Objective of the CIC

The Cooperatives Innovation Circle (CIC) aims to bring together leaders of cooperatives and mutuals with responsibility or involvement in the area of innovation, in order to share views and experience on innovation issues, methodologies, tools, cultures and initiatives. Drawing on HEC Montréal’s leadership in the area of innovation, the CIC’s objectives are to share understanding of new challenges and to foster thinking on new approaches to solving those challenges. Each member will then be in an advantageous position to adapt the findings to the context of their own organization.

Why the CIC?

The CIC contributes to the Institute’s mission, which aims to support and organize exchanges among cooperatives, as well as transferring knowledge from the academic world to cooperatives and mutuals.

Innovation was noted as a key topic for this exchange and transfer of knowledge activity, due to the importance it holds with the Institute’s Board of Governors, as well as with the participants to the first study conducted on the subject by the Institute: “Innovation: Priorities and Practices in Cooperatives“.

CIC activities

  • Setting up a private group on LinkedIn that connects leaders in innovation from cooperatives and mutuals, members if the Cooperatives Innovation Circle;
  • Perform a focused study on innovation in cooperatives/mutuals: the theme to be chosen from the list below.
  • Personalized feedback on the study for each participant (in-person or video conference);

Benefits to members

The active participation of the CIC will bring several benefits to the members:

  • Global network of personal connection with peers facing similar challenges and opportunity for bilateral cooperation;
  • Contribution to annual studies, through brainstorming and discussions on current challenges with peers and leading academics;
  • Personalized feedback of the study for each member (in-person or video conference);
  • Access to the annual workshop on innovation and to cutting edge innovation centers from HEC Montréal (such as Tech3lab, Mosaic, IVADO).

CIC current members

  • Banco Credicoop (Argentina)
  • Bancoob (Brazil)
  • Caisses d’Épargne (France)
  • Mouvement Desjardins (Canada)
  • DZ Bank (Germany)
  • Crédit Agricole (France)
  • Groupama (France)
  • LABORAL Kutxa (Spain)
  • MACIF (France)
  • MAIF (France)
  • Rabobank (Netherlands)
  • Raiffeisen Bank (Switzerland)
  • Raiffeisen Institute – University of Lucerne (Switzerland)

If you represent a co-op organization and wish to join the CIC, you can join the group by clicking on the “Request to Join” button at the top right of the following LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8581768

Study topic for 2017-2018

The topic selected by the majority of CIC members for 2017 is the following: Innovation and the reinforcement of the local presence of cooperatives and mutuals.

In 2017, the Institute conducted a study on the theme of innovation and the territorial anchoring of cooperatives and mutuals. Thanks to the participation of several CIC members, the study has allowed the mapping of the best innovation practices. The authors also propose an analytical framework to reinforce the territorial anchoring of cooperatives, through an innovation approach, while supporting local development. The study report, published in April 2018, is available here.

List of study topics

Selected topics by respondents to the online survey

  • Which role for cooperatives/mutuals in the sharing/collaborative economy?
  • Which cooperative model for the generation Y and Millennials?

Other suggested topics

  • How to stimulate cooperative entrepreneurship with Fintech companies?
  • What are the specificities of cooperative innovation processes?
  • How cooperatives/mutuals can innovate for disadvantaged clients? Best methods for cost-saving innovation?
  • What are the specificities of cooperatives/mutuals regarding the digital transformation?
  • How cooperatives/mutuals can reinvigorate local territories/their presence through innovation?