An open access ebook designed to introduce undergraduates to democratic models of business, such as co-operatives and employee-owned businesses, is now available to download.
The key features of Democratic Enterprise: Ethical business for the 21st century are:
- numerous case studies of co-operatives and employee-owned businesses from around the globe;
- suggested essay/discussion questions; and
- an accompanying virtual learning environment containing lecture slides, seminar exercises, recommended journal articles and useful websites.
The resource is aimed at undergraduate students of various business related disciplines.
It is also aimed at academics who wish to incorporate material on co-operatives and employee ownership into existing or new courses/modules.
It can be used as a supplement to any related discipline or as a standalone template for academics who wish to incorporate material on democratic models of enterprise into their courses/modules.
It is hoped that the resource will contribute to an increase in the number of co-operative studies options in higher education in the UK.
Diarmuid McDonnell, Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate at the University of Aberdeen said, “Democratic Enterprise is one of the core outputs of the KTP project between the university and Co-operative Education Trust Scotland. It is central to the partnership’s aim of promoting the study of democratic models of enterprise in higher education.
“The UN has declared 2012 as the Year of Co-operatives in recognition of the impact they have on over 3 billion people around the world; coupled with the ongoing financial crisis, people are beginning to explore alternative economic models and universities, in particular business schools, have an important role to play in ensuring individuals are given the opportunity to discover these models while in education.”
The resource is one of the outputs of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between the University of Aberdeen and the Co-operative Education Trust Scotland: www.abdn.ac.uk/cets/.