The purpose of this book is to introduce you in considerable detail to what we call the ‘co-operative enterprise’, and to explore with you the broader question of why co-operatives are important in today’s world. This is not a “how to” book, in the normal sense. It is however (we hope) an excellent foundation upon which to broaden your understanding and appreciation of co-operative forms of enterprise, not only in your country - but around the globe. You will learn why co-operation works and also see why sometimes it may not work, and you will learn about best practices and success factors within co-operatives. If you are an employee, a manager, or an elected official within a co-operative, you will also learn about why and how leadership and management effectiveness are different in co-operative forms of enterprise.

The book is divided into five parts. The first part is called “Setting the Stage”, and contains two chapters. The first chapter introduces the reader to the nature of co-operation, while the second chapter looks at the evolution of co-operation all the way from social movements to business systems of enterprise. The second part is entitled “How Co-operatives Are Different” and begins by presenting what we call the “co-operative value proposition”. The third and fourth chapters provide details on the difference between the co-operative sector, the private sector, and the public sector. Chapter Five describes why and how leadership and management effectiveness are different in a co-operative. The third part is entitled “Co-operatives Today” and it includes three chapters. Chapter Six describes “National and International Co-operative Development”, and Chapter Seven looks at the role co-operatives have played and are playing in “Wealth Creation, Community Development ,and Poverty Reduction” around the globe. The last chapter in this section describes the “Pivotal Role for Government in Enabling Development.” Part Four is entitled “Building a Better World” and it includes three chapters. The first chapter, Chapter Nine is entitled “Some Strategies and Tactics for Success”. Chapter Ten is entitled “Towards a World Vision for Co-operatives”. Chapter Eleven is “The Challenges and Opportunities Ahead”, and it invites and challenges readers - and all co-operators - to seriously imagine what the future might be for co-operative forms of enterprise. No small undertaking to be sure!  Just for fun we have included a final part called “Everything Else Co-operative” into which we cram additional co-operative website links and interesting content which we think you might like and which didn’t exactly seem to fit anywhere else. You decide! We also include some of our parting after thoughts (post scripts) in this section.