Social Innovation Strategies Research Articles

Identifying mindsets for urban sustainability transformation: insights from Urban Labs

AbstractIncreasing calls for transformation to address climate change and related challenges underscore the societal imperative to shift from mindsets that drive environmentally unsustainable and socially unjust processes to mindsets that enable urban sustainability transformations. However, it is not always clear what such mindsets comprise, if and how they can be shifted and under which conditions. Fragmented understandings of the concept of mindsets across disciplines and limited empirical analysis beyond Europe and North America have hindered progress in this field. To address these gaps, this article proposes a novel conceptual and analytical framework for identifying mindsets. The framework is applied to data collected from an exploratory survey involving over 150 participants from five Urban Labs in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Through cluster analysis, three distinct personas are identified: the Skeptical Activist, the Optimist Technocrat and the Bystander with Mixed Feelings. These are fictional characters that represent groups of individuals with defining mindsets, demographic characteristics, capacities, trust levels and network features. Results offer valuable insights into the emotions, beliefs, values, perceptions, attitudes and worldviews that guide the behavior of diverse stakeholders, from policymakers to often marginalized community groups, in urban climate governance. Despite its limitations, namely the relative homogeneity of our non-randomized sample, the article advances the understanding of the human dimension of climate change and its interlinkages with urban development goals. It also proposes social innovation strategies to trigger mindset shifts, foster climate action and accelerate urban sustainability transformations.

Towards social innovation strategy: An analysis of UK social enterprises

This paper presents the management practices and organisational behaviours that influence and inform social innovation (SI) strategy in social enterprises (SEs). Based on previous studies, we theorise that a collaborative and user-centred approach and a participatory organisational culture positively relate to social innovation performance. Data were collected from 78 SEs in the UK and analysed with ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions. Findings confirmed that cooperation with the community, beneficiaries and universities, development of solutions based on the community's needs, design thinking, and people inside the SE who have intrapreneur behaviour have a positive linear relationship with SI performance. Our paper proposes a framework that indicates the what, why, and when of the social innovation strategy, highlighting the essential role of community, universities, and embeddedness of users throughout the whole innovation process. This knowledge is crucial for SEs and policymakers to assess which practices they should prioritise and focus their scarce resources on and what behaviours should be encouraged/developed to manage SI strategically.

The Emergence of Innovation Capability During Firms’ Early Stage: Cases from Indonesian Creative Social Enterprise

The article is based on a literature review and empirical analysis of three creative social enterprises that have managed to build their innovation capability and have received numerous international awards for their sustainable impacts. The purpose of this article is to investigate how the "innovation capability perspective" of strategic management theory can be combined with "social innovation theory." By combining both perspectives, we propose a new way to understand and explain the emergence of innovation capability during the early stages of creative social enterprises, which neither "innovation capability" nor "social innovation perspective" can do on their own. The research used a qualitative exploratory study design with multiple case studies. In-depth interviews and literature studies were the data collection methods used in the study. Based on the reccurance patterns in the literature review, we propose creativity, leadership, strategy, knowledge management, and collaboration as determinant factors of innovation capability that are deeply needed for CSEs in their early stage. Through the results of in-depth interviews with 6 top management leaders in the creative social enterprises, it was possible to gain more descriptions that enriched the five determinant factors. We conclude that CSEs' innovation capability can emerge during the early stage if they have the motivation to be creative despite resources limitation, the presence of facilitating leaders supported by local champions, the alignment of business, technology, and social innovation strategy, the use of locality as a strategic asset in knowledge management, and the alignment of goals and expectations for fruitful collaboration. The study contributes to a better understanding of how innovation capability emerges during the early stages of creative social enterprises by combining both strategic management and social innovation theory.

Towards Social Innovation Strategy: An Analysis of UK Social Enterprises

Towards Social Innovation Strategy: An Analysis of UK Social Enterprises

Heritage as Action Research

This paper intends to weigh the importance of archaeology by how much impact it has, or could have, on society. Heritage values are precisely the language in which that impact translates to the general public. It is necessary, however, to balance the duty to protect heritage with the mutating and negotiated nature of these values. Archaeologists should not be seen as the wardens but rather as the enablers, the midwives, of local communities coming to terms with a deeper understanding of their past. The more effectively this heritage stimulates the relation of the community with these values, the greater the potential it will have to stimulate social innovation, which is the foundation for sustainable development or abandonment. For many the boon of cultural heritage is tourism, and this is true but to an insufficient extent. In order to be sustainable, tourism must be part of a broader social innovation strategy that foregoes easy pickings in favor of the creation of quality brands, employment, and the protection of traditional lifeways. Only in this way can heritage truly unlock a sustainable horizon.

