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The Nature of Social Innovation

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Abstract

Historical analyses of macro-level innovation across the developed economies often identify a series of waves of technological change, typically starting with the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century (Kondratiev, 1998; Alexander, 2001; Moulaert, 2009). Each wave is usually presented as distinct from what came before, but also as sharing particular economic and social outcomes.

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... In addition to types, SI is also classified according to its depth, which occurs on various levels based on the focus of knowledge. D'Amario and Comini (2020) base it mainly on the study by Nicholls and Murdock (2012), among other correlated studies, which considers three analysis constructs: (i) disruptive (which alters cognitive structures which are references as well social structures -policy focus), (ii) incremental (dealing with market failures identifying them in a more ...
... Thus, the SIs were classified according to their magnitude and categorized on three levels, based on whether they are incremental, disruptive, or institutional (D'Amario & Comini, 2020;Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). The averages of the responses for the scale items organized by the SI subcategories of the depth dimension are displayed in Table 6. ...
... Institutional innovations are those which reconfigure the market's structures and standards (D'Amario, 2018), generally through the repositioning of new technologies in social rather than economic directions (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). ...
Article
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Objective: The purpose of this paper is to assess the social innovation arising from the granting of microcredit, as well as the roles played by its social actors. Methodology: An experience survey was carried out with beneficiaries of the Crediamigo microcredit program/BNB, in Fortaleza, Ceará. In the study, we investigate four dimensions of social innovation: (i) typology; (ii) depth; (iii) coverage; and (iv) social actors. Originality and Relevance: The study explores the link between microcredit and social innovation, with evidence from an understudied empirical context. Main Results: The results indicate that the typology is characterized by the implementation of new marketing methods to offer products and services, enabling consumption by people in situations of economic vulnerability. In terms of depth of innovation, the findings show incremental, disruptive, and institutional actions that promote social and economic inclusion with local coverage. As for social actors, we identified three profiles of beneficiaries oriented towards social innovation: “innovators”, “visionaries”, and “conservatives”. Theoretical/methodological contributions: The study expands the understanding of social innovation regarding the reach/impact of microcredit in local and social development. Moreover, we propose three different profiles of social innovation actors, which can serve as a reference for future research. Social/management contributions: The study showed that the social innovation actions carried out by the beneficiaries promote socioeconomic inclusion, allowing the generation of additional jobs, empowerment, and improvement in the quality of life, transcending financial aspects.
... Social Innovation (SI) is an emerging phenomenon for solving social challenges more efficiently (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). SI focuses on new solutions or innovations that somewhat have social goals (Howaldt & Schwarz, 2010). ...
... (Goldenberg et al., 2009) Unlike the technological and industrial innovation, SI is explicit in showing the needs of human, and this concept is seriously tied to the discussion of Schumpeter's creative destruction (Fox & Baines, 2019). Molart defines SI as the output of activities that can lead to an effective way of improving social structure and relationships, as well as improving society (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). ...
... Social Innovation in the Public Sector is an innovation that affects the life and well-being of society, especially in the supplying of services related to the public interest (Ramadani et al., 2020). Innovation is necessary for the public service sector to improve performance and assess the needs of community and the efficiency of the services (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). The relationship between entrepreneurs and administrative and political officials has always been a fundamental and pervasive issue during the change in time and content. ...
Article
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La innovación social (IS) es uno de los últimos enfoques para potenciar el sector público (SP). Debido a la naturaleza burocrática del SP, la implementación de innovaciones sociales en el SP se enfrenta a muchos retos. Este estudio trata de identificar y priorizar estas barreras y desafíos centrándose en el sector judicial. Este estudio ha utilizado un método mixto. En la etapa cualitativa, mediante la revisión de la literatura y la aplicación de entrevistas a grupos focales con la participación de 12 expertos, se identificaron 40 barreras y desafíos en siete categorías. En la etapa cuantitativa, 18 expertos fueron identificados, en base al método de muestreo intencional y los retos fueron priorizados utilizando el método TOPSIS difuso. Los resultados mostraron que la falta de un sistema regulador adecuado para los innovadores sociales es el principal reto al que se enfrenta la IS en el sistema judicial. Por último, se ofrecieron recomendaciones estructurales, funcionales y de comportamiento para eliminar estas barreras. Palabras clave: innovación; innovación social; innovación participativa; innovación abierta; sector público; sistema judicial. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir.23-1.4
... Social Innovation (SI) is an emerging phenomenon for solving social challenges more efficiently (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). SI focuses on new solutions or innovations that somewhat have social goals (Howaldt & Schwarz, 2010). ...
... (Goldenberg et al., 2009) Unlike the technological and industrial innovation, SI is explicit in showing the needs of human, and this concept is seriously tied to the discussion of Schumpeter's creative destruction (Fox & Baines, 2019). Molart defines SI as the output of activities that can lead to an effective way of improving social structure and relationships, as well as improving society (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). ...
... Social Innovation in the Public Sector is an innovation that affects the life and well-being of society, especially in the supplying of services related to the public interest (Ramadani et al., 2020). Innovation is necessary for the public service sector to improve performance and assess the needs of community and the efficiency of the services (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). The relationship between entrepreneurs and administrative and political officials has always been a fundamental and pervasive issue during the change in time and content. ...
Article
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Social innovation (SI) is one of the latest approaches for empowering the public sector (PS). Because of the bureaucratic nature of the PS, implementation of social innovations in PS faces many challenges. This study is trying to identify and prioritize these barriers and challenges focusing on the judicial sector. This study has used a mixed-method. In the qualitative stage, by reviewing the literature and applying the focus group interview method with 12 experts, 40 barriers and challenges were organized into seven categories. In the quantitative step, 18 experts that were identified based on the purposive sampling method have answered the questionnaire and the challenges were prioritized using a fuzzy TOPSIS method. The results showed that the lack of a proper regulatory system for social innovators is the main challenge the SI faces in the judicial system. Finally, structural, functional, and behavioral recommendations were provided to remove these barriers.
... (5) The results revealed a positive effect of social innovation on organizational resilience, this being consistent with previous literature assuming that social innovation is a primary component for building organizational resilience. This is through the generation of new ideas, allowing for adaptability, flexibility and learning capacity in the face of complex problems being considered [46,47,65]. ...
... Policy: Because of the importance of stakeholders' involvement in building cooperative resilience, governments can mobilize (local) stakeholders by promoting communication and information exchange through the organization of forums, trade shows, scientific events (seminars and conferences) facilitating the emergence of new coalitions of stakeholders [65], or even the development of partnerships between universities and cooperatives by creating clusters [66][67][68]. Thus, the government can define a public policy based on dynamism, flexibility and adaptability by promoting social innovation that enables an improved economic and social performance [65,[69][70][71]. ...
... Policy: Because of the importance of stakeholders' involvement in building cooperative resilience, governments can mobilize (local) stakeholders by promoting communication and information exchange through the organization of forums, trade shows, scientific events (seminars and conferences) facilitating the emergence of new coalitions of stakeholders [65], or even the development of partnerships between universities and cooperatives by creating clusters [66][67][68]. Thus, the government can define a public policy based on dynamism, flexibility and adaptability by promoting social innovation that enables an improved economic and social performance [65,[69][70][71]. ...
Article
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The Moroccan cooperative sector is increasingly important, not only in the social and economic fabric of Morocco, but also in the sustainable development of the Kingdom. With the advent of COVID, the cooperative sector offers more inclusive and sustainable economic alternatives than ever before. In this context, organizational resilience is essential to preserve the sustainability of cooperatives and anticipate potential crises. This study addresses the following issue: What are the organizational factors necessary to strengthen the organizational resilience of the Moroccan cooperative in the Fez-Meknes region in times of COVID-19 crisis? The purpose of this paper was to test the hypothesized relationships between a set of latent constructs (actor involvement and mobilization, organizational learning in times of a crisis and social innovation) and the organizational resilience of cooperatives in times of a COVID-19 crisis. The methodology adopted is structural equation modeling based on the PLS-SEM method under the “SmartPLS Version 3” used on data collected through a printed questionnaire administered to 160 cooperatives in the Fez-Meknes region. The results show the significant and positive influence between the exogenous constructs on the strengthening of organizational resilience of cooperatives as an endogenous construct. The novelty of the study lies in the identification of the organizational resources needed to strengthen the organizational resilience of cooperatives in the Moroccan context. The results show that organizational resilience depends on three selected organizational factors: stakeholder involvement and mobilization, organizational learning in the times of a crisis and social innovation.
... Some sociological perspectives suggest that social refers to the fact that all new services, processes and products influence people's lives, produce social effects by meeting social needs (e.g. social care, health, education and housing) or increase social participation by creating new relations (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). According to Mulgan (2019), social refers to organisations that develop and diffuse social innovation whose main determination of work is socially oriented. ...
... However, over the years, the literature has framed two general ways of understanding social innovation (Montgomery & Mazzei, 2021). The first relates to the process and product of innovation, with the entrepreneur's potential for addressing social issues with a strong market-economic oriented dimension (The Young Foundation, 2012;Mulgan, 2019;Nicholls and Murdock, 2012). The second focuses more on social change and transformation, with locally contextual collective empowerment potentials and a transformative approach in reaction to reducing social exclusion, which is more in light of this dissertation (Moulaert & MacCallum, 2019;Moulaert et al., 2013;Howaldt et al., 2016;Montgomery & Mazzei, 2021). ...
... As a result, the collaborative framework emphasises the configuration and development of new practices in the social sector, especially through state-civil society collaboration, by promoting welfare provisional models for co-production, co-creation, public-non-public partnership and greater involvement and participation of service users (Hunter & Ritchie, 2007;Pestoff, 2012;Pestoff et al., 2013;Voorberg et al., 2015). This can be achieved by modifying social relations and blurring the boundaries across two or more sectors (e.g. between state and civil society), resulting in changing their roles and confronting widespread power distribution and traditional institutional 41 arrangements, which increases the potential for creative and innovative ideas to solve identified problems (Moulaert et al., 2013;Nicholls & Murdock, 2012;Novy et al., 2020). Intersections between actors and sectors also produce the phenomenon known as 'hybridisation', which occurs when organisations in the third sector or civil society, adopt and incorporate arrangements, organisational forms and logic from the state or business sectors to provide products and services (e.g. ...
