Reflecting Collectivism in the Vision, Mission and Goals (VMGs) of Cooperatives

The study intends to reflect collectivism in the vision, mission and goals of cooperatives. As observed, cooperatives are realistic embodiment of this philosophy in which their members form cooperatives or they join cooperatives because through collective efforts, they can be better off in their economic, social and political status. This study employs a qualitative design using document analysis on the submitted social audit and performance audit of cooperatives. As a strategy, the VMGs were subjected to semantic analysis to create themes that are primarily related to economic, social and political. The study utilizes 482 submitted audit reports to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in the Philippines. The study reflects that collectivism is embedded in the VMGs of cooperatives. It manifests that the members’ collective aspirations in terms of economic, social and political are codified and these serve as qualitative backbones that guides the members and their officers in their actions. The study implies that indeed cooperatives are institutions that embody collectivism and they are viable institutions that can improve the economic, social and political conditions of a group or people. Hence, this study suggests that the propagation of cooperatives in communities needs to be encouraged and public policy must be strengthen to make them stable and operational.