Rory Ridley-Duff

Rory Ridley-Duff (born 6 March 1962) is a British educator, author and composer. His work as an educator is focused on human relationship issues and governance in cooperatives and social enterprises. His has written four books, two focussed on cooperative and social enterprise issues, and two on interpersonal relationship dynamics framed from a gender studies perspective. He has had peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals on corporate governance, entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

His books cover the following fields: social enterprise, and cooperative management ("Silent Revolution (2002, Barnsley: First Contact Software Ltd)" and "Understanding Social Enterprise" (2011, London: Sage Publications)); interpersonal dynamics and intimacy (("Emotion, Seduction and Intimacy", 2010, Seattle: Libertary Editions) and Friends or Lovers, 2010, Seattle: Libertary Editions) . Rory’s work focuses on the informal relationship dynamics needed to support a democratic culture (both inside and outside the workplace).

Rory has also pursued music interests derived from his involvement with progressive rock group Protos, and study of composition during his music degree at London University. He has published four albums of original compositions ("One Day a New Horizon" (1982)), "A Question of Expression" (2006), "Passing Decades" (2006), "The Noble Pauper’s Grave" (2007), an album of live performances ("Into the Mouth of the Tiger" (2007)) and a compilation album ("Space (and other singles)", (2006)).

Education

Rory Ridley-Duff holds a Ph.D. for his research into Corporate Governance, a Postgraduate Certification in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education from Sheffield Hallam University, a B. Mus from London University and a Certificate of Higher Education in Business Studies from the University of Leeds. Rory was educated at Birdham Primary School, then Chichester High School for Boys, in West Sussex England. In 1981, following his music writing activities for the band Protos, he started to study music formally on the newly established Foundation Course in Jazz and Popular Music at Chichester College of Arts and Technology. In 1983, he enrolled for Bachelor of Music degree at Royal Holloway College, London University, from where he graduated in 1986. After pursuing a career in the IT industry, Rory resumed his education in 1999 on a European Social Fund programme for British Managers. After winning a Hallam PhD Studentship, he graduated with a Certificate in Higher Education from the University of Leeds to undertake a 3-year study on workplace democracy. He was awarded his Ph.D ("Communitarian Perspectives on Corporate Governance") in 2006. After becoming a permanent member of the teaching staff at Sheffield Hallam University, he undertook a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, and has continued to build his teaching/research career in the Centre for Individual and Organisational Development at Sheffield Business School.

Early career

Prior to entering academia, Rory was an ICT consultant and software developer. He developed his ICT skills as an analyst, then Data Centre Manager, at Procter & Gamble (HABC) Ltd. He left in 1989 to take up the position of consultant-trainer at Computercraft Ltd, a radical London-based worker cooperative that provided IT services to the social economy. In the mid-1990s, he developed First Point, a customer relationship management (CRM) system. The underlying design ideas of this product earned Rory a DTI Smart Award in September 2001. The DTI Award triggered the creation of First Contact Software Ltd, a worker-owned ‘democratic business’ that sought funding to redevelop First Point as an internet-based CRM solution. The company ceased trading in August 2001 after failing to secure the necessary investment, convincing Rory that further research was needed on companies able to sustain the Rochdale principles of cooperativism while remaining attractive to member-investors and external funders. His first book ("Silent Revolution" (2002)) reflects early thinking on social enterprise, and this led to Rory winning a Hallam PhD Studentship to undertake research into cooperative and employee-owned enterprises.

University teaching

After completing his Ph. D in 2005, Rory started to contribute to several areas of teaching at Sheffield Hallam University. He is now course leader for the Cooperative and Social Enterprise Summer School, and the MSc Co-operative and Social Enterprise Management degree. He had also led modules on Equal Opportunities and Industrial Relations at undergraduate level, Third Sector Human Resource Management, Industrial Relations and Research Methodology at Masters level, and the Philosophy of Business and Management Research on the school’s Doctoral programmes. He currently supervises ten Ph.D students studying aspects of social enterprise, employee ownership, corporate governance and gender studies.

Research Activity

At the University of Leeds, Rory undertook research on constitutional arrangements and management practices in different types of cooperative enterprise. This was published in Chapter 6 of his first book ("Silent Revolution" (2002), and later updated and published in volume 6 of the Social Enterprise Journal. After completing his Ph.D, he published journal articles on communitarian governance, the concept of social rationality in social enterprise and the social economy, and the conceptualisation of ethics in social enterprise. His contributions to the field of gender studies are contained in his Ph. D., the development of ‘attraction theory’ to understand the gap in pay, and two books (one of which is a novel) that explore the nature of intimacy in the contemporary workplace.

In 2011, he published his first textbook, a field defining work aimed at the higher education market in cooperative and social enterprise studies. It explores: the history of cooperative and third sector organisations; the transformation of the private sector through cooperative and employee-owned enterprise; the definition of social enterprise; social and ethical capital; international perspectives; legal forms; strategic management; governance and employee relations; leadership and entrepreneurship; income management; and social audit and accounting. In addition to his interest in cooperative and social enterprise, he has completed studies into: TUPE transfers of staff between universities in the UK; a coaching and mentoring programme within the UK’s National Health Service; model rules for a surplus sharing in social enterprise; diagnostic tools for corporate governance; and is currently undertaking a 36-month Big Lottery Research Programme using Appreciative Inquiry to stimulate community engagement and learning. As a non-executive director of Viewpoint Research CIC, he also supports research into employee, customer and tenant satisfaction with housing groups and social enterprises.

Music career

Rory formed the progressive rock band Protos while at school with lifelong friend Stephen Anscombe. After enroling on a Jazz/Popular music course at the Chichester College of Technology, Rory/Steve recruited Iain Carnegie (Percussion/Keyboards) and Nigel Rippon (Bass Guitar). The band's first album One Day a New Horizon, recorded in 1982, is one of the rarest independent recordings in the world and fetches between GBP 200-400 at auction. Due to its enduring success, Protos rereleased it on CD / Digital, then released a second album of their live performances Into the Mouth of the Tiger. In 2007, they resumed their writing/recording activities and released The Noble Pauper's Grave, a 51-minute art rock production. While studying music in London, Rory and Iain teamed up with Simon Cartwright to form "Sly", a tongue-in-cheek tribute to "Sky" (John Williams). They played a one off Cathedral Green concert during the Chichester Arts Festival in 1983. After this, Rory composed on his own and performed with Danzante, an instrumental jazz/rock band. In September 2006, he formed New Horizons Music with his wife Caroline, Stephen Anscombe, Iain Carnegie and Nigel Rippon to develop both solo and collaborative musical projects. He has release an album of original classical music, A Question of Expression, and a collection of art-rock compositions, Passing Decades. In 2009, Rory came 4th in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards in the Solo Piano Song category.

Discography

  • One Day a New Horizon (1982), Airship
  • Passing Decades (2006), New Horizons Music
  • A Question of Expression (2006), New Horizons Music
  • Space (and other singles) (2006), New Horizons Music
  • Into the Mouth of the Tiger (2007), New Horizons Music
  • The Noble Pauper’s Grave (2007), New Horizons Music