Thesis
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A central focus of this PhD dissertation is to advance an understanding of how social innovation is generated through the perspective of civil society organisations (CSOs) that provide social services to vulnerable groups through collaboration with multiple actors in the fragile context, with a legacy of war. An “agency-structure” approach has been applied as an overarching perspective throughout this dissertation. Theories such as institutional theory (new institutionalism and institutional networking), resource-dependency theory as well as the concepts of social innovation, collaboration, non-state service provision, NGO-isation and the third sector-public services provision present the main theoretical framework of this dissertation. This dissertation adopts an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design, in which the overarching study has consisted of three constituent articles.
... SI is a polysemous and widely debated concept (Andion et al., 2017;Ayob et al., 2016;Durand Folco, 2019;Lachapelle, 2021;Marques et al., 2018;Montgomery, 2016;Moulaert, 2013;Moulaert & MacCallum, 2019;Mulgan, 2012;Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). Most definitions conceive of SI as new forms of social relationships and as the generation of new ideas and solutions that have a positive societal impact. ...
... A weak conception of SI has been integrated in the curriculum of several academic fields to better prepare students to address socio-ecological grand challenges (Alden Rivers, Armellini, Nie, 2015;Bagelman & Tremblay, 2017;Bayuo et al., 2020;Córdoba-Pachón et al., 2021;Haskell et al., 2021;Milley & Szijarto, 2022), including in management education, with new courses on social entrepreneurship and social enterprises (Lawrence et al., 2012;Nicholls, 2010;Nicholls and Murdock, 2012). The weak conception of SI can easily be integrated into management curricula (Haskell et al. 2021), by adding new topics and by adapting content and pedagogy (Lawrence et al., 2012;Miller et al., 2012;Ngui et al. 2017;I. ...
Article
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Over the past 15 years, social innovation (SI) has gained ground as a promising approach for tackling today’s grand challenges. A “weak” conception of SI focuses on improving how social needs are addressed through new products, services, technologies, business models, or practices. In contrast, a “strong” conception emphasizes deep social transformation and the empowerment of historically marginalized groups. In management education, SI has predominantly been taught through the lens of the weak conception. This paper explores the pedagogical opportunities and challenges of teaching a strong SI to business school students. We conducted a qualitative study of six courses that emphasize a strong SI, drawing on semi-structured interviews with both instructors and students. Our findings reveal the transformative potential of these courses, suggesting they can better prepare students to tackle today’s complex challenges by reshaping the traditional ethos of business schools. However, teaching a strong SI also requires instructors to navigate several key tensions related to action, organizations, management, emotional engagement with the world, and consideration of values and politics. These tensions offer a pedagogical map not only for courses centered on a strong SI but also for those adopting a critical approach to management and business organizations.
... It is in this sphere that, for example, social movements and social networks act and public policies are implemented that seek to subvert the most unjust structures of society and the state. Disruptive social innovation can, through an organic social organization, propose actions aimed at reducing inequalities and expanding the inclusion of less favored strata [54,72,73]. ...
... As mentioned, sustainability makes a decisive contribution to the perpetuity of impactful social projects. The materialization of equitable and fair inclusion processes, which are generators of conditions for a dignified and more emancipated life, is the core of social innovation, with an impact on the community, the urban space, and the city [55,72,73]. ...
Article
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This study aims to analyze the actions of the Invisible Cities Project (ICP) as an example of social innovation and as a way of giving visibility to vulnerable communities. Initially, a theoretical framework was established to understand the possibilities of the visibility of isolated and poor communities located within the urban setting. This framework was established based on the literature that addresses the role of social innovation in cities. Then, participant observations were made in a community to analyze the initiatives that are part of the ICP. Finally, semi-structured interviews were conducted; these interviews reported the lived experiences of participants involved in the project through the narratives of the community members. Drawing from the specialized literature, it was found that this project carries out various aspects of social innovation, such as social visibility, empowerment, the articulation of different actors in society, social inclusion, and the improvement of the urban public space. The project also addresses a variety of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as eradicating poverty, promoting health and well-being, reducing inequalities, and fostering more sustainable cities and communities.
... For example, a telemetric system, which relays real-time early warning to provide sufficient lead time for preparedness (Pradhan & Pandey, 2019;Prakash, 2019). While incremental social innovations focus on goods and services, institutional social innovations focus on the market and seek to harness or retool existing social and economic structures to generate new social value and outcomes (Nicholls and Murdock, 2012;Nicholls and Opal, 2005). They include the creation of new relations. ...
... They include the creation of new relations. The disruptive social innovations aims at systems change and their drivers are social movements and self-consciously political actors and networks aiming to change power relations, alter social hierarchies and reframe issues to the benefit of otherwise disenfranchised groups (Nicholls and Murdock, 2012;Nicholls et al., 2015). This includes new networks advocating for change in handling warning systems. ...
Article
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Early warning systems play significant roles in disaster risk reduction and management. However, a global picture of how they function on the ground, especially in developing countries, is lacking. This study assessed social innovations and drivers in the community‐based transboundary flood early warning systems in the Ugandan context. The study found that the community‐based transboundary flood early warning system generated three social innovations: new inter‐community relations, new community‐local resource relations, and new housing and bedding structures. New inter‐community relations were driven by the transboundary nature of the flood and kinship. New community‐local resource relations were driven by the lack of government support for the early warning system. New housing and bedding structures were driven by the uncertainty about the flood at night. The study confirms the importance of social market failure in driving social innovations and the role of community‐based flood early warning systems in promoting the utilisation of local resources. The effectiveness of transboundary early warning systems in extending lead time and reducing losses was also confirmed. However, the early warning system was found to be effective only during day time. The study, therefore, recommends government intervention in bridging the early warning system gap by installing telemetry.
... Processos de IS podem ser iniciados por diferentes configurações de governança dentro do triângulo dos poderes cujos vértices são representados por: governos, empresas e sociedade civil (Nicholls;Murdock, 2012). Quando essa conformação de governança consegue promover o protagonismo de curadores da paisagem nas etapas cíclicas de desenho, execução e manejo adaptativo 4 de paisagens e florestas, cria-se o ambiente favorável à emergência de ISE (Moraes et al., 2021). ...
... Processos de IS podem ser iniciados por diferentes configurações de governança dentro do triângulo dos poderes cujos vértices são representados por: governos, empresas e sociedade civil (Nicholls;Murdock, 2012). Quando essa conformação de governança consegue promover o protagonismo de curadores da paisagem nas etapas cíclicas de desenho, execução e manejo adaptativo 4 de paisagens e florestas, cria-se o ambiente favorável à emergência de ISE (Moraes et al., 2021). ...
Article
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PADOVEZI, Aurélio et al. Casos brasileiros de Restauração Socioinovadora de Paisagens. Estud. av. [online]. 2022, vol.36, n.106, pp.239-255. Epub 28-Out-2022. ISSN 0103-4014. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0103-4014.2022.36106.014. The current trends in relationships between society and nature point to an unfavorable scenario for quality human life on Earth. In the political dispute to build solutions, an increasing number of people are organizing to face the neo-populist wave that is gaining power and leading to a neo-centralizing agenda. Some social movements, socio-environmental projects, and civil society organizations have found a way to respond constructively to this environment of conflict and resistance. By promoting socio-ecological innovations, they shares knowledge and practices, enabling new social relations that place the local community as the protagonist of a rural development design where natural capital takes center stage. In this article, we explore three case studies from the perspective of Socio-innovative Restoration of Forest Landscapes, seeking to understand the determining factors for the emergence and development of this process. Palavras-chave : Socio-ecological innovation; Landscape restoration; Forest governance
... The success of this technique and the consecutive efforts to expand its adoption increased the demand for native seeds in the region and led to the formation of the ACP + RSC joint venture.Local experimentation encourages collective learning, giving local agents the competitive advantage of promoting their local adaptive capacities(Rodima-Taylor, 2012). Recognising the potential of this technology to generate tangible benefits, nearby communities, such as the Kalunga people, engaged in a major seed collection effort, leading to the formation of the Cerrado em Pé Association (ACP).This practical experience also emphasises the importance of flexible and participatory management systems combined with continuous experimentation to promote SI(Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). ...
Article
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To investigate whether and how Social Innovation (SI) can contribute to transformative change, we explored nine Native Seed Collectors Networks (NSCNs) in Brazil. Employing Social Network Analysis, we delved into the organisational structure of four NSCNs. Additionally, we identified five instances of social innovations (SIs) using the guiding questions of the Social Innovation—Forest and Landscape Restoration (SI‐FLR) framework. These networks, which received a total of US12millionininvestmentsfrom2018to2021,havenotonlycontributedtotheproductionof180tonnesofnativeseedsbutalsohadasignificantsocioeconomicimpact.TheyhavegeneratedatotalincomeofUS 12 million in investments from 2018 to 2021, have not only contributed to the production of 180 tonnes of native seeds but also had a significant socioeconomic impact. They have generated a total income of US 1.01 million for 997 seed collectors, 46% of whom are from traditional communities and marginalised groups. Furthermore, 55% of these collectors are women, and 23% rely solely on seed collection as their only source of income. While the NSCNs represent a fledgling economy, they have effectively activated local agency capacity. With the support of the NSCNs' social capital, a favourable context and clear motivations, this agency capacity can trigger SIs. By generating positive impacts, these SIs are changing values and empowering local agents (scaling deep), inspiring agents in other geographies (scaling out) and even influencing policies favourable to socially inclusive landscape restoration (scaling up). This three‐dimensional scaling underscores the catalysing power of SI in NSCNs and their potential contribution to transformative change. We also emphasise the role of public bodies in promoting enabling conditions, the vital role of local experimentation and the rarely evidenced local agency capacity to leverage SIs in FLR. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
... 2. Literature review SI has been investigated from different perspectives for the last 50 years (Adro and Fernandes 2020). In the field of urban planning, social innovation has been considered as one of the development options that will be an alternative to regional growth and transformation (Nicholls and Murdock 2012). However, research conducted in the last two decades emphasizes that social innovation must be taken into account inevitably for sustainable urban development (Angelidou and Psaltoglou 2017). ...
