ALIGNING HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT WITH COOPERATIVE VALUES: A PARTICIPATORY FRAMEWORK FOR TERTIARY INSTITUTION COOPERATIVES IN NIGERIA
Keywords:
Participatory HRM, Cooperative Governance, Value–HRM Alignment, Reward Equity, Tertiary Institution CooperativesAbstract
Cooperative enterprises increasingly adopt formal human resource management (HRM) practices to enhance efficiency and accountability; however, such systems are often derived from hierarchical organizations and may conflict with cooperative principles of democratic participation, equity, and collective ownership. This conceptual paper addresses the limited theoretical understanding of how HRM can be designed to align with cooperative values, particularly within tertiary institution cooperatives in developing contexts. Drawing on Stakeholder Theory and Humanistic HRM, the study develops a participatory HRM framework that conceptualizes HRM as a bundle of interrelated practices – participative decision-making and cooperative education and training. The model proposes that participatory HRM practices influence member commitment and cooperative performance both directly and indirectly through reward equity as a mediating mechanism. In addition, value–HRM alignment is introduced as a moderating condition that strengthens the effectiveness of participatory HRM practices when they are consistent with cooperative principles. By integrating participation, fairness, and value alignment into a coherent framework, the study contributes to HRM and cooperative literature by advancing a context-sensitive and value-driven model of people management. The paper also provides a foundation for future empirical research and practical insights for strengthening cooperative governance and performance.
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