The ‘Membership Value’ of German Co-operative Banks: A Comparison with Concepts of Shareholder and Stakeholder Value

Nowadays there is a lot of discussion about the concept of shareholder value and its obvious counterpart the concept of stakeholder value. Though there is no lack of opinions sometimes these opinions do not seem to be well formulated and properly backed by a theoretical construct. All too often the people discussing these issues seem to be guided by their own values and purposes rather than by the desire to build a consistent and workable concept. This lack of scientific orientation builds up stereotypes. The concept of shareholder value is equated with the resurrection of Manchester Capitalism. The concept of stakeholder value on the other hand shows many traces of a social or even socialist approach in the eye of its opponents. Of course, as is always the case with stereotypes, both statements neglect a great deal of each concept. Given this lack of conceptual clarity why discuss yet another concept, the membership value of co-operative banks? First of all the discussion could not be complete without it. In Germany, like in many other countries, the group of co-operative banks provides for a large share of the whole banking system1 (See Figure 9.1).