... This study addresses the burgeoning narratives attending to a necessary discernment of innovation forms and types (Martin, 2012;Fagerberg et al., 2013;Godin, 2015Godin, , 2019Hutter et al., 2015;Edwards-Schachter, 2018). A question is posed on whether it would be possible to develop a univocal definition of innovation, overcoming scattered multi-disciplinary approaches on the nature of technological, social and cultural innovations (Aoyama & Izushi, 2003;Nicholls & Murdock, 2012;Edwards-Schachter & Wallace, 2017). ...
Chapter
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In a few decades a myriad of innovation forms has been emerging as a ubiquitous imperative of contemporary society addressing the fast pace of scientific and technological development and pressing global challenges. Innovation has been characterised as ‘technological’, ‘social’, ‘cultural’, ‘inclusive’, ‘environmental’, ‘open’, ‘user-centred’, ‘lean’, ‘free’, and ‘responsible’, among others. This chapter overviews current innovation landscapes and future trends, exploring underpinning mechanisms and theoretical cornerstones that may explain this huge variety. The study provides a semantic map of around one hundred innovation types introduced from 1950 to 2019, analyzing relationships between stablished forms and new incumbents. In particular, it shows how the nature of innovation has evolved over time through the creation of recognized and un-recognized kinds of innovation, including detached and the so-called hidden and dark innovations, which bring to the fore issues on the possibility of a univocal definition of innovation.
... Regarding the typology of social innovation, Nicholls, Simon, and Gabriel (2015, 3-4) classified social innovation into the incremental, institutional, and disruptive levels as follows. The incremental level of social innovation focuses on "products" to respond to unmet needs out of market failure; the institutional level focuses on "markets" to restructure the market patterns and generate new social value accordingly; and the disruptive level aims to address "politics" by seeking to redistribute power relations and change social structures through public participation and social movements, among other means (Nicholls and Murdock 2012). In other words, responses at the incremental level tend to be economic; those at the institutional level tend to be economic and social; and those at the disruptive level tend to be political. ...
Article
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Taiwan began to systematically introduce social innovation as a tool for social reform after the 2008 financial crisis. Although most research on social innovation in Taiwan focuses on problem-solving methods based on the utilitarian perspectives of the public and private sectors, an analytical framework from the societal perspective is proposed in this article. We classify social innovation conducted by the public, private, and civil society sectors as either incremental or radical. This article seeks to provide an overview of the development of social innovation in Taiwan and to answer two main questions. First, how do Taiwan’s government and the private sector mainstream incremental social innovation, and what is its influence? Second, how does a radical approach emerge under this influence? This article illustrates how political and social contexts shape the development of social innovation and uses deliberative democracy in practice as a case study to show how radical social innovation emerges and develops.
... La innovación social es la producción de nuevas ideas y nuevas estructuras (Mulgan et al., 2007), además de ser un proceso de recontextualización dentro de normas socialmente reconstruidas del bien, de la justicia y de la equidad (Nicholls y Murdock, 2012). También se considera como el proceso de desarrollar e implementar soluciones nuevas y efectivas para resolver problemas sociales o ambientales (Jayanti y Taibangnganbi, 2023). ...
Article
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El presente estudio tiene como objetivo conocer la contribución de las TIC en el empoderamiento y en la innovación social y desarrollo humano, desde la perspectiva de los estudiantes universitarios. El método utilizado es cuantitativo con alcance descriptivo con un diseño no experimental y transversal. El instrumento de tipo encuesta fue aplicado a 613 estudiantes universitarios de manera digital. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los estudiantes consideran que las TIC contribuyen al desarrollo humano y que el empoderamiento con las TIC es el impulsor para la innovación social y desarrollo humano.
... Social innovation is another concept along the same lines, but scholars have not reached an agreement on its definition [93][94][95][96]. Nevertheless, several authors suggest that social innovation is developing solutions that have a strong impact on society, go beyond a commercial goal, and solve problems that affect individuals and groups [93,94,[97][98][99][100]. Although it is not a new concept, social innovation is emerging in developing countries, specifically in Latin America, to address the deficiencies of the current innovation model [101]. ...
Article
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While conventional innovation has boosted economic growth in certain regions, it has not contributed to closing the social and economic gap in most developing countries. Humanity is going through a historic moment of great challenges. One of them is social exclusion, a matrix of factors that prevent human beings from achieving well-being: poverty, hunger, inequality, lack of access to basic resources and services, and lack of social ties that help improve these circumstances, among others. This study holds two hypotheses: (1) in this context, inclusive innovation emerges as a response to the inability of conventional innovation to contribute to solve the persistent challenge of social exclusion and (2) universities—key actors in innovation dynamics—should play a fundamental role in the generation of inclusive innovation, especially considering their natural commitment to society. Although the role of the university in innovation has been widely acknowledged and studied, no formal theoretical model has represented inclusive innovation in developing countries adopting a systemic, complex, adaptive, and functional approach and incorporating a diversity of agents, interactions, capabilities, learning processes, knowledge, and directionalities—this would enable us to understand the role of the university in inclusive innovation. This paper argues that innovation dynamics should be understood from a systemic perspective and using computational modeling and simulation methods, so that the inherent complexity of these systems can be taken into account. The analysis of innovation scenarios based on a formal theoretical model and its operationalization through computer simulation should contribute to the understanding of the role of the university in these system dynamics, which can be used to propose effective strategies to strengthen its participation. Therefore, this paper proposes a formal systemic agent-based conceptual model that can be used to study the role of the university in inclusive innovation and establish guidelines to improve its performance. This study implemented standard computer modeling and simulation, specifically adapted for agent-based modeling. The results obtained from the simulation scenarios were comparatively analyzed using statistical tests (ANOVA and Tukey) to determine the presence of statistically significant differences. As the main finding of the research, the proposed conceptual model was validated and proved to be useful for studying the role of the university in reducing social exclusion in the Global South, through the design and execution of computer simulation scenarios.
... To better handle problems related to e.g. well-being, quality of life, social inclusion, solidarity, education, citizen participation, and environmental quality (Echevarría, 2008;Nicholls & Murdock, 2012), the concept of social innovation has gained political popularity, and is correspondingly emerging as a popular and diverse research field (do Adro & Fernandes, 2020;Husebø et al., 2021;Mulgan, 2012). Along with Nicholls & Murdock (2012 p. 25) we refer to this political and scholarly attention -as the title of the article also indicates -as a 'social innovation imperative'. ...
... replaces dominant structures (Avelino et al., 2019). These dominant structures are replaced by new structures and ideas that cut across every sector and combines the private, public and civil society sectors (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). In addition to cutting across sectors, to have the requisite impact, SI should have the potential to readily scale up and be easily replicable (Borzaga & Bodini, 2014). ...
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Purpose: Innovation is a constant state of affairs, in order for development to continue. However, there is also a need to ensure that innovations are sustainable. To this end, the paper examines the challenges that may hinder the achievement of sustainable social innovation in Nigeria and explores possible solutions and opportunities for development. Design/Methodology/Approach: The author conducted normative research that examined existing research with the aim of providing solutions to a research area that is fraught with challenges and also currently under researched. Research was also conducted for documents and research from previous studies which were subsequently analysed to provide suggested solutions. Findings: At over 200 million inhabitants, Nigeria is beset with many challenges such as insurgency, deforestation, poverty, food-shortages, limited access to healthcare and so on. Fittingly, there have been some social innovations that have tried to address some of the aforementioned issues with varying levels of success. However, so far, such initiatives have not delivered change on a large scale. Although there is evidence that there are SI activities in Nigeria, a recurring theme through the literature is the fact that it is difficult to measure the impact of social innovations and there are very limited attempts at documenting and monitoring the outcomes. Research, practical & social implications: This research indicates the need for collaboration, knowledge sharing, in order to contribute effectively to the development and deployment of Social Innovations in Nigeria. Awareness is also a challenge that was raised and is an opportunity for further development. Originality/Value: It is imperative to ensure that social innovations are sustainable particularly where they are direly needed. The sustainability of such innovations is doubtlessly important to ensure that the aim of establishing such initiatives is not thwarted. There is limited academic coverage of social innovations and their impact in developing countries and it is hoped that the various bodies involved in social innovations in such areas will recognise the need for collaboration, knowledge sharing and development of expertise for sustainable social innovation.
... Transdisciplinary studies were promoted by the Romans and were popular throughout the Middle Ages reaching a height with DaVinci's Universal Man in the 1500s, which signaled the intellectual peak of integration of distinct fields like the arts and sciences. Beginning with the Industrialized Age in the late 1770s, jobs became more and more siloed and specialized (Nicholls and Murdock, 2012). Hyper-specialization was celebrated more than universal, transdisciplinary thinking throughout the 1940s and 1950s. ...
