Multi-stakeholder Co-operation in Social Enterprises

Rory pioneered a new approach to developing companies, co-operatives, parternships and associations which combine: 

This combination is a proxy for the FairShares Model, an approach that advocates a society in which every adult becomes a member-owner of the organisation(s) for which they work, from which they regularly buy goods and from which they receive social services. In short, a FairShares community is one in which every adult becomes a co-owner of the organisations on which they, their family and their community depend. 

The FairShares Model

The FairShares Model was published by Rory in late 2012 after extensive discussions with Cliff Southcombe (MD, Social Enterprise International) and Nicci Dickins (MD, Make It Happen Consultancy). It combined unpublished findings from his PhD with case studies published in the first edition of Understanding Social Enterprise: Theory and Practice. Concurrently, Cliff and Rory published an award-winning paper in the Social Enterprise Journal about social enterprise that led members of Social Enterprise International (SEi) to update their definition. These works come together in the FairShares Model.

Rory and Cliff started running activities with students of social entrepreneurship in their Co-operative and Social Enterprise Summer Schools (between 2011 and 2014) to test out emerging FairShares concepts. By 2015, Rory was in a position to write a book - The Case for FairShares - in three parts.  Part 1 set out the historical context, core arguments and development pathways of FairShares. In Part 2, he published 13 learning activities that support the transition to a new approach. In Part 3, he published three constitutions (for associations, co-operatives and companies) so they could implement FairShares Values and Principles.