Multi-stakeholders cooperatives : a unique model of support to collective entrepreneurship
Multi-stakeholder cooperatives (MSC), a relatively recent organizational form in the cooperative environment, are cooperatives that include in their governance more than one category of members. After a short overview of the cooperative model and the distinctive features of MSC, we present the various roles realized by supporting members in helping the development of the organization. Our empirical research allowed us to find four main roles of supporting members : supply resources (human, intellectual, material and financial), influence the future of the cooperative, strengthen the links between the cooperative and its community and finally, be a source of legitimacy for the cooperative, as an embodiment of the social aspect of the mission. These roles are usually described in positive terms by the respondents, which illustrate the support provided to the entrepreneurial development of these organizations. In the discussion section, we highlight the results of our research in the light of the traditional cooperative venture, the stakeholders’ theory and the resource dependency theory. In sum, this article presents the kind of support to entrepreneurship specific to the distinctive model of MSC.