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Problem-solving skills are highly valued in modern society and are often touted as core elements of school mission statements, desirable traits for job applicants, and as some of the most complex thinking that the brain is capable of executing. While learning to problem-solve is a goal of education, and many strategies, methodologies, and activities exist to help teachers guide the development of these skills, there are few formal curriculum structures or broader frameworks that guide teachers toward the achievement of this educational objective. Problem-solving skills have been called “higher order cognitive functions” in cognitive neuroscience as they involve multiple complex networks in the brain, rely on constant rehearsal, and often take years to form. Children of all ages employ problem solving, from a newborn seeking out food to children learning in school settings, or adults tackling real-world conflicts. These skills are usually considered the end product of a good education when in fact, in order to be developed they comprise an ongoing process of learning. “Ways of thinking” have been studied by philosophers and neuroscientists alike, to pinpoint cognitive preferences for problem solving approaches that develop from exposure to distinct models, derived from and resulting in certain heuristics used by learners. This new theory paper suggests a novel understanding of the brain’s approach to problem solving that structures existing problem-solving frameworks into an organized design. The authors surveyed problem-solving frameworks from business administration, design, engineering, philosophy, psychology, education, neuroscience and other learning sciences to assess their differences and similarities. This review lead to an appreciation that different problem-solving frameworks from different fields respond more or less accurately and efficiently depending on the kinds of problems being tackled, leading to our conclusion that a wider range of frameworks may help individuals approach more varied problems across fields, and that such frameworks can be organized in school curriculum. This paper proposes that explicit instruction of “mental frameworks” may help organize and formalize the instruction of thinking skills that underpin problem-solving–and by extension–that the more such models a person learns, the more tools they will have for future complex problem-solving. To begin, this paper explains the theoretical underpinnings of the mental frameworks concept, then explores some existing mental frameworks which are applicable to all age groups and subject areas. The paper concludes with a list of five limitations to this proposal and pairs them with counter-balancing benefits.
... Social innovations are manifested by the initiatives that emerge in response to the unmet needs of the local people, particularly in rural areas (Polman et al., 2017). Furthermore, social innovations can deal with wicked problems (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012;Polman et al., 2017). Hence, social innovations are believed to have the potential to play a vital role in enhancing the sustainable livelihood of marginalized communities. ...
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This study aimed to investigate the actor-related variables that would affect rural people’s participation in a grassroots social innovation (SI) initiative that has evolved and sustained since the 1980s in two geographically attached villages in Menoufia Governorate in Egypt. The study is based on the quantitative approach which used the socio-economic sample survey and applied a pretested structured questionnaire to a random sample of 221 household heads in the study area. The results revealed that there were significant positive relationships between the degree of respondents’ participation and their attitudes towards the SI, their degree of sense of community, and the perceived attributes of the SI. Moreover, there were significant negative relationships between the degree of respondents’ participation and their degree of needs satisfaction before the emergence of the SI and the degree of social loafing. Finally, 60.8% of the variance in the degree of participation could be explained by the variances in the respondents' age, geographic mobility, attitude towards the SI initiative, degree of social loafing, degree of needs satisfaction before the emergence of the SI, and the degree of sense of community. To the best of the authors' knowledge, few studies in Egypt dealt with the variables that might affect the local community participation in innovation in rural areas from actor-related perspectives. Hence, the results of this study might help to draw attention to the relationship between the actors’ attributes, and their social and economic conditions with the participation in local social innovations in rural Egypt.
... Recent advances in the field of innovation from European researchers discussed topics on social innovation (Nicholls and Murdock, 2012), public innovation (Swann, 2014), design-driven innovation (Verganti, 2009) and responsible innovation (Stilgoe et al., 2013), and focus more on the aspects of integrating technological innovation with the social and humanitarian value attributes. Goel and Nelson, (2021) analyse the impact of innovation and Research and development on employment for 127 countries highlighting a positive effect on job creation both for foreign and government owned enterprises. ...
Conference Paper
For EU countries, keeping and growing innovative business is vital in order to be globally competitive. Innovation in enterprises, as a cornerstone for future production, is of great significance for all countries depending more and more on services. Due to the way innovation is understood within enterprises, such process no longer is bound to single entity. It easily exceeds the sphere of one organisation rapidly evolving to an ecosystem of many actors and 3rd party suppliers and different shareholders across different countries. All these aspects reveal the link between business development, effective created value for the customers and the potential to innovate. The role of information technology both from operational perspective and in the development of innovative potential and new products is currently acknowledged both by enterprises and by small start-up companies. In such context, Eurostat introduced a new tool, “Innovation profiles”, to monitor enterprise innovation level. Thus, our paper explores such data analysing the similarities between 17 European countries. The source is Eurostat and latest data available from 2020, is used. The results of the Cluster Analysis performed in R Shiny app are obtained employing Pearson Correlation coefficient, measuring the Squared Euclidian distance, and the Ward linkage method. Positive moderate to low correlation is obtained in terms of innovation for the three obtained clusters, emphasizing the link between Romania, Poland, and Bulgaria.
... In the 21st century, many disciplines have been using the "social innovation" concept, and it simply refers to the configuration of social practices that respond to systemic problems that aim to improve social well-being outcomes, including the participation of actors in civil society [49]. Accordingly, innovations can be recognized as a vital component of social entrepreneurship, as entrepreneurs must participate in innovation to provide solutions for the contemporary social issues that they want to tackle [50]. ...
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Social entrepreneurship is becoming widely recognized as essential to developing economies and societies. However, we find that the lack of a clear and cohesive conceptualization for understanding the distinctive context and reliable role of social entrepreneurship is a challenging aspect. Furthermore, the research is lacking in developing country perspectives. Accordingly, this study argues that a social entrepreneurship conceptual model needs to be developed from a developing country perspective to advance the literature on the social entrepreneurship notion. Specifically, this study followed a qualitative research approach and conducted in-person semi-structured interviews with 24 Sri Lankan social enterprises by adopting the maximum variation sampling technique. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Consequently, our model explicates how social entrepreneurial orientation leads to the triple bottom line through dynamic capability and social innovation. The proposed model anticipates that social entrepreneurial orientation alone cannot achieve the triple bottom line in social entrepreneurship. Thus, based on existing research evidence, we believe that the following constructs-social entrepreneurial orientation, dynamic capabilities, social innovations, and the triple bottom line-can be integrated to provide a solid conceptual model for social entrepreneurial ventures in developing countries.
... Collaboration with an entrepreneurial spirit [94,95] defines links and relationships that aim to cut through barriers, facilitate the exchange of ideas, promote the benefits of collaboration [96,97], and support the co-creation of goods and services [84]. Entrepreneurial activities might take various forms, including organizations, partnerships, and social businesses [98][99][100][101][102][103]. Hybrid models enable collective entrepreneurial activities to simultaneously address societal and economic challenges while positioning themselves in the global economy [104]. ...
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Institutional collective actions (ICAs) provide a fascinating framework for comprehending collaborative urban initiatives. We defined ICAs as groups of people and organizations working together to promote a shared goal they could not pursue on their own. This study provides an empirical justification of why particular characteristics support the success of ICAs and why others fail. We restrict our analysis to culture-and-heritage-led urban regeneration initiatives and analyze the combinations of conditions under which these initiatives achieve their objectives. Adopting an integrated strategy, we studied prerequisites and critical elements that affect the success of collaborative actions, such as entrepreneurship, the enabling role of institutional capacity, multi-stakeholder involvement, and co-governance. Therefore, we compared sixteen culture-and-heritage-led urban regeneration initiatives in Europe as examples of ICAs in the urban context. We utilized fsQCA, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, as a method that enabled us to define the configurations (combinations of factors) that determine the performances of urban regeneration actions. The results demonstrate that a variety of elements are necessary for developing collaborative initiatives and that three different recipes can be developed. In addition, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on institutional collective actions in two ways: (1) by providing empirical evidence of why specific conditions need to be considered when developing collective actions and (2) by showing how specific conditions interact and explain the performance of ICAs.
... First, BPDA has been proposed and empirically validated as a dynamic innovation instrument (i.e., big data analytics model) in addressing poverty-related social challenges, which have become further acute due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, by highlighting the critical role of BPDA, our study extends the instrument viewpoint of social innovation (Mulgan, 2006;Nicholls & Murdock, 2012) by identifying it as a dynamic innovation tool to address social problems, meet social needs, and drive changes in the context of the microfinance industry. The second theoretical implication relates to the outcome viewpoint of social innovation research, as Pol and Ville (2009, 881) highlight, "the implied new idea has the potential to improve either the quality or the quantity of life …." ...
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Big data-driven innovation gains momentum in the developing world by tackling grand challenges and making a pronounced and lasting impact. However, research has still not answered the key question regarding the dimensions of big poverty data analytics (BPDA) capabilities for creative service offerings nor their effects on economic and social outcomes. This study fills this gap by conducting a two-phase Delphi study and two rounds of surveys focusing on a globally leading microcredit institute in a developing country. The study conceptualizes management (analytics climate, cross-functional integration), platform (technology and data), and talent (pattern spotting and market ambidexterity) capabilities as the dimensions of BPDA capability. It further investigates creative service offerings (meaningfulness and novelty) as the mediator between BPDA—new service performance (economic outcome from the firm's end) as well as BPDA—quality of life (social outcome from consumer's end). Our research advances, first, the microfoundational view of dynamic capability (DC) theory in the emerging data-driven innovation paradigm by specifically identifying the complementary and co-specialization attributes of six microfoundations (i.e., analytics climate, cross-functional integration, data, technology, pattern spotting, and ambidexterity). In addition to DC, our study extends social innovation literature by establishing the connection between the instrument (BPDA capability) and outcome view (quality of life) of social innovation to tackle grand challenges in the developing world. Finally, our study extends creativity theory by introducing creative service offerings as a mediator and highlighting its role in the novel and meaningful solutions to social problems. Overall, this study is a pioneer in conceptualizing and empirically validating a research model that uncovers the potentially complex nuances between BPDA capability-creative offerings and innovation outcomes to tackle the grand challenge of poverty. Its findings are scholarly significant and executive worthy and constitute a major advancement in extant studies regarding how creative services are developed using BPDA and their impact on the firm's profitability and consumer well-being.
