Cooperative ventures, characterized by collective ownership and shared governance, provide a distinctive entrepreneurial framework that prioritizes member participation and collaboration. While these ventures leverage unique strengths, they also encounter significant challenges, particularly in managing resource overcommitment and balancing shared decision-making with organizational agility. This study investigates how cooperative ventures address these challenges. Through in-depth interviews with leaders and members, we identify key biases driving overcommitment and demonstrate how cooperative accountability and control mechanisms help mitigate these risks. Furthermore, our findings illuminate the structural difficulties inherent in cooperative models, notably the tension between preserving agility and maintaining collective governance. To address these agility-related challenges, we found specific practices employed by our focal organizations to align shared decision-making with the need for agility. This research deepens understanding of governance dynamics in cooperative entrepreneurship, providing valuable insights for both academic theory and practical application.
