Author
Marie-Claude Beaudin is an Assosiate of Services Praxie and professor in the Management Science School, l'Ecole des sciences de la gestion (ESG UQAM) in Monreal. She holds a PhD in practical philosophy from the Université de Sherbrooke, in Quebec. Her main research interests are cooperatives banks but also human ressources management.
Executive summary
As consumer cooperatives, the purpose of credit unions is to maximaxe member-client satisfaction whereas traditional companies aim to maximze profitability (Pichette, 1972; Van Parijs, 1997). Are candidates in the labour market sensitive to a company's purpose when they apply for a position? If so, is customer satisfaction a more attractive purspose than profitability ? This article presents the findings of a study that was conducted with students of a business school, which confirm the hypotheses that a company’s purpose influences organizational attractiveness and a credit union purpose is more attractive than a traditional bank purpose.