Co-operatives are supposed to be a particular form of organization. This paper stresses the differences between co-operatives and focuses on the 'co-op-idea' as the major methodological criterion to enable understanding of the different organizational forms co-operatives may assume. In other words, does there exist a unique 'co-op-idea' which forms the basis of organizational cultures? Two kinds of co-op (the foundation and the coalition) - whose main distinctive features rest on cultural elements - have been identified by our research project. Even if genesis and size are relevant to the development phase, the different organizational behaviours had a single starting point: the social pact that united the founder members. In one case, the nucleus of the 'community pact' was based on the founder members' internal relationship. In the other, safeguarding employment was the glue holding together the founder members' 'federative pact'.
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