... Others (Benneworth and Cunha 2015;Howaldt and Kopp 2012;Nordberg, Mariussen, and Virkkala 2020) support a view where expert knowledge is considered a prominent element in this process: recently, Leitheiser and Follmann (2020) demonstrated that urban policymakers consider expert knowledge more important than citizen knowledge, and technical advice from scientists and experts is generally included in the policy initiatives implemented at local level. Nicholls and Murdock (2012) pointed out that social innovation is a political construct which is strongly influenced by social and individual expectations. Indeed, social innovation has often been used to justify policy choices supported by specific political views. ...
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Expert knowledge is considered fundamental in the policymaking process, especially when considering multidimensional phenomena such as social innovation. However, the positioning of experts in the policy debate still deserves a thorough investigation. By using Japan as case study and applying Discourse Network Analysis to the debates occurred in the Japanese National Diet (2017-2021), this study investigates the presence of discourse factions and the positioning of experts in these factions. Results show that factions exist but there is not a strong polarisation in the arena; moreover, experts do not just support neoliberal policies , they also encourage bottom-up initiatives.
... Social innovations have the potential to transform society to tackle newly emerging societal problems, thus making society more resilient against current or unprecedented challenges. Nicholls and Murdock (2012) went so far to label the social innovation as "a sixth wave of macroinnovation following more technology-based predecessors: the industrial revolution; steam and railways; steel, electricity, and heavy engineering; oil, automobiles, and mass production; and information and telecommunications." ...
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The historical periods of disruptions for almost every field of life underlines the necessity of bottom-up development, which requires citizens to realize its potential and take the responsibility to make a change. Social innovations are believed to play the role that technological innovation did during the industrial development one century ago. Proven experiences suggest that there is an immense need of cultivation of an 'innov-active' society which is sensitive to the challenges around them, capable of analyzing the situation, determining the point of action, developing alternatives and providing necessary resources in an innovative and collaborative manner without awaiting or expecting the intervention of others. Unlocking the potential of the people necessitates taking advantage of collective intelligence; a participators design approach, improving the community feeling and level of trust; developing necessary tools for action; and improving the active citizenship mindset, which eventually contributes to an entrepreneurship spirit and thus creates a risk-taker and resilient society.
... As in technological innovation, SI process follows distinct phases, similar to the traditional "innovation journey model" (Van de Ven et al., 1999;Oeij et al., 2019), which includes initiation, development and implementation/termination periods of innovation. SI typically begins with recognition of an entrepreneurial opportunity, the implementation of a new idea and its consolidation to create a successful practice (Phillips et al., 2015;Perrini et al., 2010;Nicholls and Murdock, 2012). In this regard, innovation differs from creativity, which is vital to innovation but not sufficient for innovation success. ...
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Purpose This study investigates the drivers of social innovation in disability services with specific reference to the context of nonprofit organizations of social farming. In addition, it highlights the role of stakeholder networks in enhancing the social innovation process and the characteristics of stakeholders and networks driving and supporting social innovation. Design/methodology/approach Following a qualitative methodology, research was conducted through a case study survey with interviews to 13 nonprofit organizations of social farming for people with disability located in the northeast of Italy. Findings Insights gained from the interviews revealed that individual, organizational and contextual factors drive social innovation in disability nonprofits. In addition, networks play a key role in enhancing the three drivers of social innovation through the social innovation journey, from opportunity recognition to implementation of the innovation, to its consolidation phases. Characteristics of the networks and the stakeholders involved are also outlined. Practical implications Practical implications for social entrepreneurs include the need to establish cross-sectoral partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including private companies. Social implications Implications for policy makers stress the need for ongoing support for nonprofit disability organizations. Social implications are not limited to the inclusion of socially weaker groups; rather, the entire community benefits from the social innovation process. Originality/value Social farming represents a valuable solution to meet the needs of disadvantaged people. While much research has investigated the topic of social innovation in social entrepreneurship, only a few studies have addressed social innovation in the context of disability nonprofits involved in social farming.
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Entrepreneurship in tourism as an emerging discipline, but with increasing growth, has attracted the attention of scholars of various disciplines through their interdisciplinary background. Research in this area, however, faces the same methodological and research weaknesses, and the results do not pave the way for entrepreneurs and policymakers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and analyze the methodology of studies in this field using meta-analysis. Statistical population includes all articles published in domestic journals in the field of tourism entrepreneurship. Sampling was done through a whole-body method and 44 articles were selected. The methodology of Sanders et al. introduced and used to evaluate and analyze the articles. The results show that research in this field is mainly conducted in the positivist paradigm, since entrepreneurship in tourism is in the conceptualization and theorizing stage, research in this field requires fundamental orientations with exploratory goals, qualitative and synthetic approaches, grounded theory strategies, and comparative and deductive approaches. Finally, suggestions for future research are presented. Keywords Methodology Meta-Method Approach Evaluation Entrepreneurship Tourism
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Introduction: Young adults, are a critical demographic in the Nigeria’s pursuit of sustainable development. However, the youths are not properly prioritised in Nigeria and they face multifaceted challenges that hinder their socio-economic development. Recognizing the potential of social innovation to address these challenges, this study explores innovative strategies to empower Nigerian youth effectively. Aim: To explore and understand how social innovation can be utilized to prioritize and address the challenges faced by young adults in Nigeria, thereby contributing to the nation's overall development agenda. Method: Employing a qualitative research design, the study gathered data through semi-structured interviews with NGO workers who have direct experience working with Nigerian youth. A purposive sampling strategy was implemented to select participants, ensuring a focus on individuals closely involved in youth development initiatives. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key challenges and opportunities for empowering young adults in Nigeria. Result: The study identified eight major themes reflecting the challenges and opportunities in youth empowerment: Educational and Skill Deficit, Poor Funding, Policy and Institutional Failures, Solution and Capacity Failures, Youth-Led Empowerment through Technology and Entrepreneurship, Poor Infrastructure, Partnership and Collaboration, and Tailored Community Interventions. These themes highlighted the critical gaps in current approaches and accentuate the potential of leveraging local assets, technology, and entrepreneurship as avenues for empowerment. Conclusion: The study concludes that addressing the empowerment challenges of Nigerian youth requires a multifaceted approach that leverages social innovation and community assets. Recommendations for policy and practice include the adoption of the Asset-Based Community Development, fostering entrepreneurship through practical experiences, and enhancing digital literacy and access. Emphasizing the need for policies that encourage partnerships and support tailored community interventions, the study provides a roadmap for stakeholders to prioritize and effectively empower Nigerian youth. The research is limited by its qualitative nature, purposive sampling method, and reliance on the perspectives of NGO workers rather than the direct experiences of Nigerian youth.
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Purpose: Following COVID-19 at the close of 2019, countries have been in an emergency to contain the improvised danger to their citizens; Rwanda was no exception. The Government of Rwanda (GoR) turned to investing in different mechanisms to deal with the pandemic, including community-based interventions by youth volunteers, which is considered a social innovation to deal with the improvised societal challenge. This study investigated the motives, opportunities, challenges, and lessons that youth volunteers encountered while curbing the spread of the pandemic at the community level. Theoretical Concept: Social innovation concepts contribute to social change and provide actors with the means to meet societal challenges. The social innovation concepts were adopted as the theoretical concepts underpinning the study. Method: The study followed a descriptive qualitative design. Using key informants and in-depth interview techniques (KIIs), data were collected from 13 interviews with youth volunteers and opinion leaders among citizens of the Huye District of Rwanda who were selected using network and purposive sampling techniques. Interviews were uploaded in MAXQDA 2022 to visualize and map the data. Results: The results indicate that youth volunteers have encountered various challenges where a poor mindset had a big occurrence, followed by aggressive attitudes from beneficiaries of their interventions. However, despite the challenges, there were opportunities whereby youth volunteers showed a high level of patriotism for their country and learned new skills like public speaking. Implications: The study suggests that in similar future interventions, the government should mitigate the identified challenges and enhance the highlighted opportunities for the intervention to be more impactful.
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La transferencia de conocimiento, la capacidad de absorción y la innovación son factores clave para el éxito de las empresas. El propósito de este artículo es estudiar la relación teórica entre los conceptos: capacidad de absorción, transferencia de conocimiento e innovación en empresas de servicios, a través de una investigación bibliométrica, abordando 506 artículos científicos. Los resultados indican que existe una relación teórica positiva entre la Capacidad de absorción y la innovación, la transferencia de conocimiento y la innovación, así como entre la transferencia de conocimiento y la capacidad de absorción, cabe destacar el impacto que tienen estos conceptos y su relación para la gestión empresarial, y su importancia para fortalecer la competitividad e innovación, especialmente en los procesos de las organizaciones de servicios.
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This study seeks to investigate the role and character of democratic participation in social innovation (SI) processes. The study builds empirically on a collaborative design process of an Impact hub conducted between a social enterprise, Roskilde University researchers and students during 2019. It draws on concepts of participation (Carpentier, 2011, Javnost, 2016) from a political critical perspective and social innovation (SI) (Moulaert and MacCallum, 2019) from a democratic empowering perspective. The study finds a significant degree of variety in the intensity and characteristics of participation in the investigated SI process, most likely influencing the project’s potential to facilitate social innovation. One critical barrier concerned the enactment of different more or less visible and active ways of participation leading to ambiguity in project development.
Article
Purpose Social innovation is a nascent field. Within research on social innovation, the context of higher education has largely been ignored. To better understand social innovation, it is important to explore factors that facilitate social innovation in universities’ context. There is little research on enablers of social innovation in universities and the impacts of social innovation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the enablers of social innovation in the Saudi Arabian context. Moreover, the impacts of social innovation projects are also explored. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was used to carry out this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, and content analysis was performed. Findings Data revealed that institutional commitment, mission, active collaborations, curriculum, support, training, community university engagement offices, university social impact offices and reward and evaluation were among critical enablers. The impact of social innovation in terms of social, institutional, economic and community specific was also reported. Originality/value Research on the enablers and outcomes of social innovation in the higher education context is limited. This study adds to the innovation literature by investigating what processes and factors (enablers) can help universities to engage in social innovation initiatives and what are the outcomes (impact) of engaging in social innovation. Findings of the study have important policy implications.
