Partnerships and organizational innovation in agricultural cooperatives: the example of sparkling wines and cereals1

Summary Although less studied than other forms of innovation, organizational innovation is an important component of business innovation, especially for those that do not belong to high-tech sectors, as is the case for agricultural and agri-food businesses. In this article, we focus more specifically on agricultural cooperatives and their innovation strategies. Three case studies allow us to show how these enterprises, which tend to focus on products with quality labels, develop innovations by relying on their network, their partnerships, and their links with their members. This implies that they have the capacity to absorb and innovate organizationally, in addition to, or even as a substitute for, technological innovations.