From the co-operative point of view, the way that policy is made and
implemented is without doubt the most important issue. The business
must pay its bills and make a profit, but all of the financial
issues are constraints: what the co-operative is really all about is
defined partly by its mission statement, and partly by the working
environment it creates for its members.
Central to this issue is the involvement that everyone has in making policy. In a small group this is easy: you have a meeting, discuss an issue until some sort of consensus emerges, and the policy is made. In a larger group the dynamics of large meetings make this difficult, and choices have to be made about the methods of involving everyone in all the important policy decisions, and how to prevent the business degenerating into endless non-productive meetings.
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The VSM shows System 5 overseeing the interaction between System 4
(collecting environmental data .. making strategies .. ) and System
3 (overseeing the Operational units .. looking for ways of
generating synergy ... )
Assuming all of this running smoothly, the policy systems have very little to do except to act as a watch dog over this process and to ensure that policy is adhered to. The principle of how policy is made is generally not an issue - most people in co-operatives would agree that policy must express the "will of the members", and that either meetings of all the staff or of delegates representing all the staff are the way to do it.
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Perhaps the biggest problem at Suma in 1986 was that everyone wanted to be involved in every decision and the resulting proliferation of meetings was getting unworkable. While policy clearly requires an input from every member, it had become necessary to get some decisions made only by the members directly involved.
The VSM contribution to this problem was:
The crucial factors are that:
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There is little doubt that the weekly Hub/Sector system keeps everyone involved in all policy matters.
They may use a weekly meeting of delegates to take the overview of the current situation, and make decisions on their own initiatives (at Suma, delegates report only their Sectors' views). They then have monthly staff meetings to look at the weekly decisions and to make policy. All weekly decisions and agendas may be pinned on a notice board and members may intervene if they feel it is necessary.
Generally this system seems to work, although there are some grumbles about lack of consultation.
HTML version constructed by John Waters at the Llanidloes Resource Centre. Last modified 30th October 2005.