COOPERATION is a business entity that organizes the utilization and utilization of its members' economic resources on the basis of economic business principles and rules. This is to improve the standard of living of members in particular and regional communities in general. The cooperative principles are the basic foundation of cooperatives in carrying out their business as business entities and people's economic movements to build effective and long-lasting cooperatives.

The latest cooperative principles developed by the International Cooperative Alliance (International non-governmental cooperative federation) include open and voluntary membership, democratic management, member participation in the economy, freedom and autonomy as well as the development of education, training and information. In Indonesia itself, Law Number 25 of 1992 concerning Cooperatives was created. Meanwhile, according to the regulations, the principles of cooperatives are: membership is voluntary and open, management is carried out democratically and distribution of SHU is carried out fairly in accordance with the business services of each member. In fact, the provision of remuneration is limited to capital for independence, cooperative education and cooperation between cooperatives.

Cooperative Performance in Indonesia

The history of cooperatives began in the 20th century as a result of small, spontaneous businesses carried out by small people. Low economic capacity encourages small businesses to escape suffering. Spontaneously they want to change their lives. The idea of cooperatives was introduced by R. Aria Wiraatmadja, who in 1896 founded a bank for civil servants. Due to high enthusiasm, the cooperative was continued by De Wolffvan Westerrode.

In 1908, Dr. Sutomo founded Budi Utomo which played a role in the cooperative movement to improve and prosper people's lives. In 1915 the Verordening op de Cooperatieve Vereeniging regulations were made and in 1927 the Regeling Inlandschhe Cooperatiev. In 1927 the Islamic Trade Union was formed which aimed to fight for the economic position of indigenous entrepreneurs. After the Indonesian nation became independent on July 12 1947, the cooperative movement in Indonesia held its first Cooperative Congress in Tasikmalaya. That day was later designated as Indonesian Cooperative Day.

From the period of independence to the New Order, cooperatives showed development and were considered to be the right solution to achieve equal distribution of social welfare. The number continues to increase but problems have begun since the birth of Regional Autonomy (Otda). The facts show that many regional cooperatives are in suspended animation and some have even had to be closed. The constraining factor is the low ability to repay cooperative borrowers due to minimal income. Another aspect is that there are loose regulations in establishing cooperatives and ultimately triggering the quantity of cooperatives to be greater than the quality. What happened to the death of cooperatives in the regional autonomy era certainly cannot be separated from the macroeconomic conditions which at that time were felt to be very difficult. In the midst of difficulties and the protracted crisis, it seems that the work and existence of cooperatives is increasingly being forgotten.

Another aspect is that competition is getting tighter so that there is no reason for cooperatives not to innovate, especially in relation to the importance of becoming a pillar of the national economy. This virus has undermined national cooperatives, data sourced from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs until the end of December 2013 was that 29.74% of cooperatives or 60,584 cooperatives were inactive out of a total of 203,701 units.

The ratio of cooperatives that have gone dormant has increased compared to the end of 2012. At that time, there were 54,974 cooperatives recorded or around 28.29% of inactive cooperatives out of a total of 194,295 cooperatives. From this data, it can be seen that the number of inactive cooperatives grew 10% in a year's period. In fact, the total number of cooperatives only grew 4.84% during 2012-2013. Meanwhile, the increase in the number of active cooperatives is even slower. The number of active cooperatives as of December 2013 reached 143,117 units, growing only 2.72% from the previous year's position of 139,321

Still based on this data, the volume of cooperative business at the end of 2013 was recorded at IDR 125.59 trillion, growing 5.37% from the previous IDR 119.18 trillion. Despite recording small business growth and the number of units, cooperatives recorded fantastic income growth. Just look, Remaining Operating Results as of December 2013 were recorded at IDR 8.12 trillion, growing 21.87% from the previous year's IDR 6.66 trillion

Cooperative Challenges

The big, very complex challenges lie within the cooperative body. Starting from the problem of disorientation of values and goals, minimal member participation in development, low quality of planning, enforcement and supervision to wrong care. These internal problems must be resolved, especially the members' commitment to mutual ownership of the cooperative. In cooperatives, members understand that they only use savings, but never borrow for business activities. This is called not having a sense of commitment to cooperation.

"This paradigm must be changed by cooperative actors internally, if cooperatives in Indonesia want to progress and develop," said Deputy for Human Resources Development (HR) of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, Rulli Nuryanto on one occasion.

The issue of commitment to cooperatives is a common thought because the true existence of cooperatives is not only for the benefit of the administrators and managers, but together and oriented towards the welfare of the members. Therefore, a spirit of commitment in cooperatives must be developed as a spirit in advancing cooperatives. All of this cannot be separated from the foundation of the cooperative, namely its members. If cooperative members are weak, then the cooperative is also weak.

For example, when a cooperative has a shop, members shop at that shop, not at other shops. Likewise, when a cooperative owns and sells a product, then the members buy the product. Another challenge is the demographic bonus that cooperative actors must address, so that cooperatives can be accepted by young people. Cooperatives must also be able to improve themselves following changing times and be attractive for young people to use. Why are cooperatives attractive? Because cooperatives are great and cool. This attitude must grow and be conveyed to them that cooperatives are business entities that are jointly owned.

Revitalization is urgently needed so that cooperatives do not deteriorate further and what efforts will be made by the ministry? The government, through the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, has responded with efforts to total cooperative reform which includes three stages, namely reorientation, rehabilitation and development. The government claims that the paradigm of cooperative empowerment has shifted from quantity to quality, covering institutional, business and financial aspects. The government's seriousness is reflected in the dissolution of around 50,000 cooperatives which were deemed unhealthy.

