WHERE
Social Co-operative Azalea is a type A social co-operative dealing with the management of health, social and educational services. Its mission is to assure, maintain and improve the quality of life of vulnerable people (AIDS patients, psychiatric patients, elderly people and children with psychical difficulties).
It is engaged in many activities ranging from home care to assistance at day and residential centres, mostly performed on behalf of public customers. It has many operating centres, located in the province of Verona.
Networks can help to develop relationships with former competitors
Azalea manages 10 residential structures in which it provides care services for the disabled, the elderly, psychiatric patients, minors with psychical difficulties and AIDS patients. In addition to these services, Azalea provides services of assistance for the disabled and elderly at home. It has nearly 300 working associates, 55 voluntary associates and a volume of transactions that exceeds 7.6 million euros in 2005.
WHY
The co-operative needed to achieve an increased level of competitiveness and reduce its structural costs.
HOW
Azalea is now a leader of the social and charitable protection network of the territory. The excellence area is represented by the Azalea ability to undertake original and advanced networked processes that have allowed it not only to overcome the problems of sour competition with profit and non-profit companies from the second half of the 90s, but to make this with good economic and financial results.
A network has been growing since 1997 onwards, which has enabled the co-operative to achieve the organisational and financial strengths to manage and develop services in co-operation with other social co-operatives as well as public and non-profit private organisations, while preserving its own operative and economic independence.
The network has helped achieve greater economies of scale in organisation (management and training of staff), in finance (access to credits), and in contracting (contractual strength and reliability towards the public body).
The strengths of the co-operative are the deep-rooted contacts in the area of Verona, where it can activate the local network which it belongs to (including the target group and their families, public customers, economic operators, the social fabric, the civil community), and the high quality of the provided service, which will be enhanced by promoting certification and accreditation policies.
Enclosure: Full Azalea case study (PDF)
For more information: Azalea Cooperativa Sociale a r.l., Via Brunelleschi, 3/b, 37138 Verona, Tel. 045575388, Fax 045575272