Social Innovation at Work: Workplace Innovation as a Social Process

2012 ◽  
pp. 241-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Totterdill ◽  
Peter Cressey ◽  
Rosemary Exton
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Workplace Innovation

Decolonization, social innovation and rigidity in higher education

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine McGowan ◽  
Andrea Kennedy ◽  
Mohamed El-Hussein ◽  
Roy Bear Chief
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Window Of Opportunity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indigenous Knowledges

Purpose Reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian plurality has stalled. While the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action could be a focusing event, creating a window of opportunity for transformative social innovations; we see coalescing of interest, social capital and investment in decolonization and indigenization in the proliferation of professorships, programs, installations and statements. However, Blackfoot (Siksika) Elder Roy Bear Chief raised significant concerns that Indigenous knowledge, experiences and people are not yet seen as relevant and useful in higher education; such marginalization must be addressed at a systems level for authentic reconciliation at any colonial university. The purpose of this paper was to explore this dual goal of exploring barriers to and opportunities for Indigenous knowledges and knowledge holders to be valued as relevant and useful in the Canadian academy, using a complexity- and systems-informed lens. Design/methodology/approach Local Indigenous Elders provided guidance to reflect study purpose and target audience of academics, with an approach that respectfully weaved Westernized research methods and co-learning through indigenous knowledge mobilization strategies. This analysis extends results from a qualitative grounded theory study to explain social processes of professors and administrative leadership in a Canadian mid-sized university regarding barriers and facilitators of implementing TRC Calls to Action. This further interpretation of applied systems and panarchy heuristics broadens understanding to how such micro-social processes are positioned and influence larger scale institutional change. Findings This paper discusses how the social process of dominionization intentionally minimizes meaningful system disruption by othering indigenous knowledge and knowledge holders; this form of system-reinforcing boundary work contributes to rigidity and inhibits potentially transformative innovations from scaling beyond individual niches and moments in time. Elders’ consultation throughout the research process, including co-learning the meaning of findings, led to the gifting of traditional teachings and emerging systems and multi-scale framework on the relevance of indigenous knowledges and peoples in higher education. Research limitations/implications This study was performed in one faculty of one Canadian institution; an important and potentially widely-present social process was identified. Further research is needed for greater generalizability. Conditions that led to this study are increasingly common across Canada, where at least one third of higher education organizations have explicit indigenization strategies and internationally where the rights and self-determination of indigenous peoples are growing. Social implications Insights from this study can inform conversations about social innovation in institutional settings, and the current systems’ resistance to change, particularly when exploring place-based solutions to national/international questions. These initiatives have yet to transform institutions, and while transformation is rarely rapid (Moore et al., 2018), for these potential innovations to grow, they need to be sustainable beyond a brief window of opportunity. Scaling up or deep within the academy seems to remain stubbornly elusive despite attention to the TRC. Originality/value This study contributes to a growing literature that explores the possibilities and opportunities between Indigenous epistemologies and social innovation study and practice (McGowan, 2019; Peredo, McLean and Tremblay, 2019; Conrad, 2015), as well as scholarship around Indigenization and decolonization in Canada and internationally.

Workplace Innovation, Social Innovation, and Social Quality

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R.A. Oeij ◽  
Steven Dhondt ◽  
Ton Korver
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Quality ◽  
Workplace Innovation

Workplace innovation for better jobs and performance

2011 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Pot
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Evaluation Research ◽  
Quality Of Working Life ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Change Projects ◽  
Workplace Innovation ◽  
And Performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the need for workplace innovation policies and practices in Europe and evaluate programs that already have been developed.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the concept of workplace innovation and trends in society explaining its emergence. The paper then presents and discusses the results of evaluation research as far as this is available.FindingsA growing number of countries is conducting or developing some kind of programme on workplace innovation. These programmes differ in size and governance. Evaluation research shows that simultaneous improvement of performance and quality of working life is possible under certain conditions such as the participation of employees in change projects.Research limitations/implicationsConcepts and designs of evaluation research projects differ considerably. This gives new challenges for companies, trade unions, governments and researchers. In EU2020, little attention is paid to workplace innovation but there is a ray of hope in the draft integrated guidelines for employment policies and in the Flagship Initiative Innovation Union.Originality/valueSocial innovation in the workplace, or workplace innovation, is a new concept, covering to some extent new practices that appear to be relevant for organisations and governments.

