Berkeley which was a major area for co-ops have almost none left. My family was part of a co-op. Challenges:
Often very political - seen as a good thing but can add conflict (ie divesting/not stocking/opposing apartheid Israel while some members are Jewish). No x because y etc - repeat for many topics.
Decision making - both hard and strong feelings internally- can lead to claims around “violent” communication, micro aggression, privilege, disrespect etc etc when there are disagreements. Coops will say a good thing, but I think can wear people out sometimes.
Accountability/performance mgmt. not always, but sometimes difficult to take action in this area - maybe a good thing - goal is to work together.
One interesting variant are employee owned businesses that do not run as co-ops. ESOPS etc. I’m not an expert at all, but I think there are a number of really industrial scale businesses that have this structure successfully.
Often very political - seen as a good thing but can add conflict (ie divesting/not stocking/opposing apartheid Israel while some members are Jewish). No x because y etc - repeat for many topics.
Decision making - both hard and strong feelings internally- can lead to claims around “violent” communication, micro aggression, privilege, disrespect etc etc when there are disagreements. Coops will say a good thing, but I think can wear people out sometimes.
Accountability/performance mgmt. not always, but sometimes difficult to take action in this area - maybe a good thing - goal is to work together.
One interesting variant are employee owned businesses that do not run as co-ops. ESOPS etc. I’m not an expert at all, but I think there are a number of really industrial scale businesses that have this structure successfully.