Innovation

The process of Innovation involves making decisions that affect the lives of the whole community, thereby necessitating the unique coordination of all voices and values. Below you will find more information on how innovation informed Principled Innovation’s development.

Types

Social innovation is defined as “a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, or just than existing solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals” (Phills et al., 2008, p. 39). Additionally, Lubberink et al.’s (2017) emphasis on social and sustainable innovation, which addresses grand societal challenges, requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders in co-creation and considers social and environmental impacts alongside economic ones. The complementary concept of responsible innovation also includes democratizing innovation through governance that engages stakeholders and the public, emphasizing flexibility, adaptability, and resilience as essential components of successful innovation processes (Lubberink et al., 2017, Lettuce & Parekh, 2010, Westley, 2008). With an aim to promote positive human flourishing, these concepts became central to the development of the PI framework, bringing ethics, integrity, and ideals to the forefront of innovation and transformational change.

In society

In the initial stages of developing the PI framework, there was extensive investigation and discussion regarding the concepts of social entrepreneurship and social intrapreneurship. Given that the underlying purpose of Principled Innovation was to promote positive human flourishing and social change, there was a clear alignment with these concepts. Social innovation seeks to create social value by addressing social needs through its development and diffusion within organizations, whether they are new (social entrepreneurship) or existing (social intrapreneurship) (Munshi, 2010). Essentially Defourney and Nyssens (2010) emphasize that creating social value is a primary goal, and Phillips et al. (2015) highlight that social entrepreneurship drives pattern-breaking change through new combinations of products, services, or production methods.

In education

Focusing on the evolving needs of society and students, social innovation has expanded into the field of education. Historically, educational change was framed as educational reform, specific to policy agendas and implementation. However, literature indicates that adopting the concept of social innovation introduces an intentional consideration of ethics in planning for change, also core to the intent of PI. Fullan (1993) and Henricksen et al. (2017) describe educators’ recognition of empathy as a powerful strategy that challenges their assumptions and draws multiple perspectives from stakeholders, aiding in problem definition and the creation of social agendas, emphasizing learning societies, and moral and ethical decision-making. Another important aspect of innovation in education is recognizing the innovation process itself as a learning opportunity, for example, combining the analytic and synthetic phases of design with Kolb’s experiential learning theory, which includes experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting (Beckman & Barry, 2007).

References

Beckman, S. L., & Barry, M. (2007). Innovation as a learning process: Embedding design thinking. California Management Review, 50(1), 25-56. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166415

Defourny, J., & Nyssens, M. (2010). Conceptions of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship in Europe and the United States: Convergences and divergences. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1(1), 32-53.

Fullan, M. (1993). Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203059005

Henriksen, D., Richardson, C., & Mehta, R. (2017). Design thinking: A creative approach to educational problems of practice. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 26, 140-153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2017.10.001

Lettuce, F., & Parekh, M. (2010). The social innovation process: Themes, challenges, and implications for practice. International Journal of Technology Management, 51(1), 139-158.

Lubberink, R., Blok, V., Van Ophem, J., & Omta, O. (2017). Lessons for Responsible Innovation in the business context: A systematic literature review of responsible, social and sustainable innovation practices. Sustainability, 9(5), 721. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9050721

Munshi, N. (2010). Value creation, social innovation, and entrepreneurship in global economies. Journal of Asia-Pacific Business. 11, 160-165. https://doi.org/10.1080/10599231.2010.500569

Phillips, W., Lee, H., Ghobadian, A., O’Regan, N., & James, P. (2015). Social innovation and social entrepreneurship: A systematic review. Group and Organization Management, 40(3), 428-461. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601114560063

Phills, J. A., Deiglmeier, K., & Miller, D. T. (2008). Rediscovering social innovation. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 6(4), 34-43.

Westley, F. (2008). The social innovation dynamic. SiG@ Waterloo. https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/cpipe/documents/Why/Frances%20Westley%2C%20Social%20Innovation%20Dynamic.pdf

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