“The Time Machine” Social Innovation and Research-Creation Strategy for Risk Control in Informal Labor Communities

Strategies to control occupational risk factors face various challenges in terms of their application and effectiveness, even more so when it comes to providing risk-control solutions under informal working conditions. Purpose: explore opportunities presented by the use of social innovation strategies and methodologies derived from research-creation to establish educational control measures for occupational risk factors, for recovery and recycling workers in Bogotá (Colombia). Methods and procedures: There were two main phases for this research: one aimed to understand the different risk posed to informal labor communities based on workplace inspection and risk assessment norms NTC4114 and GTC45, the other one was aimed to develop a research-creation and social innovation-based strategy, to co-create innovative solutions to address risk factors with the informal workers New Results: Risk conditions were measured for the first time with this group of informal workers and a social innovation creation was made to control risk factors and to dignify working conditions Conclusions: Informal work has precarious and uncontrolled risk. In addition, the systematic exclusion of informal workers from public health labor systems organized by national governments means that protective measures for this group of people are often ineffective or inadequate, or in the worst case, non-existent.

From university social-responsibility to social-innovation strategy for quality accreditation and sustainable competitive advantage during COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate conceptually and empirically the direct and indirect relationships between university social responsibility (USR), university social innovation strategy (USIS) in terms of social awareness (SA), intention for social innovation (ISI), organisational structure for social innovation (SSI) and innovativeness in social value creation (ISVC) and gaining a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) at quality-accredited faculties of an emerging market.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model was presented and a mixed-methods approach was exploited to fill a research gap detected in strategic corporate social innovation literature. The authors formed a data collection team that contacted all the quality-accredited public and private/international faculties, of which 109 faculties in 11 Egyptian governorates responded and their quality units filled questionnaires that were analysed by structural equation modelling. For comprehensive understanding, qualitative interviews were set to gather data from managers/leaders and teaching staff working at those faculties in quality management and community engagement practices as well as students.FindingsResults demonstrated that USR positively and significantly influenced SCA and USIS. Further, USIS (in terms of ISI, SSI and ISVC) positively and significantly influenced SCA. However, USIS (in terms of SA) had a positive yet insignificant influence on SCA. Indirectly, USIS was found to be partially mediating USR–SCA relationship.Practical implicationsUniversity leaders/staff can gain insights on how to adopt differentiation strategies, which enable their institutions to shift from being just socially responsible to becoming socially innovative by presenting solutions to social, economic, cultural, environmental and health-care problems/challenges within their communities in general and during pandemics. This can be sustained through developing innovative quality-based processes/programmes/services related to education, research and community outreach that better serve social needs to be quality-accredited and unique over their rivals.Social implicationsSatisfying social needs through promoting innovative processes/services can reinforce a favourable social change.Originality/valueFrom a cross-disciplinary perspective, the authors interwove conceptually sparse literature of strategic, operations, knowledge capacity and innovation management that studied university social innovation research area. Also, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research that examined empirically USR–USIS–SCA relationships of quality-accredited faculties in an emerging economy during Covid-19 pandemic.

Public Policy for Social Innovations and Social Enterprise—What’s the Problem Represented to Be?

Social innovations and social enterprise have been seen as innovative measures to achieve sustainable development. Drawing on an evaluation of a development project on creating social enterprises in Sweden, this article analyzes social innovations as a policy area. The policy area is often described as loaded with ideological contradictions. The aim of the article is to explore underlying premises and discourses in policy implementation aimed at creating social innovations in a comparison between two ideal types on social sustainability—(1) an individual activation strategy (responsibilization of the individual) and (2) a societal equilibrium strategy (balancing social values). The research question is inspired by Carol Bacchi’s policy theory and asks what is the problem represented to be? The analysis is carried out at the micro-level as a context-sensitive approach to explore articulations made among actors creating the policy and entrepreneurs participating in a locally organized project. The article contribute with a better understanding of how societal problems and their solutions are discursively determined, with implications for policy makers and project managers active in this policy area. The analysis and findings indicate a significant policy shift during the implementation process. Initially, the policy idea consisted of well-considered ambitions to create a long-term sustainable development. During the implementation of the project, the problem’s representation changes gradually in the direction towards individual activation. This transition is driven by pragmatic difficulties of defining the policy area, problems of separating means from ends, and the need to make decisions based on a limited range of information. We conclude by emphasizing the need for reflection on how the social dimension is defined when implementing social innovation strategies. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies of how this policy area can be linked to policies for social sustainability.

