The managerial transformation of Italian co-operative enterprises 1946–2010

The Italian co-operative enterprises have prospered in the last 30 years in various sectors. In this essay we analyse the role played by managerialisation in allowing Italian co-ops to compete nationally and internationally with capitalist enterprises. On the basis of a substantial set of company histories and managers interviews, we have built a three generations model of co-ops managers, which shows the changes that have allowed co-ops to become fully equipped with managerial skills. The strong leadership of umbrella organisations, the inner careers of most managers and legislation have been instrumental in avoiding demutualisation, the killer of co-ops in many other countries.