Los principios cooperativos “atractores” de la gestión eficiente: su medición. Aplicación al caso de Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa

The cooperative is a managerial reality with a collective ownership and democratic management that tries to foster solidarity, participation and joint responsibility. At the same time, as any other enterprise that runs according to the market pattern, it is within the market economy which makes it proves its competitiveness and efficiency. Nowadays, change is the essential feature within the scope in which the managerial organizations interact. That is the reason why, more and more, management models based on flexible structures and autonomous units containing information systems that promote a higher involvement of people are required. Cooperatives, a priori, face the situation from a very profitable position, because the organizational principles required to tackle with the context, derive from the application of the cooperative principles. According to this hypothesis, it is necessary to determine a tool to assess the above mentioned principles. This article suggests the Social Audit as a tool to assess efficiency in management and cooperative identity. Finally, some reference is made to its application in Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa.