Ronnie Lessem and Alexander Schieffer: Integral Research and Innovation: Transforming Enterprise and Society

Autor: Don Embuldeniya
Rok vydání: 2010
Předmět:
Zdroj: VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 22:546-547
ISSN: 1573-7888
0957-8765
DOI: 10.1007/s11266-010-9169-x
Popis: Although ‘‘social innovation’’ has become a prominent subject in public policy discourse, the lack of a clearly articulated definition of the term engenders confusion. There is, also, no consensus over whether ‘‘social innovations’’ should be viewed as inherently disruptive, or can also include evolutionary change where impacts are harder to measure. Social innovation is now embraced around the world as a legitimate objective in both the economic and social arenas. For example, the recent acknowledgement of the value of social innovation by the Obama administration and the creation of the Office of Social Innovation in the White House validate the concept and will accelerate its global reach. But social innovation is not unique to a specific sector: it can be ignited by government (e.g., new models of education), business (e.g., open source software), social movements (e.g., fair trade), and academia (e.g., pedagogical models of the environment), and by social enterprises (e.g., micro-credit ventures). There is a myriad of views on what makes social innovations ‘‘social.’’ Some approaches are broad and encompass business or technological innovation, while others limit it to innovations by community-based actors motivated by social objectives. Innovation is also seen not only as something arising from collaboration among social actors, but also from the social nature of the benefits it generates. Around the world, researchers and practitioners concerned with how societies organize themselves are increasingly focused on questions regarding whether and how to explain the phenomenon that has come to be known as ‘‘social innovation.’’ In Integral Research and Innovation: Transforming Enterprise and Society, drawing on experiences of researchers and practitioners who engage in research that is participative and innovative, Ronnie Lessem and Alexender Schieffer attempt to deal with innovation, transformation and societal growth in new ways.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: