Genossenschaften in Zeiten von Krisen - Die Sichtweise von GenossenschaftexpertInnen und - mitgliedern auf die Corona-Krise

The covid-19 crisis not only affects health care institutions, but due to the countermeasures taken by the governments the economy and thus cooperatives to a large extent as well. This research examines in a two-stage process how cooperatives act in the current crisis and what opportunities experts and members recognize for raising the cooperatives’ profiles. The first step of the analysis consists of a Delphi study among cooperative experts from academia, public administration, and practice. These findings form the basis for the subsequent member survey. The synthesis of the two studies shows that cooperatives are considered as highly crisis resilient. Their future strength is considered in more pronounced cooperative solidarity and regionality. Experts and members call for an increased presence, better internal and external communications, a redesign of processes, and communication through digitalization whereas the personal character of the communication should be preserved. The overall view of the results indicates the need for increased consideration of younger members.