Social Enterprises of Immigrants: A Panacea for the Finnish Labour Market?

Research questions: The objectives of this study are to identify the need for Social Enterprises (SEs) as an alternative form of working in the Finnish labour market, what alternative forms of co-operation between such types of SEs could be and how larger local companies can support the sustainable operation of these small SEs by employing immigrants and the long-term unemployed. Theory: This article draws on the corporate social responsibility CSR theory of traditional enterprises to better explain the factors that can facilitate co-operation between SEs and private enterprises, thereby reaching the sustainable operation of SEs that are run by socially disadvantaged groups of people in Lapland. Phenomenon studied: SE is a new phenomenon in Lapland. There are a few SEs in the region that are struggling to maintain their existence in a sustainable manner. It is harder for the members of such SEs to run businesses or to work and to become successful in Lapland; however, obtaining employment or running a proprietorship is not an alternative (Yeasmin, 2016) for these disadvantaged people. Case context: The article contributes to the studies on the economic integration and labour market sustainability of immigrants and long-term job seekers, and particularly to the socio-economic integration of the long-term unemployed by focusing on the necessity-driven social entrepreneurship networking model in a sparsely populated region, that being the region of Lapland in Northern Finland. Findings: The disadvantaged groups need access to the labour market in Lapland, and social alliances between various partners (e.g., private, public and SE) under different social circumstances (e.g., CSR) can generate alternative options for co-operation to sustain the existence of such SEs in Lapland. An analysis explores future recommendations for co-operation that might sustain SE’s existence and development and might also increase long-term prospects for targeted SEs. Discussion: Lapland-based SEs operated by immigrants or the long-term unemployed are issues and themes that do not fall within the responsibility of any single authority or any single sector. Successfully running SEs demands positive interaction and social innovation strategies among many social partners. Networking with a variety of public stakeholder groups alongside the private sector needs to see an investment of social resources for mapping the phenomena on the topic of social economy, which is a social innovation process that might enable such SEs to have successful outcomes in Lapland.

Social Innovation in Olive Oil Cooperatives: A Case Study in Southern Spain

Recent years have witnessed a notable increase in the implementation of social innovation strategies for creating products with major social impact. Despite the lack of conceptual clarity still surrounding the term, social innovation, as a participatory research method, is finding scope for growth in agricultural cooperatives, whether in the areas of R&D and knowledge transfer, or in the commercialization of innovative products. Society has underscored the need for change in the environment and the implementation of new projects that help improve socioeconomic living conditions, promoting territorial development through social transformation. In the case of cooperativism in the olive oil industry in southern Spain, cooperatives are responsible for 70% of the oil produced there. As such, the actions carried out under their influence have a huge impact on the population and serve as tools that anchor people to their municipalities. This article analyses a case study from an olive oil cooperative, exploring the development of a social innovation project involving knowledge transfer and public awareness-raising through the label of an early harvest olive oil called “Primer Día de Cosecha” (First Day of Harvest). It also assesses the impact of the project on the population of the Andalusian municipality of Bailén (Jaén).

Social Innovation Strategy in Hungary : An Evaluation from the Point of Welfare Provision

Social innovation is an effective response to changing social demands in welfare societies. By reshaping social interactions in welfare provision, it essentially aims at building a new and more participative wellbeing, namely “the enabling welfare state”, without causing any decline in welfare rights of citizens. The European Union, in this sense, started a rigorous transition process to social innovative strategies in welfare provision in the beginning of 2000s. Hungary, as an outstandingly emerging economy of its region, also launched social innovation programs to make not only the market, but also citizens, community and local authorities more active in the co-provision of welfare. Even though social innovation strategies have not spread over the whole country yet, Hungary seems to have sufficient capacity and resources to make social innovation an effective part of "co-provision of welfare" or to turn itself an “enabling welfare state” in the near future.

Social innovation in sexual health: a scoping review towards ending the HIV epidemic.

As donor financial support decreases, ending the HIV epidemic in Asia will require novel and sustainable approaches. Social innovation, a community-engaged process that links social change and health improvement, may be useful for helping to end the HIV epidemic in Asia. A scoping review to examine social innovation strategies in sexual health for the Asian region was conducted. The research identified focused on three types of social innovation: (1) microfinance; (2) social entrepreneurship; and (3) social enterprise. Microfinance provides financial opportunities (e.g. banking services, job opportunities) to spur local entrepreneurship and healthier behaviours. Social entrepreneurship uses business principles and tools (e.g. crowdsourcing, human-centred design) to improve health. Social enterprise is a business with a social mission. Further research is needed to measure the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of social innovation strategies in improving HIV services.

