Research thesis and working hypotheses

The thesis of the research: The Bulgarian cooperative model of doing business in its diversity, which is based on the original cooperative principles and values, can build a potential for implementing innovative management solutions that allow it to integrate with public policies to create benefits for society and sustainable development.

Scientific research hypotheses:

1) The cooperative movement/system and the cooperative business model are flourishing when there are certain constellations/factors that act simultaneously and unidirectionally, and vice versa, the absence of just one of these factors causes problems that can lead to their deformation, metamorphosis, or destruction.

2) The cooperative values carriers are the members of the cooperative. The cooperative values are resistant and slow to change over time. They are not implemented by law or coercion but need to be embraced, empathized with, and/or shared. They determine the behavior of the members in the cooperative group, the cooperative, and the cooperative business and give them stability.

3) Social cooperative principles are significantly long-lasting than business cooperative principles, which are primarily operational and relatively more rapidly changing.

4) The fundamental culture of the Bulgarian cooperative movement/system is changing both evolutionary and revolutionary, which affects in the first case positively, and in the second case negatively.

5) The successful cooperative governance structure represents a balanced mix of three building elements: representation, expertise, and member’s commitment, which are the basis for the successful, viable, and sustainable development of the Bulgarian cooperative movement/system and its potential for implementing innovative management solutions.

6) The member identity stems from the cooperative culture, and this relationship creates the necessary conditions for the successful and sustainable development of the cooperative group and the cooperative business model for building potential, allowing them to implement innovative solutions.

7) Competition forces cooperative models of doing business to comply with market development. This fact results in their economization and approximation to corporate(investor)-owned business models. Economizing the cooperative models of doing business may alter the original cooperative purpose.

8) The value of the cooperative (cooperative model) are rooted the its dual nature, which combines in a single integrated whole a cooperative group and a cooperative enterprise with an inherent modern marketing-management toolkit.