Management Problems in Cooperative Platforms and Traditional Cooperatives

Abstract

Digital platforms connecting service providers to consumers create a new model of business and society. The so-called “joint economy,” based on breakthrough technologies, is radically changing the reality of traditional sectors of the economy, i.e., transport and accommodation. The platforms were based solely on financial results, paying little attention to the social and environmental aspects of their activities. Alternatively, another movement called platform-based cooperativism came about as a result of the work of cooperative developers and scholars who tested an alternative platform model. In this regard, this study analyzes management aspects in cooperative platforms and traditional cooperatives based on the practice of digital participation. Our goal is to compare traditional and platform cooperatives in terms of communication, transparency, co-creation of services, and decision-making. Document analysis methods are basic. The results show that both cooperative platforms and traditional cooperatives take the insufficient initiative in digitalization compared to the opportunities offered by the literature.