Governance and Adaptation Strategies of Cooperatives in the Agro-Food Sector: Evidence from an Italian Case Study

First, this chapter discusses some of the most relevant themes emerging from the recent literature on cooperatives, such as the concept of ‘collective entrepreneurship’; the relationships between members; corporate governance and management; the psychosocial aspects of members’ participation in the cooperative and strategies to orient the members’ business activities towards quality improvement. It analyses the crucial governance and organisational elements of cooperatives, using as a case study the Italian agro-food sector. The chapter focuses on the crucial elements of agro-food cooperatives’ organisation and governance. Attention is paid to the effect of structural changes on the organisational and social strategies of cooperatives. The chapter also identifies the elements of the social strategy that are underestimated by top management in the short term, but should be considered from a long-term perspective. Finally, critical points that should be faced by cooperatives in the near future are identified.