Managing Internationalisation Tensions in Producer Cooperatives

Abstract

Cooperatives, an important part of Oceania's economies, are attracting renewed interest as an organisational form for addressing societal challenges. Yet that mission often depends on growth and internationalisation strategies, which introduce multiple tensions that can lead to an erosion of cooperative principles. How cooperatives can successfully manage such tensions arising from internationalisation has been understudied by IB scholars. Our study of Zespri shows that the transfer of cooperative principles is possible when internationalisation is viewed as an incremental process of learning and active managerial agency aimed at reconciling competing logics.

Metaorganizing Collaborative Innovation for Action on Grand Challenges

“…The multiple qualitative case study presented here is part of a five-year study of knowledge coordination in producer cooperatives that pursue market-oriented strategies. These cooperatives are vital to New Zealand's economy [48], [62]. We noticed several initiatives to address land-use GCs in the research program and pursued this lead.…”

“…These principles position them to develop and diffuse sustainable practices that effectively balance economic, social, and environmental concerns [24], [26], [28], [46], [47]. Nonetheless, it is challenging for producer cooperatives to develop innovative environmental practices because they experience conflicts between logics [29], [48]. For instance, the cooperative's environmental sustainability decisions might be incongruent with individual member producers' business practices and goals [49], [50].…”

“…For instance, the cooperative's environmental sustainability decisions might be incongruent with individual member producers' business practices and goals [49], [50]. While producer cooperatives might be able to align business and cooperative goals, achieve significant growth, and lead sustainable practices across global value chains [48], our understanding of how cooperation across organizations might embrace and reconcile these tensions remains limited [51]. We turn to the literature on metaorganizations, as these share a range of similarities with producer cooperatives.…”

“…First, increasing members' knowledge of proenvironmental demands creates a "shared understanding of the problem" [38, p. 207] among embedded actors and emphasizes problems with current practices. Framing proenvironmental practices as opportunities consistent with members' economic interests [38], [59] allow emerging tensions between social and economic goals to be reconciled [48], [52]. This stimulates the reflective awareness needed for institutional change and encourages local experimentation with new practices that meet the demands of contradictory logics [38].…”

Managing Multiple and Conflicting Reputations in Global Organizations

“…Second, balance compromise with intransigence to build trust with stakeholders to avoid tensions (Siedlok, Elsahn, & Callagher, 2021) and being misconstrued (Sisifa & Stringer, 2021). Third, manage the brand, communication and public relations activity from the headquarters as a networked hub to ensure a coherent global reputation from the activities of the subsidiaries, rather than encouraging them to decentralize their own in-country activities which risks causing global incoherence.…”