Co-operative movement has come as a means to end the evils of capitalism (where capitalistic owners exploited the workers), Socialism (where everything is under state ownership) and Communism (where the individuals exist only for the state).
Applicability of Co-operative movement depends upon various factors. In Germany and India, co-operative movement began in order to do away with greedy money lenders who had held the farmers and artisans under their clutches.
In England, Consumers’ co-operation was started to stop exploitation by greedy traders. In France and USA, producers’ co-operatives emerged in order to eliminate middlemen. As a result, the area of application of co-operatives is not restricted.
It depends on the need for co-operatives to be established. In fact, in certain areas of operations co-operation has failed especially in rural areas, where marketing co-operatives have not been up to the mark in many types of activities.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
For agricultural activities, co-operative form of enterprises is more suitable than for manufacturing activities. It is often better to have co-operatives started for limited areas of operations in rural and urban areas, restricting it to areas of necessities only, which will compel the members to stay together and run the show better.