Exploring the innovative capabilities of socially entrepreneurial organisations

Dominic Chalmers, Eva Balan-Vnuk

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

Research into the phenomena of social innovation has long focused on what it is and why people become engaged in this form of behaviour. Another piece of the theoretical jigsaw however, requires understanding how this type of innovation is enacted by organizations. This article therefore looks at the means in which Not-for-Profit (NFP) social ventures pursuing socially innovative activities develop the necessary capabilities to innovate. We use the multidimensional theoretical construct of absorptive capacity (ACAP) and the evolutionary economics concept of organizational routines to analyse 16 case studies of innovative NFP ventures in the UK and Australia. Our results show that these organizations have a unique mediating function in the social innovation process by configuring internal and external ACAP routines to combine user and technological knowledge flows. Other key findings highlight the emergence of internal tensions as established routines are supplanted in order to ‘professionalize’ the socially innovative NFP venture, and between routines underpinning knowledge sharing and resource allocation. We conclude by proposing some research directions for those taking forward the study of social innovation.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusUnpublished - 5 Jul 2012
Event28th EGOS Colloquium - Helsinki, Finland
Duration: 5 Jul 20127 Jul 2012

Conference

Conference28th EGOS Colloquium
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityHelsinki
Period5/07/127/07/12

Keywords

  • social innovation
  • absorptive capacity
  • organisational routines
  • dynamic capabilities
  • microfoundations
  • social entrepreneurship
  • innovative capabilities
  • socially enterepreneurial organisations

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Exploring the innovative capabilities of socially entrepreneurial organisations'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this