Identifying the Dimensions and Components of the Cooperative Structure in Iran with the Approach of Waqf and Charity Affairs Based on Mixed Research

Iran as a developing country needs to address its immediate societal needs in line with its national and religious values and reduce its gap with other societies. National productivity studies and comparisons of Iran with similar countries also indicate the need to pay attention to management structures (Mohammadzadeh Sultanmoradi et al., 2019: 3). On the other hand, social inequality and the issue of poverty in Iranian society have turned into a socio-economic crisis (Ahmadi et al., 2023: 243), and governments have been active in the economic field with the main goal of eliminating this poverty and deprivation (Abbasi et al., 2023: 270). To eliminate these inequalities, the use and structuring of cooperative institutions with a semi-look at charity and endowment can be a solution (Ahmadi et al., 2023: 243). The cooperative institution in Iran has legal status because Articles 43 and 44 of the Constitution explicitly refer to the provision of employment through cooperatives and the division of the national economy into three government, cooperative, and private sectors, and consequently, the law of the cooperative sector of the Islamic Republic of Iran was approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in 1991 (Oghabayi Jazni et al., 2018). An endowment can be considered a model for exiting the crisis, as the political system governing the endowment has been a mediator of changes in the performance of this socio-religious institution (Ahmadi et al., 2023: 243). In most countries, the cooperative management system has centralized planning, but in terms of implementation, it follows a decentralized system. Apart from that, in terms of the complexity of the organizational structure, this system is simple and small in volume. Given the aforementioned, this study aims to revise and construct a new structure and propose a suitable model for the cooperative management structure of the country, following the specific cultural, social, and political conditions of the country.

Given the exploratory nature of the research topic, a mixed-method research design was used to design a model for the cooperative structure in Iran with an endowment and charity approach and to deeply explain the effective components. The research was conducted in two qualitative and quantitative phases. In terms of research orientation, the qualitative phase is part of basic research and the quantitative phase is part of developmental research. The research was conducted in four stages. In the first step of the first stage, the cooperative structure in Iran was studied using a qualitative method, based on upstream documents, library study method, and organizational structure (form) review. This step answers the question, "What is the cooperative structure in Iran?" Then, in the second step, a content analysis method was used to extract the content indices of cooperation from semi-structured interviews with 15 experts, including managers and employees of the Deputy of Cooperation in the Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare, and the university professors in the field of public management. The purpose of this step is to answer the question, "What are the components and indices related to the structure (content) of the cooperative sector?" In the third step, using the available sampling method and the fuzzy Delphi method, ten university experts and managers in the field of cooperation were screened for dimensions, components, and indicators of cooperation with an endowment and charity approach.

The findings of the current study indicate that reducing government intervention in charity affairs is one of the most important principles under consideration for reforming the structure of the country's cooperative organizations. This reform should create the prerequisites for the optimal functioning of the cooperative sector in charity and endowment affairs, in areas such as transparency of legal procedures and practices, and the possibility of coordination between different sectors and multiple trustees. The functions of the model and its innovation compared to previous models are that each of the responsible administrations for cooperation, after approval and ratification by the National Cooperation Council, implement their cooperative programs, and all the actions of these administrations are based on the policies determined by this council. The presence of the President as the head of the National Cooperation Council guarantees the implementation of adopted strategies and policies and obliges the administrations to implement and follow up on the approved programs of the council. The experts believe that considering that a small part of the duties of other administrations is related to the cooperative matter and that the Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare has an important role in the cooperative due to the aforementioned duties., the secretariat of the National Cooperation Council should be established in this ministry. The Cooperation Chamber, as a non-governmental public institution, should also be present in the National Council as a representative of the unions of cooperative companies. Also, the presence of the head of the country’s Management and Planning Organization is useful in providing financial and human resources and accelerating the administrative process of cooperatives. Also, considering the important role of the village councils in creating the context and attracting people towards cooperatives, the Ministry of Interior, representing the organization of municipalities and village councils of the country, should be present in the National Cooperation Council. Also, based on the opinion of experts, the Minister of Jihad Agriculture, representing the Iran Rural Cooperation Organization, the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, representing Mehr Housing Cooperatives, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance for facilitating economic and commercial affairs of cooperatives, the head of the Cooperative Development Bank, the head of the Iran Cooperative Investment Guarantee Fund and the head of the Central Bank should be present in the National Council to allocate financial and credit resources to cooperatives. The presence of the Minister of Education and the Minister of Science is necessary for the culturalization of the cooperative matter at all educational levels.

In light of the research findings, to cooperate in formulating the country's cooperative policies in charity affairs, and to ensure the coherence and coordination of all agencies, align activities with goals and policies, and oversee their proper implementation, it is proposed to establish a National Cooperative Council. The secretariat of this council would be the responsibility of the Ministry of Cooperation, Labor, and Social Welfare. It is also suggested that in drafting government bills and administrative reform programs, actions should be taken to review the structure of the country’s cooperation, minimize the size of the volume of formations, and reduce the role of the government. Unified laws and transparent and specific indicators in the three areas of cooperatives should be legislated. The cooperative sector structure should be independent, which while having enough cohesion to help implement cross-sectoral policies related to the cooperative sector, also has enough operational independence to help implement sectoral policies.