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Employing Catholic social thought in the classroom
Following are two courses offered in the graduate programs of the School of Leadership Studies
and Education Sciences (SOLES) at the University of San Diego (USD). Both integrate Catholic Social
Thought (CST) in their contents. Their titles are: “The ‘Mondragón’ experience. A case study of
participatory leadership and workplace democracy,” and “Ethics and Leadership.”
Title of the course: The “Mondragón” experience. A case study of participatory leadership and
workplace democracy
Description of the course: This three-unit study-abroad course is held at the Mondragón
Cooperative Corporation (“Mondragón”), headquartered in Mondragón, in the Basque region of Spain.
Mondragón is a contemporary example of the application of five Catholic Social Thought (CST) principles
to the world of work: social and economic justice, respect for human persons and their work, and solidarity.
Mondragón, with 100,000 worker-owners in a $20 billion conglomerate of 250 enterprises, was created
over 50 years ago by five young entrepreneurs and a Catholic priest. CST is embedded in Mondragón’s
principles, policies and practices at the workplace and in its relationship with the community. In this
course, students become familiar with CST principles and their alignment with Mondragón’s. Students
learn about the equality of worker-owners’ initial investment and ownership and equitable distribution of
profits; participatory decision making in factories, offices, banks, university campuses and research centers;
and solidarity in protecting employment by retraining and absorbing displaced workers among
cooperatives, the pooling of profits and voluntarily setting limits on management salaries. Communityrelated policies include the allocation of worker-owners’ profit sharing to stimulate job growth as well as
Mondragón’s economic contribution to improve local infrastructure and to the promotion of Basque
language and culture.
The course takes place partly at USD and mostly on-site at the Otalora Training Center and
facilities in Mondragón, Spain. It is an interdisciplinary course offered as an elective in various USD
Schools. The course is organized and led by a USD instructor coupled with lectures and site visits
conducted in English, or in Spanish with English translators, by Mondragón practitioners. The course,
designed for graduate students, has been extended to interested USD faculty and other members of the
community at a lower cost, and is now open to interested participants from anywhere in the world. In
addition, an undergraduate version of the course has been developed to encourage younger students to
attend. Groups of 12-15 students typically attend the course and a typical mix is 65% students and 35%
non-students.
Background: USD has been offering this study-abroad course to study Mondragón since 1996
and will be offered again this summer. This course is open to everyone and nineteen participants have
officially registered to attend it this year. I began teaching this course in 1998 and in 2001 I was invited to
present a paper at the Vatican comparing the Mondragón model to the Laborem Exercens encyclical in a
symposium titled “Work as Key to the Social Question,” organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice
and Peace. While doing the research for this paper, I found that the ten basic Mondragon principles were
closely aligned with the tenets of CST. Beginning in 2002, I incorporated these findings in the Mondragón
course.
Contents of the course:
Students prepare for the course by completing assigned textbook readings and about 250 pages of
selected articles divided in three parts: principles, issues and challenges of collaborative organizations; the
Mondragón experience and workplace democracy; and experiences in cooperation and participation at the
workplace in the Americas.
The five-day course is intensive, with lectures in the morning and site visits in the afternoon. The
course begins with an all-morning lecture by a USD instructor that describes the five CST principles
applicable to Mondragón (the dignity of human persons and their work, social and economic justice, and
solidarity), the ten basic Mondragón principles (see Appendix I), and, most importantly, the connection
between the two. This lecture provides the grounding for the rest of the week, during which connections
between CST and Mondragón are often emphasized by the instructor. The Mondragón lectures are about
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the history, organization, governance, management, participatory decision making, leadership style and the
more practical aspects of running a large multinational corporation. Students write a paper integrating the
readings and textbook assignments, the experience at Mondragón, and the potential changes they can make
in their own workplaces.
This trip is designed to be an integrated cultural and academic experience. Course participants stay
at a hotel in the town of Mondragón and are able to observe and/or participate in the afternoon gatherings
of the local community throughout the town, which exhibit a communal spirit that spills from the
cooperative environment at the workplace, characterized by joyful camaraderie, the absence of social class
differences and the inclusion of grandparents, parents and children in the afternoon promenades.
