Title: Cognitive and partnership dimensions in merger processes in agricultural cooperatives: the case of winery cooperatives in Languedoc-Roussillon

Authors: Louis-Antoine Saïsset; Foued Cheriet; Jean-Pierre Couderc

Addresses: UMR 1110 MOISA, INRA-Montpellier SupAgro, 2 place Pierre Viala 34060 Montpellier Cedex 2, France ' UMR 1110 MOISA, INRA-Montpellier SupAgro, 2 place Pierre Viala 34060 Montpellier Cedex 2, France ' UMR 1110 MOISA, INRA-Montpellier SupAgro, 2 place Pierre Viala 34060 Montpellier Cedex 2, France

Abstract: Cooperatives are a specific type of organisation. For nearly a century, they have represented an important means of organisational and strategic structuring of agricultural and food sectors in France. By the early 1990s, an accelerated process of concentration was observed among agricultural cooperatives. Our study aims to analyse the concentration process of agricultural cooperatives mainly through mergers with take-over. The analysis of 14 wine cooperatives mergers in Languedoc-Roussillon between 2004 and 2010 is our empirical field. The main results indicate that there are different types of merger processes with cognitive and partnership dimensions: some are done without any backup strategy, while others respond to local policies. Finally, in other cases, mergers are based on real corporate strategic projects leading to synergies between the involved cooperatives.

Keywords: agricultural cooperatives; Languedoc-Roussillon; mergers; wine cooperatives; cognitive dimension; partnership dimension; governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2017.085993

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2017 Vol.32 No.1/2, pp.181 - 207

Received: 26 May 2015
Accepted: 08 Mar 2016
Published online: 21 Aug 2017 *

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