The goal statements of the cooperatives are those approaches, strategies
and activities of the cooperatives in order for them to meet their
vision and mission. The goal statements were formulated collectively by
the members, and they are being translated into specific, measurable and
time-bound objectives by management. These goals serve as the foundation
for the actions of the elected officers and management so that the
members’ aspirations will be realized. As observed in Table 12, the goal
statements are in-line with the members’ aspirations in terms of
economic, social, and political. This reflects that the cooperatives’
directed approaches, strategies, and activities, which were collectively
agreed upon by the members, are related to collectivist dimensions such
as economic, social, and political. Meanwhile, the chi-square test
reveals that the cooperatives have significant differences in terms of
their collectivist aspirations. The frequency counts and percentages
manifest that the cooperatives give greater attention on economic
aspirations (63%) than their social (20%) and political thoughts
(17%). In addition, the collectivist thoughts are dependent on the size
of the cooperatives, wherein the collectivist thoughts were mostly
observed among micro and small cooperatives than those medium and large
cooperatives.
Table 13 reflects the cooperatives’ collectively agreed-upon economic
goals, which will guide the elected officers and management in their
activities. They would have to conduct business and develop relevant
strategies and activities in order to improve the members’ economic
conditions. As observed, the formulated goals are in terms of meeting
the members’ financial needs, provision of goods and services,
generating surplus (income), and growing their assets and capital. In
addition, they also want to extend the benefits to the community by
providing equal access to goods and services, creating employment
opportunities, and helping the family of the members.
Table 14 reflects the cooperatives’ collectively agreed-upon social
aspirations. As observed, the value the members’ social well-being and
lifestyle. In reality, they were able to codify policies that would
benefit members in terms of education and training, social bonding, and
provision of social services benefits based on need. To support these,
the offered programs such as scholarship assistance to their children,
health care, mutual aid, and so on. They also provide social services to
other cooperatives as well as the community in which they reside and
operate business.
Notably, the cooperatives are important political catalysts and
advocates for good governance in both their business operations and
their communities. As reflected in Table 15, among their goals is to
instill the values of transparency, accountability and trustworthiness
in their elected officers and management. The elected officers and
management are expected to abide with the cooperatives’ philosophies and
policies in their business operations and activities. Through this, they
become important role models in their communities and other form of
organizations could be influenced to adopt cooperative practices and
management styles. Furthermore, cooperatives can also become political
catalysts in the public sector because they actively participate in
government affairs by lobbying on behalf of their members’ concerns and
also they can become effective tools in carrying out some governmental
functions and goals. Imperatively, collectivism as a way of life causes
leaders to become more conscious of their actions and behaviors, as well
as more proactive as change agents in society.