Mondragon Corporation has not ruled out new strategic agreements and has opted for the adaptation of the business dimension to the global market and for the rapprochement to emerging markets. It has also shown its readiness to reorient activities with less growth potential and has resolutely committed itself to comprehensive corporate projects. All these changes or adaptations will be necessary to achieve the Congress’s main objective: to adapt the structures of the companies that make up it to create jobs with added value.

These guidelines are part of the decisions taken at the annual congress of the Mondragon Corporation last September. The congress of the year involved 650 representatives of all the cooperatives of the group. The objective of such conferences is to define the general norms and criteria that should guide the corporation. That is to say, to define basic policies on fundamental issues of common interest.

The Mondragon Corporation is the most important business and cooperative group in the Basque Country. It consists of the Industrial Group, the Financial Area (Caja Laboral y Lagun Aro) and the Distribution Group (Eroski). At the end of the 2010 financial year, the assets of the Basque corporation amounted to EUR 33,099 million, with consolidated returns of EUR 178 million and an overall workforce of 83,859 workers, the majority of whom are members of the cooperative.

Social and business policy 2013-2016

This year’s Mondragon Corporation Congress unanimously adopted a key document for the Corporation’s future: Social and business policy 2013-2016. The document defines the conception and challenges of the corporation, as well as the basic lines of action of the company. Of course, the document was previously discussed by the cooperative partners and was subsequently approved by the representatives of the 650 congressional assistants.

This document sets out a starting point for later drawing up strategic plans for cooperatives. And he's put a challenge on the table. “adapting our business structure” to generate value-added employment. In short, and as the leaders of the Mondragon Corporation have pointed out, the objectives of the coming years are to improve the competitiveness of business, to strengthen people’s commitment and cooperative spirit, to be a business group with profitable and sustainable businesses on the road to creating added value jobs.

Basic lines of action

In the search for this objective, the congress has marked four lines of action or strategies, according to the same sources. The first is to size and internationalize to find an adequate and competitive measure in a global market. Secondly, innovation, together with promotion and knowledge, must allow for permanent innovation in business models and the promotion of activities in the sectors with a future. The third is inter-cooperation, cooperation between cooperatives and with external partners, to improve market opportunities and offer comprehensive solutions and value-added services. Finally, the fourth line of work is to enhance the commitment and cooperative identity, enhancing the cooperative characteristics and expressing them through attitudes that fit the values, principles and management model of the corporation.

Amendments and adaptations

This challenge will require changes and adaptations in the group’s business policy, as cooperatives have decided. Thus, they intend to adapt the dimension of their business to the global market and turn to emerging markets, markets in which they have already begun to work for years. It is also geared to the development of new possible strategic pacts and the reorientation of activities with less growth potential. Finally, they have clearly committed themselves to the comprehensive corporate project.

From now on, with the adoption of that policy that serves to define the strategy, the 2012 management plan should focus on those keys. In addition, next year cooperatives will have to reflect to define their strategic plans and draw up corresponding management plans for the period 2013-2016.