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Purpose First, this paper aims to identify and discuss the paradoxical relationship between theology and technology. Second, it also demonstrates the urgency of the digitalization of the Church ministry. Third, this paper offers an understanding of technology and theology through the missional perspective of the Church. Fourth, this paper asks the following questions: (1) Can the Church innovate ways of using technology while maintaining the social aspect of the organism? (2) Can organizations migrate to digital technology with adequate technology/human interface to engage innovations? (3) How can organizations renew their products via technological platforms? (4) From a socio-technical perspective on the digital era, can the Church keep abreast of its workforce in a way that provides adequate participative opportunities? and finally, this paper further interacts with views on the paradigm shift of practical theology and techno-theological practice and possible inclusion in the theology vocabularies of the Church. Design/methodology/approach A thorough search on the subject of techno-theology (TTheo) reveals that there are no scholarly works that offer a conceptual understanding of TTheo. However, TTheo derives an interdisciplinary definition from innovative leadership, socio-religious transformation, transformational leadership, anthropological studies, strategic leadership (and authentic leader AL), scenario thinking/planning, technological disruptions, digital transformation and Church sustainability. There are multiple inferences in the literature on the advantages and disadvantages of technology in human relations (Banks et al. , 2016; Dyer, 2011). Findings Innovation is open-ended. It can take place anywhere and anytime. All it requires are human entities who are creative enough to respond appropriately. The author agrees with Goldsmith that innovation is not limited to a single aspect of any system (Goldsmith et al. , 2010, p. xxiv). Innovation can occur anywhere, and there is no limit to it. The only hindrance to innovation is the lack of creative leaders, creative agents of change and an enabling environment to foster change (Teece, 2018, 2010; Bounfour, 2016; Hanna, 2016). While technological innovation is a good development, other factors drive innovation. Technological innovation is not an end by itself. It is a means to an end. And it cannot stand in isolation from other factors that support it. It competes with some external factors which can sustain it or obstruct it. Research limitations/implications This paper used the traditional (or narrative), meta-analysis and meta-synthesis methods of literature reviews to study scenario thinking, system thinking, planning and TTheo principles to find a suitable space to redefine and reconstruct the Church’s ministry engagement in a technologically avowed age. This paper is not a technology text, nor does it pose to answer technology questions. Instead, it focuses on the role of technology in Christian ministry. Practical implications This paper recommended that the Church redefines its digital transformation perspective by adopting a TTheo that embraces digital materials and hybrid technology in its ministry engagement across the board. This paper further interacts with views on the paradigm shift of practical theology and techno-theological practice and possible inclusion in the theology vocabularies of the Church. Social implications Technology shapes human interactions in a sociopolitical, socioreligious and sociocultural environment (Dyer, 2011; Postman, 2021; McLauhan, 1994, p. 7). As a community of faith, the Church is a segment of the broader cultural environment with a cross-section of people from various works of life and opinions. Language, customs and practice differ significantly from others in every environment. Hence, each setting is unique in multiple ways (Teece, 2018, 2010). The world continues to experience developments in many areas. Due to the symbiotic nature of humans and the environment, cross-breeding and cross-fertilization of ideas are inevitable. As one organization reacts to its unique existence, it indirectly or directly affects another. Hence, while growth may be relative, its impacts are overtly universal. Originality/value The term “Techno-theology” is a newcomer in the theological circle. Hence, there are practically little or minimal literature on this subject area. In this paper, the author has written the original concept of the subject matter (TTheo). This paper is part of the ground-breaking research the author is conducting on “Techno-theology.” The author’s PhD research proposal was approved in December 2022. The author’s research focuses on the subject matter of this paper (TTheo). The author also looks forward to leading a deeper conversation among scholars.
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The goal of this study was a competitive analysis of global e-distributors in the hospitality industry. It specifically on Airbnb a peer-to-peer booking model, Booking.com an online travel agent retail booking model, and hotel websites, a customer direct booking model. Hospitality e-distribution systems were assessed using the Five Forces Model, a tool for analyzing the competition of a business, to determine the current dynamics and to predict the future implications. In this regard, a focus group study was conducted with a group of tourism scholars and experts working in the tourism industry. Based on the findings of this qualitative research, the paper discusses how each system fills the demand in the changing competitive landscape. The study contributes to the literature by producing a detailed analysis of the dynamic nature of distribution in the hospitality industry from a strategic perspective.
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Our everyday lives are saturated by innovations. We don't even realise how many problems we have to solve every day, including some that are not just our own, individual problems, but those of a wider or smaller community. Many of these problems cannot be solved in the traditional way, by the means we are used to. In such cases, we look for new solutions: solutions that we have not tried before. We call these new solutions innovations. If we fail upon using them, they become forgotten. If an innovation is successful, it will circulate and will be used by all those who face a similar problem. This is how innovations spread. But when can we call an innovation permanent, sustainable? In this volume we look for the answer to this question. In our geographical statistical analysis of learning regions, we have noticed that the indicators of so-called community learning 'behave' differently from the indicators of the other three learning types (formal, non-formal and cultural) (Kozma ed 2016). Therefore, we decided to explore the areas where the statistical indicators of community learning signalled something unusual. According to international literature, we referred to them as "learning communities" and began to study them through case studies while they were looking for unusual solutions to their problems (Márkus & Kozma, eds 2019). We understood that social innovation requires communities that are engaged in social learning. Thus, we started to address community building as a precondition for social innovation (Boros, Kozma & Márkus eds 2021). We studied the contributions of school, social learning and local culture to community development that underpins innovation. Our present volume contains fourteen papers and is divided into three chapters.
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There has been global growth in the number of social innovation initiatives launched in the university sector over the last decade. These initiatives aim to address complex social problems and to promote institutional change. This surge is occurring without a well-developed empirical knowledge base. This article provides a comprehensive description and analysis of the landscape of social innovation initiatives in the Canadian university sector. Findings show that nearly half of Canada’s 96 universities are associated with at least one initiative; many are interdisciplinary and emphasize collaborative problem-solving with sectors outside the university; and government agencies and charitable foundations are the most common funding sources. Findings suggest there is room for growth and for linking and clustering initiatives. The article concludes with directions for future research. RÉSUMÉLa dernière décennie a été marquée par une croissance mondiale du nombre d’initiatives d’innovation sociale lancées dans le secteur universitaire. Ces initiatives visent à résoudre des problèmes sociaux complexes et à induire des changements institutionnels et systémiques. Cette poussée de l’activité d’innovation sociale se produit sans une base de connaissances empiriques bien développée. Nous y contribuons en fournissant une description et une analyse complètes de toutes les initiatives d’innovation sociale auxquelles participe le secteur universitaire canadien, de leurs caractéristiques et du paysage qu’elles constituent. Résultats notables: près de la moitié des 96 universités canadiennes sont associées à au moins une initiative; de nombreuses initiatives sont interdisciplinaires et mettent l’accent sur la résolution de problèmes en collaboration avec des secteurs extérieurs à l’université; Les agences gouvernementales et les fondations caritatives sont les sources de financement les plus courantes. Les résultats suggèrent: il existe un potentiel de croissance de l’innovation sociale dans le secteur; il y a moins de liens internes et de regroupement d’initiatives que ne le recommande la théorie de l’innovation; l’accent mis sur la collaboration extérieure rejoint la «troisième mission» des universités, qui existe depuis longtemps, mais les innovateurs sociaux ont des objectifs, des méthodes et des processus distincts pour mener à bien cette mission. Nous concluons avec les orientations pour les recherches futures. Keywords / Mots clés: Universities; Higher education; Social innovation; Community engagement; Service mission; Social change; Canada / Universités; Établissements d’enseignement supérieur; Innovation sociale; Engagement communautaire; Mission de service; Changement social; Canada
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Entrepreneurship needs a vision and leadership skills to accomplish it and a motivation to build something new, which will develop and sustain it. And society needs social entrepreneurs, contributing to a new organization of the welfare system, while making a difference and helping each other. The central theme in the existing social entrepreneurship literature is the pursuit of a social mission or objective. Thus, social entrepreneurs play a role as reformers and revolutionaries, who are intending to solve social problems, and not being answered by governmental policies. Entrepreneurial thinking and acting as well as innovation driving managers is a need for society. However, it is not the organization but the people, united by a proactive and market-driven culture, that are innovative and which combine to populate and to equip the organization with the required competencies. The chapter proposes a methodology to analyze the competencies that should be fostered by higher education programs to provide graduates with the desired competencies for entrepreneurship and driving innovation. This chapter is reprinted by IGI. First published as: Social Entrepreneurship and Its Competences January 2019 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-8939-6.ch006
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Purpose This study aims to examine capital and competency variables – human capital, social capital and personal entrepreneurial competencies – in relation to social innovation development and growth of social enterprises in a developing country with an emerging social enterprise sector: Thailand. Design/methodology/approach A hypothetical-deductive approach was adopted and a quantitative survey by questionnaire was applied to collect data from owners/top management of 103 social enterprises in Thailand. The data were used to test hypotheses and further analysed using partial least squares technique. Findings The results revealed that there were positive direct and indirect (mediating) relationships between human capital, social capital, personal entrepreneurial competencies and social innovation development and growth of Thai social enterprises. Skills and training were key determinants of human capital, whereas social interaction, trust, social identification and shared knowledge were key determinants of social capital which affected social innovation development. Goal orientation, information seeking, opportunity seeking, persuasion and self-confidence were key determinants of entrepreneurial competencies that also affected social innovation development. This study ultimately revealed the mediating effects of social innovation development on the relationships between capital and competency variables and the growth of social enterprises. Originality/value This study fills the research gap, from the theoretical perspective, by identifying capital and competency variables as well as their additional determinants that are divergent from previous literature, which can potentially influence the social innovation development of social enterprises, and where only limited research is evidenced. From an empirical perspective, this study attempts to investigate the associations between these variables and growth indicators in the context of social enterprises in a developing nation, where its sector is in its infancy. This study further helps to clarify the existence of the direct and indirect (mediating) effects of social innovation development in the context of the economic and social accomplishments of social enterprises.