There have been many students and other participants who have referred to this trip as a lifechanging experience, after being exposed to a workplace and community that lives and works guided by
CST principles put into action in Mondragón.
Mode of integration: This course offers a real-life example of CST in action. Integration is
accomplished by introducing CST and connecting it to the Mondragón principles at the beginning of the
course; by providing the opportunity to be exposed to the Mondragón people, sites, community and
literature; and by integrating the literature, the experience during the course and the working experience of
the student in a final paper. If taken early in an undergraduate or graduate program, it gives a solid
grounding on CST that can be applied to subsequent courses.
Process: This process is implied in the above description of the course. Some actions taken by the
instructor are:
1. In the pre-trip session at USD, the instructor explains that Mondragón is about learning a different way
of looking at how we organize work, the way we relate to each other, and the effect this new
perspective may have in the way we look at our personal responsibility and that of our organizations
with the community, human family and the world
2. Assigns readings about the CST principles and those of Mondragón
3. The first day of the course, when already in Spain, the instructor gives a lecture elaborating on the CST
and Mondragón principles and the connection between them
4. Explains the difference between the policies and practices of a traditional organization and
Mondragón’s and asks: In what type of organization (See Appendix II) would you prefer to work?
5. The instructor is alert to capitalize on comments made by the Mondragón lecturers to reinforce the
connection with CST principles
6. Gets together informally with different small groups of students in the evenings and explains how the
Mondragón principles (and thus the CST principles) spill out to the community. The instructor refers to
the way local Mondragón people interact, points out the many aspects of the local culture that are a
result of the presence of Mondragón, and reminds participants of the solidarity of the Mondragón’s
people through contributions to the community (10% of worker-owners profit sharing).
Title of the Course: Leadership and Ethics
Description of the Course: This course intends to enhance students’ understanding of ethical
leadership issues in their work, their lives, their communities and society at large. In addition to studying
the classical ethical theories, the course addresses three levels of ethical issues: personal, organizational,
and societal.
A section of the course capitalizes on the research done about Mondragón and its connection with
CST as well as on the continuous learning from the study-abroad course every year. This section addresses
the presence of major self-perpetuating injustices, indifference for the well being of employees and
disregard for the common good built into traditional organizations through their structures, policies and
practices. The Mondragón model is then used to present a principle-based organization that has established
structures, policies and practices that perpetuate precisely the opposite: social and economic justice, the
respect of human persons and their work, and solidarity within the organization and with the community.
Their principles in turn are linked to those of CST, as established in the course mentioned above.
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Background: This course has been a requirement for the Masters and Doctorate Leadership
Studies programs at USD since their inception. I began teaching this course in 2005, introducing from the
beginning what I had learned about the alignment of the CST and Mondragón principles as an example of
an ethical organization.
Mode of Integration: Students are introduced to CST and the Mondragón principles by asking
the question: What is an ethical organization? After some discussion, the Mondragón principles (See
Appendix I) are described. These principles are compared to those of a traditional organization through as
simple chart (See Appendix II). The next question is expanded to: In what organization would you prefer to
work? Because Mondragón offers an attractive working environment, students usually select its model. The
connection is then made between Mondragón and CST. This is followed by illustrating that Mondragón is
not only an ethical company because of its established policies and practices, but also because it promotes
the wellbeing of the employees (worker-owners) and the community.
In addition, one of the required textbook (see point 3 in the Process below) addresses the “light
and shadow” of leadership, recognizing that leaders can be a positive or negative influence on others in
their personal or professional lives. This reflection and examples from the textbook provide another
opportunity to reiterate that CST principles cast light instead of shadow in the practice of leadership.
Process: Some actions taken by the instructor are:
1. Includes the Mondragón model and CST in the syllabus and mentions these concepts while
reviewing the course in the first class. The instructor also explains that USD offers an annual study-abroad
course about Mondragón precisely because it practices a different model of leading organizations and
organizing work.
