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Coop Norway has announced its intention to reassess the structure of its corporate governance model, following criticism that group members are not sufficiently represented at its highest level.
Speaking to Norwegian media Nettavisen, Tore Tjomsland, chairman of Coop Norge and chief executive of Coop st, said the retail group would “set up a committee” to assess its model and governance structure and explore potential improvements.
Coop structure Norway
Until 2017, the group’s management board had three representatives, including a chairman and a vice-chairman, to represent its 1.9 million members.
Now, however, the representatives of the Coop members are no longer part of its board of directors, while the larger cooperatives in the group, which include 66 groups, are seen as having greater influence.
“No longer a democracy”
As Jan Olav Osen, former director of Coop Sr-Helgeland, told the newspaper last week, this change in structure means that Coop Norge’s organizational model is “no longer the democracy it was in the past” .
In response, Tjomsland told Nettavisen: “When crucial questions are now asked as to whether Coop Norge’s governance model sufficiently protects member democracy and interaction with cooperatives, we need to take it seriously. “
Efforts should also be made to improve gender parity on the company’s board of directors, which currently consists of eight men and three women, according to the newspaper.
Last February, the group announced that it had paid a “record dividend” to its members following strong sales last year.
European supermarket magazine 2021. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more information on retail, click here. Click Subscribe to subscribe to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
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