The Monash Business School has created the Mutual Value Measurement framework in an effort to assist mutual firms in defining their total value, which yielded overwhelmingly positive results following a two-year field research in Australia.
In a media release, Monash University revealed that the framework uses six standard criteria, including commerciality, shaping markets, member relationships, community relationships, ecosystem and reciprocity, and mutual mindset.
With the said criteria, the university said the framework enables cooperatives and mutuals to assess their overall value production.
According to co-creator Professor Matthew Hall, professor of Accounting and associate dean for Graduate Research at Monash Business School, “Using the Mutuals Value Measurement framework is a way for mutuals and co-operatives to ensure that what is on the table is always something that really matters to members.”
The university also stated that being trustworthy and acting in a genuine, trustworthy, authentic and ethical way to ‘doing the right thing’ are other desired behaviours measured using the framework.
Meanwhile, Dr Paul Thambar of Monash Business School described the study as a successful accounting research project with real-world research implications.
“It highlights how Monash Business School researchers collaborate with industry partners to co-create and deliver value,” Dr Thambar said.
Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) CEO Melina Morrison commented on the developed framework.
“Valuing the positive impact of cooperatives and mutuals on their members, their customers, their communities and wider society, is long overdue. It’s a framework that makes sure none of the value co-ops created is hidden, overlooked or ignored,” Morrison said.
A total of 13 Australian CMEs took part in the 2018-2019 field project, working alongside researchers from Monash Business School, Australian National University, and Warwick Business School in Coventry, UK.
