131 co-operatives of different sizes and in various industries. With the help of an interdisciplinary survey, we study the past and current state of Finnish co-operatives. The topics include business development, governance and management, sustainable investment, financing methods, and utilization of information technology, as well as the legal framework. We address the challenges faced by co-operatives under global competition, the implementation of sustainability and corporate social responsibility guidelines, and the Co-operative Act reform in 2013. We report how the co-operatives have utilized the new rules of the Co-operative Act of 2013. Finally, we study what factors the co-operative management takes into account in business decision making. Moreover, we study whether and to what extent the sustainability-oriented mindset affects co-operatives’ business operation and development