Spolu 4: The Stakeholders

Who owns the spolu? How are profits distributed?

In the previous section, I mentioned that the corporate world has the investors as the ultimate decision-makers of the corporation. The co-operative world has the customers or employees as the decision makers.

The spolu is going to bring in these stakeholders together:

1) investors,

2) employees,

3) customers, AND

4) suppliers AND

5) philanthropy.

These entities will send their own representatives to the senior management team (analogous to the “board of directors”). These entities will also share the profit distribution.

The Spolu Investors

A new spolu will need seed capital to start. Investors will come together to provide that seed capital. In exchange for their money, the investors will get shares in the spolu.

Spolu investors can be individuals, other spolus, mutual funds, corporations, and government.

Allowing “corporations” to invest in spolus kind of sounds like another version of the corporate world. Well, there is a big difference. These corporate investors will have to share decision making and profits with the other stakeholders. Many corporate investors will…