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The process of user-centered innovation: how it can benefit both users and manufacturers and how its emergence will bring changes in business models and in public policy. Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users—both individuals and firms—often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all.The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products—most notably in the free and open-source software movement—but also in physical products. Von Hippel's many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive. Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses—the custom semiconductor industry is one example—that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.
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This introductory article does three things. First, it compares neo-liberal and social innovation discourses about urban socio-economic change, including associated policies and key agencies. Second, it seeks to improve the analytical framework of urban development by combining `spatialized' Regulation Theory with elements from Cultural Political Economy and from Urban Regime Theory.Third, with the help of case-studies, the article illustrates how social innovation is a potentially powerful concept, capable of anchoring urban change movements more firmly into the local social and political fabric. The case-studies, some of which are included in this special issue, analyse examples of social innovation in a number of European urban contexts, within the framework of the FP5 SINGOCOM research project.
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This paper explores the notion of social innovation as it arises in indigenous com- munities. In particular, we consider entre- preneurial activity in Maori communities where innovation arises through the in- teraction of the young opportunity seek- ing entrepreneur (potiki) and the elder statesperson (rangatira). To explore this behavior in more detail we draw on a neo- Schumpeterian understanding of innova- tion as self-organization: new combina- tions are seen as "the deliberate formation and re-formation of cooperating groups" (Foster, 2000: 319). We consider social entrepreneurship in the form of indige- nous entrepreneurship, in particular Mao- ri entrepreneurship. Indigenous entre- preneurship operates at the intersection of social and economic entrepreneurship (Anderson et al., 2006). It incorporates both social and economic entrepreneurial activity and explicitly acknowledges the particular historical and cultural context from which they arise (Tapsell & Woods, 2007). We discuss Maori entrepreneur- ship as a complex adaptive system and pro- vide an illustrative example of one social entrepreneurship venture: Maori Maps. Based on this discussion we suggest that innovation can usefully be thought of as a double spiral combining the twin flows of opportunity and heritage.
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This study explores the relational processes that underpin social innovation within strategic cross-sector partnerships. Using four longitudinal narratives to document the duality of success and failure in strategic collaborations between nonprofit and for-profit organizations, the authors explain how partners navigate this duality: deliberate role (re)calibrations help the partners sustain the momentum for success and overcome temporary failure or crossover from failure to success. Our grounded framework models three relational factors that moderate the relationship between role recalibrations and the momentum for success or failure: relational attachment, a personalized reciprocal bond between partners, which provides a stabilizing buffer in the face of unexpected contingencies; partner complacency, an insufficient investment that signals temporary misalignments; and partner disillusionment, an erosion of confidence in the other partner’s commitment that diagnoses premature failure.
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This article describes and analyzes the process of institutionalizing studies on science, technology, and society (STS) in Cuba, and the social and academic circumstances in which these studies are implemented there. The authors give a brief account of how science and technology have evolved in Cuba over the last four decades. The authors argue that the promotion of science and technological innovation in Cuba has purposely taken the form of social innovation. The authors offer our view of how the changes and demands on science, technology, and education can take advantage of the approaches and proposals of STS studies. The authors consider the traditions of thought that have influenced Cuban culture and construct a specific conceptual framework through which contemporary developments in STS are assimilated. Finally, on the basis of the above analysis, the authors describe experiences of the institutionalization of STS and their underlying objectives.
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This article focuses on the identification and role of social innovation in urban development. The aim is to further the understanding of the contradictory relationship between state and civil society, using a thorough analysis of the process of participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, the capital city of Rio Grande do Sul—the most southern state of Brazil. The first section spells out four different concepts of the relationship between state and civil society and their implications for social innovation. In the second section, these popular movements are shown to be embedded in the historically rooted structure of patrimonialism and capitalism in Brazil. The third section provides an historical analysis of Brazilian popular movements which represent new key actors in civil society. The fourth section offers a detailed description of the process of the participatory budget. In the final section, conclusions are drawn about social innovation in local politics, focusing on the empowering experiments with new public and democratic forms of the local state accessible to civil society and its interests.
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A central claim of sustainable development is the far-reaching use of renewable forms of energy. This article focuses on the fact that solar water heaters are much more popular in Austria than in most other European countries. The enormous success of solar heaters in the 1990s is explained by two specific social phenomena that only can be observed in Austria: first, by a self-construction movement, consisting of single do-it-yourself groups started in the early 1980s that has spread throughout Austria. A major aspect of this movement was a comprehensive diffusion strategy that made it easy for nearly everyone to get a solar water system. Second, an atypical group of adopters were responsible for the unexpected dissemination success. Most of these early adopters were households in rural regions, interested in solar heaters due to a feature that already played a central role in the very beginning of this technology - more personal comfort. The close connection between the self-construction movement and early users enabled ongoing technical improvements of the system, which were adopted by commercial producers and installation companies.
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In this paper, we draw on a case study of the development of commercial whale-watching on Canada’s west coast to explore the role of macro-cultural discourse and local actors in the structuration of new institutional fields. We argue that the development of the commercial whale-watching industry in the area was made possible by broad macrocultural changes in the conceptualization of whales in North America. At the same time, however, the characteristics of the geographically distinct institutional fields that emerged depended on local action and the processes of structuration that those actions supported. The constitution of specific new fields required interested actors to engage in the institutional innovation and isomorphism that produced the unique networks of relationships and sets of institutions that constituted those fields.
Article
Social Entrepreneurship' is a term that has come to be applied to the activities of grass-roots activists, NGOs, policy makers, international institutions, and corporations, amongst others, which address a range of social issues in innovative and creative ways. Themed around the emerging agendas for developing new, sustainable models of social sector excellence and systemic impact, Social Entrepreneurship offers, for the first time, a wide-ranging, internationally-focused selection of cutting-edge work from leading academics, policy makers, and practitioners. Together they seek to clarify some of the ambiguity around this term, describe a range of social entrepreneurship projects, and establish a clear set of frameworks with which to understand it. Included in the volume are contributions from Muhammad Yunus, the father of microfinance, Geoff Mulgan, former head of the British prime minister's policy unit, and Bill Drayton, founder of the Ashoka network of social entrepreneurs. Jeff Skoll, founder of the Skoll Foundation, and first president of eBay, provides a preface.
Chapter
Social Entrepreneurship' is a term that has come to be applied to the activities of grass-roots activists, NGOs, policy makers, international institutions, and corporations, amongst others, which address a range of social issues in innovative and creative ways. Themed around the emerging agendas for developing new, sustainable models of social sector excellence and systemic impact, Social Entrepreneurship offers, for the first time, a wide-ranging, internationally-focused selection of cutting-edge work from leading academics, policy makers, and practitioners. Together they seek to clarify some of the ambiguity around this term, describe a range of social entrepreneurship projects, and establish a clear set of frameworks with which to understand it. Included in the volume are contributions from Muhammad Yunus, the father of microfinance, Geoff Mulgan, former head of the British prime minister's policy unit, and Bill Drayton, founder of the Ashoka network of social entrepreneurs. Jeff Skoll, founder of the Skoll Foundation, and first president of eBay, provides a preface.
Chapter
Social Entrepreneurship' is a term that has come to be applied to the activities of grass-roots activists, NGOs, policy makers, international institutions, and corporations, amongst others, which address a range of social issues in innovative and creative ways. Themed around the emerging agendas for developing new, sustainable models of social sector excellence and systemic impact, Social Entrepreneurship offers, for the first time, a wide-ranging, internationally-focused selection of cutting-edge work from leading academics, policy makers, and practitioners. Together they seek to clarify some of the ambiguity around this term, describe a range of social entrepreneurship projects, and establish a clear set of frameworks with which to understand it. Included in the volume are contributions from Muhammad Yunus, the father of microfinance, Geoff Mulgan, former head of the British prime minister's policy unit, and Bill Drayton, founder of the Ashoka network of social entrepreneurs. Jeff Skoll, founder of the Skoll Foundation, and first president of eBay, provides a preface.
Chapter
Social Entrepreneurship' is a term that has come to be applied to the activities of grass-roots activists, NGOs, policy makers, international institutions, and corporations, amongst others, which address a range of social issues in innovative and creative ways. Themed around the emerging agendas for developing new, sustainable models of social sector excellence and systemic impact, Social Entrepreneurship offers, for the first time, a wide-ranging, internationally-focused selection of cutting-edge work from leading academics, policy makers, and practitioners. Together they seek to clarify some of the ambiguity around this term, describe a range of social entrepreneurship projects, and establish a clear set of frameworks with which to understand it. Included in the volume are contributions from Muhammad Yunus, the father of microfinance, Geoff Mulgan, former head of the British prime minister's policy unit, and Bill Drayton, founder of the Ashoka network of social entrepreneurs. Jeff Skoll, founder of the Skoll Foundation, and first president of eBay, provides a preface.
Book
The impact of technical change on the process of delivering services to consumers
Book
It has long been assumed that product innovations are typically developed by product manufacturers. Because this assumption deals with the basic matter of who the innovator is, it has inevitably had a major impact on innovation-related research, on firms' management of research and development, and on government innovation policy. However, it now appears that this basic assumption is often wrong. In this book I begin by presenting a series of studies showing that the sources of innovation vary greatly. In some fields, innovation users develop most innovations. In others, suppliers of innovation-related components and materials are the typical sources of innovation. In still other fields, conventional wisdom holds and product manufacturers are indeed the typical innovators. Next, I explore why this variation in the functional sources of innovation occurs and how it might be predicted. Finally, I propose and test some implications of replacing a manufacturer-as-innovator assumption with a view of the innovation process as predictably distributed across users, manufacturers, suppliers, and others. Keywords: innovation, innovators, user innovation
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'A very relevant and insightful perspective on institutional change and economic renewal in regions, countries and corporations.' - Yves L. Doz, INSEAD, France. This book examines the nature of social innovation processes which determine the economic and social performance of nations, regions, industrial sectors and organizations. © Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund 2007. All rights reserved.