Japanese Open Innovation in Silicon Valley: Innovation Outposts as Effective Ways of Absorbing Innovation into Corporate Ecosystems

We define open innovation as a business management model for innovation that promotes collaboration with people and organisations outside the company. This research illustrates how Japanese companies focus on collaboration, ecosystem development, and user integration to initiate social innovation opportunities. The authors worked with investors, key executives, and business architects from NTT Docomo Ventures, Inc. to underpin the main characteristics of their social innovation strategy and to determine how their organisations draw from experience in user engagement and their corporate philosophy to create sustainable business models and to develop a unique and long-lasting value proposition.

The Social Innovation White Book’s Drafting Process and Results

This article summarises the work of Definition Working Group of the National Social Innovation Laboratory and the key findings of the resulting White Paper, as a prelude to the evaluation of the Social Innovation Strategy, the second part of the Social Innovation White Paper.

How can we engage farmers in bioenergy development? Building a social innovation strategy for rice straw bioenergy in the Philippines and Vietnam

Involving farmers and local communities in bioenergy development is important forthe deployment ofsustainable bioenergy systems, especially if rural areas are to maximise potential co-benefits from energy provision. Focusing on rice straw bioenergy in the Philippines and Vietnam, our research explored how farmers’ social networks can serve as a platform for social innovation – an emerging approach to energy transitions aimed at delivering solutions by empowering local people. Specifically, we used tools in social network analysis to map how farmers mobilise resources within their communities, who influences their decisions on the farm, and the stories embedded in their interactions. This allowed us to develop insights on how different actors in farmers’ networks may be best connected to support collaborative partnerships and co-designing of solutions that meet their development needs. Our results showed potential windows of opportunity to engage farmers in bioenergy development. First, by connecting them to resource providers; and second, by developing capacities and network structures in rice farming communities to enable more resource sharing. Based on these, we propose a social innovation strategy useful for bioenergy project developers and local stakeholders to help ensure that farmers and other actors in the community can take active roles in the rice straw bioenergy development process.

Innovación social en organizaciones cacaoteras en Tabasco, México. Aproximaciones desde la gobernanza territorial y la participación femenina en la agricultura

Objetivo: analizar la forma en la que la innovación social (materializada en la organización de mujeres productoras de cacao) y los procesos de gobernanza territorial abonan al rescate de elementos sociales e identitarios del cacao. Lo mismo para la valorización de la participación femenina en la agricultura y a la búsqueda de alternativas para mejorar las condiciones de vida de estos actores en la región de Chontalpa en Tabasco, México. Metodología: se utilizó estudio de estudio de caso tomando como ejemplo a dos organizaciones de mujeres productoras de cacao, ambas lideradas y constituidas por mujeres originarias de la región de Grijalva en Tabasco. Los estudios de caso se conformaron a través de una decena de entrevistas semiestructuradas realizadas a finales de 2019 tanto a productoras líderes como a diversas colaboradoras dentro de las organizaciones estudiadas. Resultados: las organizaciones productivas lideradas por mujeres son estrategias de innovación social que han tenido como resultado la agregación de valor al cultivo del cacao, el fortalecimiento de mecanismo colectivos de toma de decisión y la revalorización del trabajo y liderazgo femenino en el sector agroalimentario. Limitaciones: es necesario un análisis que incluya a más organizaciones lideradas por mujeres productoras de cacao en la región, y que permita conocer con mayor profundidad la relevancia que estas innovaciones sociales tienen para el territorio. Conclusión: estos casos de estudio representan fenómenos sociales y económicos que permiten poner en práctica el concepto de innovación social y en donde es posible identificar aquellos elementos y factores que impulsan vínculos de cooperación para la toma de decisiones y cooperación productiva que contribuye a mejorar las condiciones de las mujeres en las localidades agrícolas.

Desarrollo regional e innovación social en el autoempleo: estudio del caso de los programas de reactivación comarcal como iniciativa pública

La aplicación de la innovación social en el ámbito de la empleabilidad es cada vez más reconocida por las instituciones. Desde la Diputación Foral de Bizkaia se ha implementado el Programa de Reactivación Comarcal (PRC) para la promoción del autoempleo, principalmente entre personas jóvenes, personas desempleadas de larga duración y mayores de 45 años con especiales dificultades de reincorporación al mercado de trabajo. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar el PRC como buena práctica de innovación social en materia de empleo.

