Competitiveness capability in the last large remaining Australian dairy cooperative

This article explores the management conditions that seem responsible for the survival of the last large Australian dairy products manufacturing cooperative. A theoretical framework is presented as a mechanism to understand cooperative sustainability in a competitive sense considering the relationship of two organizational paradigms. The qualitative methods applied in this paper focus on the perceptions of the cooperative’s board of directors about dynamic capability and institutional legitimacy and the decisions they made as a consequence. The data were based on interviews and document analysis. First, the results suggest that it is possible to reduce opposing institutional pressures through efficient management processes. Second, product differentiation as a marketing policy, business diversification, and a commercially oriented strategy have been the backbone of establishing legitimacy at the organizational level, generating conditions for survival of the cooperative.