A study of cooperation in a craft cooperative

This article presents a study of cooperation among craftsmen, all working with wood, who, in response to problems with their suppliers, formed a cooperative to mutualise their purchases of the goods, materials and derivatives they needed for their activity. The cooperative structure was chosen in order to create a central procurement entity. An exploratory study, based on an interpretive methodology, was carried out with 18 semi-structured interviews with the regional Chamber of Crafts and Trades, and craftsman members and employee members of the cooperative. Our research question was: What kinds of cooperation can be developed within the hybrid structure of cooperatives to reconcile craftsmen's economic and identity interests? We show why and how the cooperative, the services it renders to the craftsmen, and its organisation are not only sources of performance for the craftsmen but also cohesive factors. Our results show the cooperative to be based on a duality between complementary and community cooperation. Rather than developing at each other's expense, these two logics set up a positive dynamic through which an equilibrium is created, and paradoxical situations can be managed.