Mytilene 10/09/2014

Responsible Innovation at Local LevelWomen Cooperatives The North Aegean Paradigm

Panagiotis Lampropoulos, Samos Chamber of Commerce

IntroductionPilot action:

«Development of a small guide for creating small innovative business, with the valorification of local recourses and tradition knowledge and “know how”. This guide will be based on the experiences of the women cooperatives of North Aegean Region, and especially the cooperatives of Lesvos Island»

Why?

“The women's cooperative of Lesbos, involuntarily, have developed practices in the production and in their business organization and relations with local communities that largely match the criteria of RI. In this regard, the modeling of their efforts will assist to promote their experiences among existing and new entrepreneurs in Samos”

The questions

1. Are, women's cooperatives of Lesvos example of innovation? Even of "responsible innovation"?

2. Could they, in the new conditions, created due to the crisis, to be a “good practice” and part of the solution of the crisis, (at least for the islands of the Aegean?)

3. What is their “secret”? Could we make methodologies and “tools” based to their experience, that can be used by others people living in the same conditions?

Women cooperatives as an RI paradigm

Some history:

Two periods in their history

First period (early 80’s) : Women cooperative of Petra, the first women cooperative in Greece

Second period (95- 20): The “boom” of the women cooperatives of Lesvos

The women cooperatives of Lesvos

Women cooperatives as an RI paradigm• What they produce:

The vast majority of them, produce products that are in their local tradition (sweets, pasta, etc…)

… with “know-how, that was either forgotten, or was completely restricted in their own locations

With other words: They have "Commercialize" their tradition

But…Is this an “innovation”?

If «Innovation is a new idea, device or process”

In their example we meet both aspects of innovation:

•New, or clearly differentiated products (for the market)

•with new, or unique procedures, based in their local trandition

But is a responsible innovation?With regard to the organization of their business: even that a cooperative it is not something new…

•Women created cooperatives, because this form of organization was more friendly to them •They made use of informal collaborative forms used in producing household products •They are abased mainly on the concepts of solidarity and equal participation of all members, •And ultimately, it was just what they could do, in the conditions that those times, were offered to them as “employment opportunities” in their villages…

But is a responsible innovation?Regarding the production process:

They use and utilize resources generated by their community, using techniques based on local tradition

In this way, they are contributing, both to preserving their local potential but and their local traditions

But is a responsible innovation?Regarding the results:

They represent a major mechanism for reinforcing the local economy, since their successful effort has as direct result to increase of the family income and reduce unemployment. Due to the fact that, all cooperatives, are engaged in the production of local and traditional products using resources from the area, their derivatives results of this effort are important: About 85% of the added value is created and diffused in the local community. The social impact of this effort is important, due to the further enhancement of the position of women in the local community, creating the foundation for overall social development and health in the community

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

A period of transaction…

That means first and foremost that we must understand and agree to the simple fact that our lives will be different, when the crisis reached its end.

The crisis, puts into renegotiation, the mission and the policies for big and small business,

Renegotiate the concept and the content of entrepreneurship

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

“Crisis management” is always a “management of changes”, and these changes, do not occur at once.

They go through a process of test failures, experimentation and conflicts of interest. These conflicts are occurring both within a social formation, but also among social formations It takes time to settle up as political. These policies are the result of relationships that create conflicts of interest mainly.

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

It takes time to settle up as political. These policies are the result of relationships that create conflicts of interest mainly.

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

GDP per capita, in the Northern Aegean, while, till 2008 were increased, as much as the national, in 2009 were decreased by 4.7% compared with the 4.3% of the country. In 2010 was decreased by 6% compared with the national reduction of 3.2%.

It’s a fact that the economic crisis, is more pronounced in the North Aegean than in the whole country. It has significant negative effects on the local product and therefore the incomes of households, with negative effect in the whole socioeconomic local life.

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

In order to “go back to the normality” and to achieve the “normal” numbers of unemployment, in Lesvos, in a depth of 10 years, we should create each year, 1000 new jobs, or (witch is the same) 100 new businesses that will employ 10 people each!

(that means an increase of the local GDP, of about….8- 10%)

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

The alternatives

1. To leave the island, migrate? 2. To expect for someone else to make something for us?

Who? 3. To try to do something by our own means?

How? With what? With whom?

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

If we choose (and want) to live here, they only thing that we have to do what, is what, throughout its history, the mankind does:

•To exploit the possibilities offered by our environment•To “much" these possibilities with our knowledge, skills and abilities •and to produce goods that meet human needs

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

With such an approach, the local development is oriented mainly on an endogenous development. Every model of endogenous development is based on the local features and the ability of the community to the control, of some key variables such as:

The use of local resources (labor, local entrepreneurship, raw materials, specialized knowledge). The ability to control the local accumulation process. The ability to innovate. The existence and development of productive capacity, intra-industry and cross, interdependencies and linkages at local level.

Women cooperatives, as a “good practice” and part of the solution

This is the point where the paradigm of women cooperatives, meets the needs of today

They, in their time, gave an early answer to problems that now are in front of us!...

The women proof to us that it is possible for people with limited opportunities (or resources) to manage and to develop a new opportunities for them and their community, just, by doing things, different!

Can we copy them?

The women of the cooperatives invested in their work, the resources of their community (largely remained unexploited) and their accumulated knowledge or new knowledge that was easy to fill or to gain.

It is important to note here that they, mainly have exploited resources, that were "free" in their environment (their culture but and material goods, such as fruits, herbs, etc). They could use them as 'own resources', reducing - in this way - to a significant degree, the risks!

Can we copy them?

But they have used an additional "free resource“:

Know-how, methods of production, and new products that has been developed, not in laboratories, but during the centuries of human existence

Can we copy them?

This combination created a strong novelty and uniqueness! This is because both the resources and the accumulated local know-how have all the characteristics of uniqueness:

The possibility of a resource or idea to be a source of competitive advantage depends on the following key features: 1) It should be usable 2) It should be rare, among the existing and potential competitors 3) Its replication should be difficult

Can we copy them?

Yes, you can copy them!

But, in order to be more effective, we must do, in the same measure that they did (in their time) thinks different, things differently from… them. We have to talk for a "new… innovation“, that is actually responding to the needs of today, at least in our islands.

Can we copy them?Yes, you can copy them!

We have to talk for a "new… innovation“, that is actually responding to the needs of today, at least in our islands.

Ex.:? Innovation on the mission and purposes of the activity in order to find ways on how, our products, can reach even those who, due to the crisis, do not have the purchasing power…

That, maybe, means, that we have to change our marketing mix, pricing policies and the ways of exchanging of our products. (many of us know that people, in this crisis period, have give answers and found solutions to such thinks. Can we see how we can integrate this solutions to business activities?)