The Influence of Marketing Capability in Mexican Social Enterprises

Social enterprises need to develop processes that create social value to solve social problems. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of marketing capability on social innovation and its effect on social and economic value creation, while controlling for firm size among social enterprises in Mexico. An explanatory and cross-sectional design was used to test the hypotheses: 118 social business managers were interviewed and structural equation modeling was used to test our research hypotheses. The results supported our proposition that marketing capability influenced social innovation, which then had a positive influence on social, though not on economic value creation. An indirect effect from marketing capability to social value was also found. This study validated the relevance of defining and entailing marketing capabilities with social innovation strategies and their effect on the social value of social enterprises. This paper contributes to a better understanding of marketing capability and its effects on social innovation in social enterprises. In addition, it shows social innovation to be a robust predictor of social value, with important implications for social and economic sustainability.

Identifying path-breaking transitions for Kenya’s marginalised communities in water and sanitation provision

PurposeThis paper aims to illustrate relationships between stakeholders in the conceptualisation and implementation of water and sanitation services (WSS) projects in marginalised settings of Nairobi and Kiambu Counties. It outlines these relationships in a flow diagram that shows a pathway analysis in which social innovation strategies are used as markers in the program of inclusive water provision. The study’s objective is to map the processes of social innovation in an effort to highlight the role of marginalised communities in their access to the right to water.Design/methodology/approachThe paper approached the study using a case study design, and thereafter, constructivist grounded theory was used to further delve into the comparative cases. To map the processes of social innovation, the case study design was seen to be appropriate, as it sequenced activities in a time-series analysis. From these two case studies, four comparative cases were used to pinpoint path-breaking transition in the pathway analysis. The methods used in both phases were, namely, in-depth interviews, observations and document analysis, and these were complemented by field notes.FindingsThe paper indicates an opportunity to use emergent patterns for a more context-specific analysis of WSS projects in marginalised communities. It advances the role of marginalised communities as vital stakeholders in the approach described as “the right to the city”. The model of spatial appropriation brings to the fore the binary yet separate processes that stakeholders engage in.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to the use of a grounded theory model, the results may not be transferable to other contexts. Therefore, further testing of the proposed pathway analysis and model is encouraged, as this model suggests ways of ensuring full community engagement which would result in greater success in projects involving marginalised communities.Practical implicationsThe paper has implications for both the government and communities, in that more deliberate roles for the community-based organisation in the conceptualisation of WSS projects can lead to social learning opportunities for government institutions and greater success in implementation.Originality/valueThe paper justifies the need for government institutions to map and evaluate WSS projects using emergent patterns to highlight the role of marginalised communities as their right to the city.

CORPORATE SOCIAL BUSINESS’S RESPONSIBILITY AS THE INSTRUMENT OF MANAGING OF THE ENTERPRISE

Urgency of the research. The place of the traditional understanding of a business aimed at making a profit from the production of goods, services and its distribution between the parties is being taken by the idea of business as a source of social welfare growth, which is achieved through the production and sale of goods and services. Target setting. Realization of this goal necessitated the following tasks: to explore the nature and significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR), to analyze the implementation of CSR tools for modern enterprises, to explore the development and B2C models and show the effectiveness of their implementation in modern conditions of development, to determine the impact of CSR on building an effective "business to consumers" model. Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The problems of research and development of corporate social responsibility has been researched by many domestic and foreign scientists. Uninvestigated parts of general matters defining. However, despite the existing scientific developments in this area, the impact of corporate social responsibility to build an effective B2C model is not fully defined and requires further study. The research objective. The aim of the article is that the main directions of corporate social responsibility in relation to clients have been defined and the basic factors that influence consumer’s CSR-maturity in different countries have been determined. The statement of basic materials. The author summarized origin and basic types of models in a segment «business to consumers», and features of their functioning in a modern economy. The considerable attention is paid to the role of corporate social responsibility in the construction of effective intercommunications with consumers. Has identified how the observance of CSR principles in modern enterprise influences its reputation. Conclusions. Corporate social responsibility is not just a fashion statement, but a vital necessity. For companies operating in the B2C segment, corporate social responsibility is one of the tools for success. Social innovation strategies implemented under the CSR not only allow companies to demonstrate their citizenship, but also become an important marketing tool that enables stand, develop new products and trends, to create an emotional connection between the brand and the consumer, thus contributing to growth loyalty. Social innovations implemented into strategies under the CSR strategies not only allow companies to demonstrate their citizenship, but also become an important marketing tool that allows to come forward, develop new products and trends, create an emotional connection between the brand and the consumer, thus contributing to the growth of loyalty.