A Scop (société cooperative de production) is a cooperative enterprise where the employees hold the majority of the company’s share capital. Employees elect the management team, participate fully in decision-making, manage the company, and share its profits, in accordance with the democratic economic principles of cooperatives. Under French commercial law, Scops may be incorporated as an SA (société anonyme) public limited company or an SARL (société à responsabilité limitée) limited liability company.
Voting at the Annual General Meeting follows the cooperative rule of “one person, one vote”, regardless of the amount of share capital held by each individual. Profits are distributed to employees through various employee profit-sharing schemes and appropriated to various company reserves to fund investment and ensure the Scop’s durability. Profits are also distributed to internal and external shareholders based on the size of their holdings in the Scop.
From a legal standpoint, Scops are subject to specific regulations established under France’s Law of 19 July 1978. Matters not covered by that law fall under the general law for cooperatives, followed by the law governing commercial companies.
Focused on people more than capital, Scops are considered by many to be the ultimate company structure for participatory management. Employees are actively involved in their companies and are highly motivated because they have direct stakes in the capital ownership, results, management, and decision-making of the Scop. Learning is encouraged. Scops seek to fulfil the individual and collective training needs of employees by offering technical, managerial and cooperative training programmes.
Scops are full-fledged businesses. They generally take the form of small to medium-sized companies, employing from two to 1,000 people. They are active in every sector of business, from building and public works, manufacturing, food services, farming, transport, and insurance, to IT, consulting, communication, new technologies, healthcare, education, and culture. Through employment and activity cooperatives, Scops actively welcome and accompany individual entrepreneurs in the pursuit of their endeavours. In addition, Scops use their networks to support the development of Scic (sociétés coopératives d’intérêt collectif) collective interest cooperatives, which bring together employees, users, volunteers, and local authorities to undertake local development projects.
Scops promote participatory company management Because employees have a direct stake in capital ownership, decision-making processes and results, Scops are considered to be the ultimate step in participatory company management.
Scops offer a shared entrepreneurial experience Scops build a sense of belonging and spark the entrepreneurial spirit through a shared approach to creating and maintaining a business.
Scops are durable, local players Because employees are the decision-makers and the capital is non-transferable, Scops cannot be bought out or outsourced offshore.
Scops encourage learning Training and informing are an inherent part of the Scop’s participatory nature.
Scops promote responsibility, solidarity and good citizenship Scops encourage each individual to take responsibility in a common undertaking where power, decision-making and profit are distributed fairly.
Scops teach entrepreneurship By its very nature, the Scop statute encourages full entrepreneurial participation. The Scop Enterprises network helps to develop entrepreneurial skills through its cooperative and managerial training programme. Activity and employment cooperatives also welcome entrepreneurs and facilitate the creation of cooperative companies.
Scops strike a balance The Scope statute strikes a balance between entrepreneurial freedom and the security of a group working together, between individual fulfilment and group achievement, and between economic necessity and human ambition. It balances the relationships between managers and employees, the remuneration of work and the return on investment, and it balances managing the short term with building the long term.
Financed by member cooperatives and managed by elected representatives from Scops, the Scop Enterprises network accompanies the creation and development of cooperative companies. It is one of the few networks offering entrepreneurs a full range of services:
An introduction to creating a company
Accompanying and monitoring activities over the life of the company
Financing
Training
Inter-professional exchanges
Representation among economic, political and social organisations.
The Scop Enterprises network is comprised of the following:
The Confédération générale des Scop leads and coordinates the Scop Enterprises network and represents Scops at the national level in France.
Twelve regional unions accompany the day-today development of Scops and provide representation at the regional and local levels.
Three professional federations represent member Scops in dealing with authorities in their respective fields and provide economic, technical and legal advice as well as support in the development of their activities. The three professional federations encompass the following three sectors of activity: - Building and public works, - Communication, - Manufacturing, metallurgy and technologies.
SCOP
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