Minister of Cooperatives and UKM AAGN Puspayoga succeeded in improving the quality of cooperatives through a total cooperative reform program (Kemenkop UKM.go.id)

At that time, Minister Puspayoga said that the Total Cooperative Reform program was very important in carrying out improvements and improving the quality of cooperatives. The quality of cooperatives is the main target, not in terms of quantity. However, compared to other countries, the national GDP of cooperatives still appears to be lower. For example, cooperative GDP in Singapore is 10%, Thailand 7%, France 18%, the Netherlands 18%, and New Zealand 20%. This high GDP reflects that cooperatives in these countries are an economic force to be reckoned with.

The lagging GDP of Indonesian cooperatives is also a challenge that requires serious attention so that the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs is implementing Total Cooperative Reform to change the principles in cooperative governance. Reform in terms of mindset, that cooperatives are relevant economic institutions in the future.

The government's efforts to carry out total cooperative reform in the last five years include three agendas, namely first, Reorientation, namely changing the paradigm of the approach to cooperative development from quantity to quality to create modern cooperatives that are high quality and highly competitive with an ever-increasing number of active members.

Second, Rehabilitation, namely improving and building a cooperative database system through the Online Data System (ODS) to obtain a better and more accurate cooperative data collection system. After carrying out data rehabilitation via ODS, the number of active cooperatives shrank to 126,3434 units. Of this number, 80,008 have held Annual Member Meetings (RAT), even though before the cooperative reform there were 212,570 cooperative units and nearly 50 thousand cooperatives had been dissolved. Third, Development, namely increasing the capacity of cooperatives as member-based business entities that are healthy, strong, independent and resilient and equal to other business entities through conducive regulations, strengthening human resources, institutions, financing, marketing and technological progress.

Slowly, this total cooperative reform is starting to show positive results. Data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs at the end of July shows that the GDP trend for cooperatives continues to grow. In 2014, cooperative GDP was only recorded at 1.71%. However, cooperative GDP in 2017 jumped to 4.48% and in 2018 it rose to 5.1 percent. In terms of value, the contribution of cooperatives in 2017 was IDR 451,953.01 billion, increasing sharply to IDR 753,842.32 billion in 2018. This means that the GDP of cooperatives has jumped threefold compared to 2014.

More detailed data on the development of cooperatives nationally is that their own capital is IDR 181,028.35 billion, external capital IDR 166,878.46 billion, business volume IDR 390,676.69 billion, Remaining Business Results IDR 15,258.82 billion. This result is an indicator of the success of the total cooperative reform program

Digital Transformation and Millennials

The struggle to make cooperatives in Indonesia better is not finished because it is still facing the era of revolution 4.0. This revolution will bring major changes in digital life. Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, Prof. Rully Indrawan, reminded that the new challenges for cooperatives are not just a way of doing business in the digital era, but also changing the mindset in the governance system as a whole.

“Cooperatives must carry out total reform to be able to pass through the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era. "Cooperatives must be able to adapt and transform dynamically," said Rully at the award ceremony for the Outstanding Cooperative in the context of DI Yogyakarta Provincial Cooperative Day, Thursday (25/7/2019).

This appeal means that cooperatives must be creative and innovative in carrying out their business strategies. In fact, they must have developed applications, including member service and business applications. This transformation effort is intended to improve business performance. Technology can be used as a cooperative tool in implementing business efficiency strategies and can increase competitiveness. For example, currently RAT can be done online. Cooperatives are expected to be able to answer the challenges of the times and be able to compete with other business sectors. Not only is the use of technology as the spearhead of cooperatives in the future, the involvement of today's generation (millennials) is needed to ensure the existence of this national 'soko guru'.

It is hoped that this new generation of cooperatives will continue to emerge in Indonesia. One of the characteristics is that dependence on the government is diminishing, and it is moving more towards a cooperative philosophy, namely a self-help organization. Another characteristic of this new generation of cooperatives is that the business they run is in modern business areas, no longer just a savings and loan type of business, all business and consumption only. However, the business has been directed towards information technology (business) like the business carried out by the world's first ranked cooperative.

The new generation of cooperatives consists of young people who have a more contemporary mindset, are more creative and innovative. They also utilize digital technology to develop their business. However, the phenomenon currently occurring in the world of Indonesian cooperatives must be backed up by a legal umbrella. One of them is by issuing a new cooperative law so that it is hoped that the Indonesian economy can be based on a spirit of togetherness. Because of this, the new generation of young cooperative activists, who are currently still gathering in communities, immediately legalized themselves by joining cooperatives.

By joining a cooperative, it is certain that young people will find it easier to develop their business, and can export and import too. Realization of Digital Cooperatives In the digital era, cooperatives must immediately transform, especially digital transformation to survive. However, what needs to be remembered is that the transformation of this cooperative should not be carried out only by applying the latest software, but must also make changes to the business model, management and services. Several cooperatives in Indonesia, especially those funded by private companies, have begun to transform. Cooperatives will be an alternative for people in shopping, and will even be able to compete again.

The transformation has been carried out by Multi Core Digital Business (MDB). This company runs a cooperative business model, namely a cooperative with a core business in the field of financing, which startups are now starting to work on, including savings and loan cooperatives which must be equivalent to digital banking. The superior service of this model is the outcome provided to cooperative members in digital form, where cooperative members will be given convenience, such as checking balances, making payments/loans, and so on, just by using the application and not having to go to the cooperative office. Another business model that cooperatives should look at for transformation is omni channel. Omni channel is a cross-channel business model that companies use to increase customer comfort and convenience. In the omni channel business model, customers can purchase goods online as well as offline. In this business model, cooperatives can act as a market place that combines online sales services and the offline retail world.

Source: https://www.krjogja.com/cepat/read/414899/koperasi-digital-idaman-kaum-milenial