The level of implementation of cooperative principles in women's cooperatives: The Samsun province example

The most important role of cooperatives is to contribute to regional development. Due to these roles, they constitute an organization model whose influence is gradually strengthening. Cooperatives are organizations that have the principles of cooperatives that constitute their constitution. These principles have been in a constant state of change and development since 1934. The reason for the change and development is the competition, integration and globalization phenomena that occur in economic life. The principles of cooperatives consist of seven principles. These principles are; voluntary and open membership, democratic control carried out by members, economic participation of members, autonomy and independence, education, training and information, cooperation between cooperatives, and being responsible to the society. The correct and complete implementation of cooperative principles is the driving force that causes cooperatives to be successful. Cooperatives are organizations managed by their members. Accordingly, in order to be a successful cooperative, its members must also know the principles of cooperatives. Women's cooperatives, which constitute the field of study of the research, are also developing in our country. Women's entrepreneurial cooperatives aim to bring together the labor of women, strengthen women in the economic and social fields and include the local entrepreneurial potential of women in regional development. This study was conducted to examine the level of implementation of cooperative principles by women cooperatives operating in Samsun province. In the study, the opinions of cooperative chairmen were obtained by using a qualitative research approach with semi-structured interview technique and these opinions were evaluated with descriptive and content analysis methods. The study aims to fill the gap in the literature on the level of implementation of cooperative principles and to contribute to the development of cooperatives. The results obtained from the research determined that women's cooperatives operating in Samsun generally adopted and implemented cooperative policies. However, cooperatives have differences in the level of implementation of these strategies. It seems that some cooperation will be more effective, especially in principles such as voluntary and open participation, democratic control and being responsible to society, but there are deficiencies in issues such as economic participation and education, training and information. In order for cooperatives to achieve a more efficient and sustainable structure, these policies need to be better understood and listened to by all managers. In addition, it was agreed to expand cooperation between cooperatives in order to increase the number of units and lengths of members of the countries and to provide conditions for giving more importance to educational activities. It is envisaged that this development will both contribute to existing cooperatives and provide guidance for newly established cooperatives. In this research, the activities and solutions of cooperatives regarding cooperative policies. The findings show that the stability of the policies is high, but only one principle can be successful.