Workplace innovation and social innovation: an introduction

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Howaldt ◽  
Peter R.A. Oeij ◽  
Steven Dhondt ◽  
Ben Fruytier
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Workplace Innovation

scholarly journals Sociale innovatie: historie en toekomstperspectief

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Pot
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Quality Of Working Life ◽  
Positive Performance ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Workplace Innovation ◽  
Work And Employment

Workplace innovation: history and perspectives Workplace innovation: history and perspectives Workplace innovation (innovative workplaces, social innovation of work and employment) is considered by governments and social partners in a number of European countries, among which the Netherlands and Belgium, as a strategy to improve the competitiveness of its economy and the productivity and quality of public and private organisations as well as to develop the skills and competences of the potential workforce. There is quite some confusion about this concept. This paper shows how the concept developed in the Netherlands during the last 25 years in policy and research and how it has been grounded theoretically in the Netherlands and Flanders.The concept has become a very broad one which requires specification by its users and stakeholders. Research shows positive performance of social innovative organisations. However research outcomes are difficult to compare because of different definitions and research designs. Quality of working life is lacking as an effect variable. A scientific discourse is badly needed.

scholarly journals Workplace Innovation and Organizational Performance in the Hospitality Industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5847
Author(s):  
Jol Stoffers ◽  
Klaes Eringa ◽  
Jamie Niks ◽  
Anne Kleefstra
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Strategic Orientation ◽  
Rates Of Change ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Workplace Innovation

Change has become continuous, and innovation is a primary approach for hospitality, i.e., hotel companies, to become or remain economic viable and sustainable. An increasing number of management researchers are paying more attention to workplace rather than technological innovation. This study investigates workplace innovation in the Dutch hotel industry, in three- and four-star hotels in the Netherlands, by comparing them to other industries. Two samples were questioned using the Workplace Innovation survey created by the Dutch Network of Social Innovation (NSI). The first was conducted in the hospitality industry, and these data were compared with data collected in a sample of other industries. Results suggest that greater strategic orientation on workplace innovation and talent development has a positive influence on four factors of organizational performance. Greater internal rates of change, the ability to self-organize, and investment in knowledge also had positive influences on three of the factors—growth in revenue, sustainability, and absenteeism. Results also suggest that the hospitality industry has lower workplace innovation than other industries. However, no recent research has assessed to what degree the hospitality industry fosters workplace innovation, especially in the Netherlands. However, few studies have examined management in the Dutch hotel industry, how workplace innovation is used there, and whether it improves practices.

scholarly journals Perspectives on the role of business in social innovation

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 681-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Martinez ◽  
Patrick O’Sullivan ◽  
Mark Smith ◽  
Mark Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Business In Society ◽  
Creative Capacity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the conceptual construct of social innovation in business as distinct from social innovation implemented by civil society and the state. The general absence of sustained research and analysis of this phenomenon, and the dominance of grey and policy-oriented literature, mean that a broadly accepted definition of how social innovation theorises the changing role of business in society is missing Design/methodology/approach An integrative review of the representative literature on social innovation was conducted. The analysis focused on the key arguments made about the involvement of business actors in processes of social innovation and interweaved in this study to build a logically coherent definition of what social innovation in business means for the bulk of those who write and speak about it today. The scope of the literature review was expanded by integrating insights from the extant “business in society” and social innovation literatures, thereby adding clarity to the authors' conceptualisation. Findings The findings indicate that social innovation is best understood as a process driven by human relations, morality and creative capacity breaking routines and path dependencies. It fundamentally relies on the socially constructed dynamics between business and social actors who carry ideas, focus their energies, mobilise competences and create new complementarities to tackle social problems. Economic gain, in this approach, is at best an outcome of social innovation, not its engine. Originality/value What this literature review unveils that is unique about social innovation, and contributes to an enrichment of the “business in society” debate beyond the business case and win-win scenarios depicted by most scholars in this field, is that it best manifests itself as an informal social process that comes into existence at the margins of conventional ways of thinking and organising business activities. Business actors involved in social innovation are framed as self-directed and self-organised around the moral purpose of fostering social progress.

Social Process and Social Innovation

1980 ◽  
pp. 21-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis G. Tornatzky ◽  
Esther O. Fergus ◽  
Joseph W. Avellar ◽  
George W. Fairweather ◽  
Michael Fleischer
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Process
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document