Conscious Capitalism and Construction of Humanized Relationships: A Study in a Credit Cooperative from the Sensemaking Perspective

Abstract

Objective: this study aims to understand how the purpose of a credit union organization focused on humanizing financial relations can be institutionalized from the stakeholder’s interpretation and action. Theoretical Framework: this purpose was analyzed based on the concepts of an integrated perspective in terms of sensemaking, construction of humanized relations, conscious capitalism, and organizing, which allowed for a contextualized and non-linear reflection on the studied phenomenon, going beyond formal and tangible parameters of the manifested expectations of the cooperative’s strategic guidelines. Methods: the research strategy is a case study for presenting the uniqueness of a specific phenomenon, using content analysis as a technique from the data triangulation of semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. Results: as a result, it was possible to conclude that the legitimacy of the cooperative’s strategic purpose goes through an interpretative process of individuals and their different roles that, when interacting among themselves, provide a basis for actions toward incorporating the purpose with a focus on humanized relations because it is a process of social construction and retrospective re-signification of strategic parameters that delineate behaviors. Conclusions: this study provides an expanded look at a specific phenomenon (humanized financial relations) in organizations guided by particular and universal principles (credit unions) that, while competing with non-cooperative financial institutions (banks), need to balance economic and social interests, without ceasing to be competitive.

The relationship between training effectiveness and financial performance in cooperative organizations

“…In addition to the aforementioned study, others have discussed social entrepreneurship (Lorenzo-Afable et al , 2020; Bradford et al , 2018; Dart et al , 2010), establishing converging points with cooperative organizations, such as resource mix and institutional environments (Zhao and Gijselinckx, 2011), the socioeconomic perspective of cooperativism (Bianchi and Vieta, 2020) and conscious capitalism with a focus on humanized financial relationships (Furlanetto et al , 2023).…”