The Cooperative Enterprise

Gert van Dijk is Distinguished Professor of Social Venturing and Cooperative Economics at TIAS, School for Business and Society, Tilburg University. He is Emeritus Professor of Cooperative Business Administration and Management at Nyenrode Business Universiteit and Emeritus Professor of Theory and Practice of Cooperation in the Department of Marketing at Wageningen University. He was Director General of the Netherlands Council of Cooperatives till 2008 and President of the European Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives till 2012. He is Director of the Netherlands Institute of Cooperative Entrepreneurship and visiting professor at MAICH, the Mediterranean Agronomics Institute of Chania, CIHEAM-MAICh. Studied Animal Husbandry and Genetics at the Agricultural University of Wageningen and Economics at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, where he earned his PhD. He was (senior) lecturer at both these universities for a number of years. Subsequently he was Director of Multidisciplinary Research Studies at the Organization for Applied Physical Research (TNO) and later became Director of Studies for Agricultural Policy Research at Wageningen University. He was member of the Board of Directors of Rabobank Nederland and presently acts as independent chairman of New Generation Cooperatives in South Africa. Panagiota Sergaki is an Associate Professor of Cooperative Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece. She holds a BSc in Agricultural Economics from the Agricultural University of Athens, a MSc in Management and Economic Sciences from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh/ CHIHEAM) and a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She has published more than 80 articles in several refereed scientific journals, book chapters and conference proceedings. Her research interests are in agribusiness management, agricultural cooperation, networking, institutional economics and agricultural policy. She has participated in several EU programs. She is also involved in social enterprises and cooperatives in Greece.

Part I: Business Principles in Practice.- Part II: Business Principles in Theory.- Part III: Lessons Learnt.