The challenges of emerging co-operatives in Northern Ireland

This research was conducted by Tebibu Solomon in 2021, while completing a Master degree at the University College Cork (UCC) and intern at Co-operative Alternatives.

Quick summary:

Co-operatives are business enterprises that are democratically controlled and owned by their members and which work in the interests of their members. The cooperative business model plays a significant role in the modern economy, primarily in building a strong local economy.

Nonetheless, despite the advanced development of co-operatives, many emerging co-operatives fail short of their full potential and sometimes do not succeed in achieving their business objectives. Co-operatives encounter challenges down the business wire due to factors originating from both internal and external environments. Additionally, the limited availability of literature to provide adequate prior knowledge of potential barriers and challenges to emerging co-ops has also contributed to the struggle of many co-ops.

To this end, this study is intended to systematically explore the challenges encountered by emerging co-operatives and draw potential strategies to tackle them. Therefore, the qualitative study was conducted involving seven emerging co-operatives operating in different sectors in Northern Ireland. These seven co- operatives are/were receiving facilitation and consultancy from Co-operative Alternatives, the leading co-operative development body in Northern Ireland.