Cooperatives are one of the important economic organizations, generate a huge employment potential and diversified its activities covering almost all possible sectors, touching the needs of the producers as well as the consumers across the world. Entrepreneurship literature rarely mentioned about the relationship between entrepreneurship and cooperative development.  In the cooperative literatures too very little has been addressed about the synergy between entrepreneurial behaviour and the degree of economic success or the failure of cooperatives. Without entrepreneurial behavior, cooperatives cannot succeed and they will not even be established.

The books available at present in the field of cooperation and cooperatives have not detailed the entrepreneurial behavior of cooperatives and their stake holders. In short, there is a virtual vacuum in the literatures about cooperative entrepreneurship.

In this context, this book attempts to provide a theoretical background on cooperatives in Indian context and will serve as base for further research into this field of study. This book is useful for students, teachers, and trainers in Cooperation, Rural Development, and Third Sector Enterprises.

Dr K. Ravichandran is Associate Professor and Head, Department of Cooperation, Gandhigram Rural Institute, Gandhigram, Tamil Nadu, India.

Dr S. Nakkiran is Professor of Cooperatives, Jimma University, Ambo College, Ambo, Ethiopia.