Cooperatives at the Crossroads of Social Enterprise

Malaysia’s introduction of a Social Enterprise (SE) accreditation framework represents a significant step toward institutionalizing the SE sector. While cooperatives, given their long-standing commitment to member welfare, collective action, and community development, appear conceptually aligned with SE principles, many remain unable to obtain Basic Social Enterprise (SE.Basic) or Accredited Social Enterprise (SE.AC) recognition. This study explores the underlying factors that limit Malaysian cooperatives from achieving SE accreditation. Adopting a qualitative research design, structured interviews were conducted with key policymakers and cooperative leaders directly involved in accreditation procedures. Thematic analysis identified five principal categories of constraints: fundamental structural limitations, leadership challenges, procedural and technical complexities, misalignment within the standardized accreditation model, and deficiencies in managerial competencies. A total of eleven specific thematic barriers were identified across these categories. The study advances scholarly understanding of the positioning of cooperatives within the SE landscape. It highlights the need to recalibrate accreditation criteria so that they more accurately reflect cooperative organizational logics and operational realities, thereby improving coherence between cooperative practice and SE classification. This study also contributes to the broader discourse on SE accreditation by illustrating how standardized frameworks may inadequately capture organizational diversity, particularly in emerging institutional contexts where formal legal recognition remains underdeveloped.