The Co-op Food Stores of New Hampshire and Vermont

Question of the Week for January 2: Which Co-op decisions are the responsibility of the Board of Directors and which should be brought to the members?

A Sampling of Member Answers

• Financial, HR, Policy, Operations – Board; Customer Interface, customer experience, Customer Satisfaction – Customers. See Stew Leonard’s famous Rules Rock in Connecticut.

• Election of Directors, changes to the bylaws [members]. While the technology exists to make Coop oversight a “truly democratic” process, that hamstrings the Board and leaves decisions to those without a real and thoughtful commitment to the Ends of the organization. This is especially problematic given the low % of Members who would respond to a typical referendum, i.e. the “special interests” will always win, perhaps at a cost to the overall organization.

• Considering the membership, I think a clear understanding as to why, and lead time is important. Issues within the department are really management’s problem.

• Board – general running of the Coop as is; Members – anything that is a huge change: new concepts that are not done now; very expensive upgrades or other types of projects; totally new ideas that do not fall within the scope of our guidelines”

• I think that you should bring a question to the members if it is something that would effect a members decision to continue shopping there. For instance, I would want to weigh in if you were thinking of partnering with Wal*Mart. If you are thinking of changing the color of the shopping carts, I would not feel the need to go to a different grocery store.

• Day-to-day operations are board/staff material. Major changes (such as service center closing) are appropriate for the membership to have a say about.

• The Board should hire/fire and supervise top management, and make routine policy decisions based on fidelity to the mission. Major policy decisions/changes which have moral, ethical or environmental implications, or which will affect the shopping experience,should be reviewed by the membership, with final decisions being made by the board in as close proximity with the majority membership’s wishes as possible.

• I doubt there is a simple rule that could be applied to answer this question. But, given the volume of business at the Service Station, it seems obvious that closing it would upset many people. I’m frankly amazed that the board did not anticipate the reaction and that worries me a little.When you ask members what they think about the Coop, they often express how happy they are with things as they are. Thus, any major change should be looked at carefully and publicized – to gauge reaction and solicit feedback. I would be happy to become more involved in discussing this issue and the best way to move forward.

• Board: Closing unprofitable or untenable businesses (i.e. the Coop Service Station); Members: Selling or purchasing real estate.

• While I do not really have an answer to this question, I will say this. I totally approved of the Board making the decision to eliminate the service station since it was a financial drain on the Coop, and our main focus should be food at fair prices. I was dismayed to learn that, because a few members objected, the decision was overturned. I do not believe this decision should have been overturned on that account. If it was to be, than a vote should have been put out to the entire Coop membership so the decision more accurately reflected what the majority thought. And that should have been done with a full explanation on the ballot about why the Board wanted to eliminate the gas/service station. I hope you will consider doing this. Let each Coop member speak for him/herself, and do not let a few loud voices undo a Board decision. If possible, I would like this comment to go to Terry Appleby and the Head of the Board. Thanks!

• Major financial decisions should be handled by the Board.

• I think it would be great if, for big decisions, the member’s input was solicited through a variety of means—a forum, this online vehicle, etc—the bad press from the gas station decision was painful to read—I don’t think the board is uncaring or unresponsive, but being super-tranparent around the big stuff helps everyone feel included and helps avoid a divisive feeling. There are lots of small decisions I don’t love—the different brands of greek yogurt in the different stores is one small annoyance when I am expecting consistency, but overall I feel pretty good about the quality of the stores, the terrific employees, and supporting a good local business. And I know I don’t have the time or energy to micromanage, so thank you to the board who clearly is willing to put in the hours.

• Thanks for the question and asking. Definitely a major decision like closure of the service and gas stations should be brought before the membership. The advance warning and communcation on this issue was severely lacking and the board should have guaged what the community sentiment would be in anticipating and preparation for the decision. But foremost, the members should be polled for this and better info given.