2. Mentions that CST will be reviewed from an ethical perspective, as a set of principles
applicable to all persons who are concerned with ethical behavior and the common good.
3. Early in the course, the instructor introduces the idea that work can be organized in different
ways and that it is not necessary to assume that traditional organizational structures and systems are fixed.
4. Assigns the required textbook “Meeeting the ethical challenges of leadership. Casting light or
shadow” 3rd edition. (Johnson, C. E, 2009. SAGE publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.).
5. Assigns readings about CST and Mondragón principles when addressing ethics at the
workplace. The connection between these principles is discussed in class. Also, the permeating effect of
CST and Mondragón principles beyond the workplace is pointed out. Mondragón’ structures, policies and
practices are contrasted with those in traditional organizations (See Appendix II).
6. Emphasizes the importance of setting basic ethical principles (in addition to values, which may
be market oriented), building ethical organizational structures and institutionalizing ethical policies and
practices in organizations. The existence of self-perpetuating structures, policies and practices that allow
injustice and lack of concern of the common good is pointed out (The Enron case has wide coverage in
Johnson’s textbook).
7. Makes students aware that, different from the usual approaches, which assume the traditional
organizational structures and systems are fixed and efforts need to be oriented towards “tweaking” the
system, a re-design at all levels of the organization is necessary to establish solid ethical grounding.
Appendix I
Ten Basic Principles of Mondragón
The Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (Mondragón) is grounded on ten basic principles that
balance individual, organizational and community needs:
1. Open admission. Mondragón is open to all persons who are capable of carrying out the available jobs.
There is no discrimination based on religious or political grounds, nor due to race, gender, age, or socioeconomic levels. The only requirements are the ability to perform the available job and acceptance of these
Basic Principles.
2. Democratic organization. All workers are owners, and all owners are workers. Each cooperative is
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managed by a system of “one person-one vote”.
3. Sovereignty of employee’s work over capital. Employees join Mondragón and become worker-owners
after making a capital contribution. All employees are entitled to an equitable distribution of profits. The
return on saved or invested capital is just but limited and it is not tied up to the surpluses or losses of the
cooperatives.
4. Subordinate character of capital. Capital is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Capital is used to
create more jobs and to improve the quality of existing jobs.
5. Participatory management. Worker-owners participate in the management of the cooperatives. This
implies development of self-management skills. Formal education and adequate information are provided
to improve worker-owners’ ability to participate competently in decision making.
6. Payment solidarity. Remuneration is regulated internally and externally. Internally, an agreed
differential between the highest and lowest paid job is applied. Externally, a remuneration level is
determined by comparing with similar local industries.
7. Intercooperation. Cooperatives form Groups to pool profits, to absorb worker-owner transfers when
necessary, and to attain synergies. These Groups associate with each other to support corporate institutions.
Mondragón associates with other Basque cooperative organizations to promote the collaborative model.
8. Social Transformation. Mondragón’s worker-owners invest a majority of their profit sharing in the
creation of new jobs, in community projects and in institutions that promote the Basque culture and
language.
9. Universal nature. Mondragón proclaims its solidarity with other cooperative movements, with those
working for economic democracy and with those who champion objectives of peace, justice and human
dignity and especially with people in developing countries.
10. Education. Mondragón cooperatives commit the required human and economic resources to basic,
professional and cooperative education to meet the ten basic principles.
Ref: The Mondragon Cooperative Experience, J. M. Ormaechea, 1992 (D. Herrera 5/09)
Appendix II
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTINUUM
Traditional organizations
1. Maximizes economic benefits
Mondragón
Balances economic & social benefits
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Autocratic management
Democratic mgmt
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
3. Concentrated power at the top
Distributed power
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Discourages participation
Encourages particip.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
5. Economic benefits for few investors
Econ benefits for all
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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6. Owners/investors not employees
Owners/investors
are all employees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Limited information to employees
All info available
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
8. Employers and employees opposite
Employers and
employees together
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
9. Limited participation in community
Broad participation in community
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