Cluster 3 – Governance of the Social Economy

Last Updated on July 6th, 2011

What is good governance? What makes an organization democratic? How can you improve governance and the democratic process in social enterprises? How can these issues be measured and analyzed? These are some of the questions that Cluster 3 looks to investigate. All organizations in the social economy must deal with a multifarious group of stakeholders that may include employees, management, members, volunteers and professionals. The cluster will highlight some of the new and traditional ways in which organizations have worked to be inclusive in their operations and will establish benchmarks for which good governance can be assessed.

Co-lead, Murray Fulton, University of Saskatchewan (co-applicant), is Acting Associate Dean, College of Graduate Studies and Research and a Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Fulton has written numerous books, articles and papers on industrial organization, co-operatives and agricultural policy. He has worked on research projects for the Economic Council of Canada and has served as the consultant to the Saskatchewan government and the Federal/Provincial Task Force on the Role of Co-operatives and Government in Community Development.

Co-lead, Quintin Fox, is the Manager of Member Services for the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA).

The following is a list of co-applicants and collaborators working with Cluster 3:

Denyse Guy, (co-applicant), is an experienced consultant, adult educator, and trainer in organizational leadership and business development in both the co-operative and non-profit sectors.
Brian Oleson, University of Manitoba (co-applicant), is Agribusiness Chair in Co-operatives and Marketing in the Department of Agriculture and Food Sciences.
Anne Reynolds, University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (collaborator), provides leadership and training for the Cooperative Education Alliance, and has a research interest in new co-operatives and co-operative development, co-op member satisfaction and loyalty, and rural housing co-ops.

The following is a list of community partners working with Cluster 3:

Canadian Co-operative Association, Ottawa (CCA)
Manitoba Co-operative Council (MCC)
Ontario Co-operative Association (OCA)
Saskatchewan Co-operative Association (SCA)
QUINT Development Corporation, Saskatoon

The following is a list, alphabetically by title, of research projects being conducted under Cluster 3:

Cognition and Governance in the Social Economy: Innovation in Multistakeholder Organization (CL3-04)
Collaborative Governance Model Initiatives (CL3-05-SK)
Community-Based Planning: Engagement, Collaboration and Meaningful Participation in the Creation of Neighbourhood Plans (CL3-07-MB) | Completed
Self-Assessment of Democratic Character in Organization (CL3-03) Please consider participating in the project by completing a survey. Details are below and can be found in the project details.
Self-determination in Action: The Entrepreneurship of the Northern Saskatchewan Trappers Association Co-operative (CL3-01-SK) | Completed
Toolkit for Empowering Practices in Social Economy Governance and Planning (CL3-02)
Understanding and Promoting Effective Partnerships for CED: A Case Study of SEED Winnipeg’s Partnerships (CL3-06-MB) | Completed

Self-Assessment of Democratic Character in Organization (CL3-03)

REQUEST FOR PARTICIPATION
DEMOCRATIC CHARACTER IN ORGANIZATIONS

Brett Fairbairn, previous academic co-director of the Governance cluster of the Linking, Learning, and Leveraging social-economy node for Northern Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, has prepared a trial version of a Self-Assessment of Democratic Character in Organizations. This questionnaire is intended to help social enterprises and other organizations analyse their democratic practises with a view to recognizing what they do well and what they want to work on. The development of the questionnaire is also interactive: those using it are invited to send results and comments back to Brett, who will revise and update the questionnaire and compile a database of shared results. Details follow; click on the web links for background documents and a copy of the questionnaire.

Self-Assessment of Democratic Character in Organizations, Version 1.2 – October 2006

Researcher: Brett Fairbairn

Purpose of the research:
This project aims to develop a practical way to understand and assess democratic character of organizations in the social economy. (The social economy consists of co-operatives and nonprofit enterprises including community economic development and Aboriginal economic development.) The key product of the research will be a self-assessment questionnaire for use by organizations interested in democratic practice. Organizations are invited to use the questionnaire; to provide comments and suggestions; and to report results. The researcher will distribute revised questionnaires based on evaluation of the feedback. Other products may include a database of results and publications about the questionnaire, its development, patterns in the ways different types of organizations assess themselves, benchmarks for questionnaire results, and what these things show about participants’ ideas concerning democracy.

To assist in the research:

please answer the questions as they apply to an organization to which you belong – you may wish to have your board of directors or stakeholder groups complete the questionnaire together. The questionnaire is linked below.
please comment in the right-hand column on questions that seem particularly useful or not (use reverse if necessary)
please fill in the last page and return a copy or summary of your questionnaire to the researcher, Brett Fairbairn.

To download the questionnaire, click here.

The following documents are included here to provide additional information, the PowerPoint presentation made to OnCo-op and the Six Views of Democracy.

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Cluster 3 – Governance of the Social Economy