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Abstract
This article examines the market conditions, the strategies, and the
organizational structures of agricultural cooperatives. Based on the
growing literature on cooperative organizational models, it is expected that
the new organizational patterns in the New Zealand dairy cooperatives in
the early 2000s are a consequence of market changes. Case studies of the
three cooperatives are conducted, focusing on the organizational structures
in terms of collective versus individualized attributes. The dissolution of
the New Zealand Dairy Board created new market opportunities for the
cooperatives. Hence, the co-operatives had reason to develop new market
strategies, and in order to pursue these well, they changed their
organizational structures. The observations indicate that more liberalized
and open markets require cooperative organizational models with more
individualized traits.