Social Innovation and Innovation Champions: An analysis of public and private processes

This research intends to gain deeper insight into the social innovation processes within public and private organizations. The purpose of the study will be to determine if public and private organizations are influenced more by internal organizational factors or external organizational factors. Using Roger’s diffusion theory, Mohr’s internal determinants and Berry and Berry’s unified theory as a foundation, this research will endeavor to prove hypotheses which suggest that private organizations are influenced more by internal organizational factors and public organizations are influenced more by external organizational factors although not exclusively. The research method for this study will involve a mixed methods approach. A survey of innovation champions will be implemented online followed by a qualitative interview of a subset of those respondents. In addition to the research specific to internal and external organizational factors, this study will also seek to assess the importance of the use of innovation champions during the social innovation process. Social innovation is a new concept in the realm of innovation. This research will offer much needed insight into a process that is new and evolving. Chapter 1: Introduction In this new era of social responsibility, organizations are no longer being measured solely by traditional indicators of success such as profits, dividends and jobs created. Corporate scandals of the last few decades and the economic downturn have contributed to a trend where there is less public trust in corporations and large organizations (Ellis, 2011; Phills, Deiglmeier & Miller, 2008). For these reasons, short-term shareholder value is no longer enough to satisfy the public’s needs and the rules of how to stay in business are changing. Success in the global economy is determined by a firms’ ability to provide answers to changing views, needs and structures (Autant-Bernard, 2010). Companies are responding to this challenge with attempts to redesign their business models in order to incorporate responsible and sustainable business actions (Boons, 2012; Westley, Banerjee, Galaz, der Leeuw, Folke, 2011). A diverse range of companies are now revitalizing their business models by putting innovation and sustainability at the core of their business thinking (Ellis, 2011). There are now new measures of social worth that are equally as important and which include the organization’s relationships with its employees, its communities, its customers and the physical environment (Valentino, 2006). There is a strong belief that leading global organizations of the future will be those that provide goods and services and reach new customers in ways that address the world’s major challenges – including poverty, climate change, resource depletion, globalization, and demographic shifts (Ellis, 2011). Large scale changes that are durable enough to withstand the test of time must focus on new ways of thinking, new processes for action and decision making, new designs for behavior and new social programs for greater durability and impact (Datta, 2011; Westley et al., 2011). The key to the