MONDRAGON Congress 2015

The MONDRAGON Corporation 2015 Congress was held in Donostia today. A total of 650 delegates representing all the co-operatives in the co-operative group were called to attend.

As usually occurs, the congress was divided into clearly differentiated parts, one dealing with ordinary topics while the other section centred more on conveying the current situation of the “MONDRAGON of the Future” project. Regarding the first part, it is worth mentioning aspects like the admission of new co-operatives, in this case GSR, a co-operative specialising in residential services management (which has gone from being a subsidiary to one of the co-operatives associated with the Congress).

The Corporate Centre budget was also ratified, as were the management reports of the Congress Standing Committee and the MONDRAGON General Council, drafted by their respective chairmen, Javier Goienetxea and Javier Sotil.

Javier Sotil: “in 2015 the previous year’s sales will be surpassed and 1300 industrial jobs created”

Javier Sotil spoke about MONDRAGON’s evolution, pointing out that “in 2015 the previous year’s sales will be surpassed and 1300 industrial jobs created”. As to 2016, Javier stated that “we have come out of a crisis and have to tackle an unpredictable future where trust and hope will be necessary, together with co-operation on the basis of our diversity and the development of new sustainable profitable businesses which help transform our society. Moreover, we must do this together, because we’re bigger and better, conveying hope to young people as the creators of change, playing on a big scale”.

MONDRAGON of the Future

Regarding the second section, it was Javier Sotil himself who presented stage two of “MONDRAGON of the Future”, a framework project defined by the corporate bodies and conveyed to the co-operatives to encourage their participation in defining the project.

Stage one of the “MONDRAGON of the Future” project was presented at last year’s Congress. In brief, the document reconfirmed the belief in the strength and validity of the co-operative model and its supporting principles and values. He also affirmed that it was being built by the co-operatives themselves, which are responsible for its decisions and shape its future, sharing the same model and supported by intercooperation and the instruments of solidarity.

In his address, Javier Sotil mentioned that the documents drafted by the different working committees made up of members of the Standing Committee and General Council to lead MONDRAGON into the future had already been passed on to the co-operatives. These documents are related to the experience of co-operative values, the organization model and financial instruments for intercooperation to tackle the new challenges.

Regarding the former, the aim is to reinforce the experience of co-operative values at MONDRAGON with emphasis on the values and practices to be strengthened during this new stage. It targets concepts like the culture of self-demand and co-responsibility, demanding solidarity, social transformation and intercooperation. The organizational approach seeks to reinforce the competitive position of the co-operatives while contributing to boosting their socio-entrepreneurial projects, facilitate development of their capacities to successfully compete on a global market and establish a solid base on which to develop the MONDRAGON of the future. With regard to the financial instruments for intercooperation, the aim is to endow the co-operatives with the necessary financial structures and support to ensure the sustainable development and expansion of their businesses.

At this point, Javier Sotil stated that “we are immersed in the participation process of the co-operatives. With the feedback we receive from them, we can then draft the definitive speeches to be presented, debated and approved at the 2016 Congress, which will likely be held some time around the middle of next year”.

What is the MONDRAGON Congress?

The Congress is a body which determines the general guidelines or criteria governing MONDRAGON, such as the definition of basic policies related to essential matters of common interest. 650 delegates representing all the co-operatives in the group are called to attend this annual corporate meeting. This body also approves the incorporation of new co-operatives and draws up the management report for the Standing Committee (the institutional representative body operating between Congresses) and the General Council (the Corporation’s management body).