Article
Some of the essential rules designed to maximize the chances of disruptive technologies to succeed with the use of statistical process control (SPC) chart are discussed. Such a technique is used to make sure that the machines employed in the manufacturing process does not drift out of control. The SPC chart has long been an important tool in quality management, composed of three parallel horizontal lines. The center line represents the targeted value for the critical performance parameter of a product being manufactured. The lines above and below it represent the acceptable upper and lower control limits.
Article
Innovation is the key to firm competitiveness and growth yet studying innovation is much like the ancient parable about a group of blind men each touching a different part of an elephant. This book is a fresh new approach to understanding innovation - market linkages using one unified framework. The book examines an integrated innovation environment. Four market archetypes as well as the market outcome for each archetype are described. Innovation dynamics including commoditization, the constant innovation challenge and the sustainability of innovation are analyzed along with cases including the iPod, Lego, Barbie, the browser wars and Google. A diagnostic matrix is presented which enables one to take a 'snapshot' of a product in the innovation environment. This book is an invaluable tool for the academic, the manager and the consultant to understand 'where' a firm is located in an innovation environment, 'why' it is so located and provides valuable clues as to 'what' to do when designing strategy.
Article
This article synthesizes the large but diverse literature on organizational legitimacy, highlighting similarities and disparities among the leading strategic and institutional approaches. The analysis identifies three primary forms of legitimacy: pragmatic, based on audience self-interest; moral, based on normative approval: and cognitive, based on comprehensibility and taken-for-grantedness. The article then examines strategies for gaining, maintaining, and repairing legitimacy of each type, suggesting both the promises and the pitfalls of such instrumental manipulations.
Article
Using a comparative framework, this new volume focuses on how non-standard employment can be regulated in very different social, political and institutional settings. After surveying these new forms of work and the new demands for labour-market regulation, the authors identify possible solutions among local-level actors and provide a detailed analysis of how firms assess the advantages and disadvantages of flexible forms of employment. The authors provide six detailed case studies to examine the successes and failures of experimental approaches and social innovation in various regions in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. © 2006 Ida Regalia for selection and editorial matter; individual contributors their contributions. All rights reserved.
Article
This essay presents an overview of selected aspects of prevailing theoretical understanding of innovation, and attempts to sketch some directions that would seem fruitful to follow if we are to achieve a theoretical structure that can be helpful in guiding thinking about policy. We are using the term innovation as a portmanteau to cover the wide range of variegated processes by which man’s technologies evolve over time. By a theory we mean a reasonable coherent intellectual framework which integrates existing knowledge, and enables predictions to go beyond the particulars of what actually has been observed. It seems apparent that if scholarly knowledge is to be helpful to deliberation about policy directions, theory must be wide enough to encompass and link the relevant variables and their effects, and strong enough to give guidance as to what would happen if some of these variables changed.
Article
Research on social entrepreneurship is finally catching up to its rapidly growing potential. In The Search for Social Entrepreneurship , Paul Light explores this surge of interest to establish the state of knowledge on this growing phenomenon and suggest directions for future research. Light begins by outlining the debate on how to define social entrepreneurship, a concept often cited and lauded but not necessarily understood. A very elemental definition would note that it involves individuals, groups, networks, or organizations seeking sustainable change via new ideas on how governments, nonprofits, and businesses can address significant social problems. That leaves plenty of gaps, however, and without adequate agreement on what the term means, we cannot measure it effectively. The unsatisfying results are apple-to-orange comparisons that make replication and further research difficult. The subsequent section examines the four main components of social entrepreneurship: ideas, opportunities, organizations, and the entrepreneurs themselves. The copious information available about each has yet to be mined for lessons on making social entrepreneurship a success. The third section draws on Light's original survey research on 131 high-performing nonprofits, exploring how they differ across the four key components. The fourth and final section offers recommendations for future action and research in this burgeoning field.
Article
We examine the current state of the social entrepreneurship literature, asking what is unique about social entrepreneurship and what avenues create opportunities for the future of the field. After an evaluation of social entrepreneurship definitions and comparison of social entrepreneurship to other forms, we conclude that while it is not a distinct type of entrepreneurship, researchers stand to benefit most from further research on social entrepreneurship as a context in which established types of entrepreneurs operate. We demonstrate these opportunities by describing avenues for further inquiry that emerge when examining valuable assumptions and insights from existing theories inherent in conventional, cultural, and institutional entrepreneurship frameworks and integrating these insights in ways that address the unique phenomena that exist in the context of social entrepreneurship.
Article
ISBN 978-1-906693-21-3 £5 © Demos 2009 getting more for less Jamie Bartlett For the next decade the most urgent question facing government will be how public services can meet people's needs, while costing less. This pamphlet argues that the route to public sector efficiency is to focus on effective-ness. Effective services are personalised — driven by people's needs, they take aim at the cause of problems rather than the conse-quences, and they are delivered collaboratively. Services driven by these principles result in better outcomes for citizens, a better quality of service, and happier staff. They also save money because getting things right, and getting them right first time, always works out cheaper. As we face the tightest public finances in a generation, this pamphlet shows that getting more for less is possible and offers policy makers practical guidance on how to do it.
Article
Personal budgets in health and social care are giving disabled and older people unprecedented control over the services they use. Within the next five years, 1.5 million people could be using personal budgets to commission and manage their own support, drastically changing health and social care provision. This means great uncertainty for both local authorities and service providers, which will need to respond to unfamiliar demands. This pamphlet looks at how personal budgets will impact the social and health care market, what prospective budget holders know and think about personal budgets, how they would spend it and what difficulties they envisage. It sets out the likely challenges facing local authorities and service providers in delivering the personalisation agenda and contains recommendations about how to make the transition successfully. Jamie Bartlett is a senior researcher at Demos.
Article
Examines the historical record of the ascendancy of science-related technology in modern economies, and presents an economic theory of innovation based on that record and it implications for policy-makers. Part One reviews the growth of the chemical, synthetic materials, and electronics industries with particular emphasis on costs, patent rates, firm sizes, marketing efforts, timing decisions. These data support a general theory presented in Part Two concerning the importance of professionalized research and development (R&D) capabilities and market awareness. Empirical data and analysis, including the results of Project SAPPHO, are used to provide further support for the theory. Characteristics of successful innovating firms include R&D strength, marketing abilities, understanding of user needs, and management strength. Implications for optimal firm size and the consequences of and reactions to uncertainty are treated in the remainder of Part Two. Uncertainty is responsible for a continuum of six strategies that firms take to meet the need to innovate, and leads to private under-investment in R&D. Part Three takes up the role of government and national science and technology policies and considers the social effects of technological innovation in terms of business cycles and unemployment figures, using a framework based on Schumpeter and Kondratiev. (CAR)
Article
This paper reports the processes by which an interdisciplinary research project overcame the usual problems of antagonism among disciplines and succeeded in introducing a number of social innovations into a community. In terms of the experience five "principles" of successful social innovation are suggested: (a) the principle of maximum investment, (b) the principle of co-optation, (c) the principle of egalitarian responsibility, (d) the principle of research as creative play, and (e) the principle of ideological research leadership. A high degree of staff involvement is made possible by a relaxation of superego prohibitions against novelty and originality, by allowing maximum feasible participation of all project personnel, and by providing realistically wide but unambiguous boundaries and limits. Under these conditions the research group may take on certain of the emotionally charged, proselyting characteristics of a small social movement and may have an impact on the community out of all proportion to its size.
Article
Processes of socioeconomic polarisation and social exclusion mark contemporary cities. In many countries, welfare states are in crisis, suffering from post-Fordist transformations. In cities, new ways of governance are needed to overcome the consequences of economic, social and political restructuring. This article seeks to explore the role of civil society in new urban governance arrangements that will hopefully contribute to counter the trends towards social exclusion. While aware of the ambiguity of civil society's role in rebuilding governance relationships, it is argued that, under certain conditions, civil society is found to be a valuable contributor towards more cohesive cities and governance arrangements that promote them. Such conditions involve the existence of a multiscalar democratic governance regime that favours public deliberation and social economy initiatives.
Article
This paper examines the case of Bob Geldof and Live Aid from the point of view of the relationship between visionary leadership and global social innovation. It briefly reviews the case. It then analyzes it in terms of four aspects of visionary leadership: the personal background of the visionary, the skills used in enacting the vision, the structural context in which the visionary operates, and the historical moment in which the visionary acts. It further reviews music as a symbolic system with powerful abilities to mobilize affect. It concludes that Geldof succeeded in initiating global action through the skillful juxtaposition of structures and processes from the music industry to the aid context and by the equally skillful linking of the affect generated by popular music with that generated by famine imagery to trigger philanthropic activity among consumers of popular music.
Article
This collection of essays demonstrates that research on services innovation is now a vibrant and mature field within innovation studies. Examining the development of this field, and the contributions of these essays in particular, we argue that the time is right for a "marriage" between the study of services innovation and mainstream innovation studies. While there is a great deal to be learned from the study of services innovation, treating this as a separate area of study runs the risk that important lessons for the study of innovation within manufacturing and other sectors may be lost. These essays point the way toward more integrated approaches, which are particularly suitable for studying innovation processes in the knowledge-based economy.
Article
This Afterword is the final chapter in the author's recently published book of essays on the challenges of tomorrow that face the executive today. The future is in the hands of executives who are already fully occupied with the daily crisis. They need to understand the long-range implications and impacts of their immediate, everyday, urgent actions and decisions in relation to the far-reaching social innovations now taking place which are management's new and most significant dimension.