scholarly journals Managing social innovation in for-profit organizations: the case of Intesa Sanpaolo

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naiara Altuna ◽  
Anna Maria Contri ◽  
Claudio Dell'Era ◽  
Federico Frattini ◽  
Paolo Maccarrone
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Limited Knowledge ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
Innovation Projects ◽  
Non Profit Organizations ◽  
For Profit Organizations

Purpose – Social innovations are defined as innovative products or services motivated by the goal of meeting a social need, with the opportunity to create new social relationships or collaborations. Although developing social innovations has been the primary concern of non-profit organizations so far, there are signs of an increasing involvement in this type of innovations of for-profit firms, in an attempt to accomplish their corporate social responsibility strategies. This notwithstanding, there is very limited knowledge on how for-profit organizations can develop a capability to manage social innovation projects. The purpose of this paper is to provide exploratory evidence to fill this gap. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents and discusses a case study of a firm that has been involved in social innovation for years. It is Intesa Sanpaolo, a for-profit organization that leads the Italian banking sector. Findings – The case study points to the existence of three managerial antecedents of a superior ability in social innovation: integrating CSR in its business strategy with a strong commitment from the top management; separating the activities concerned with the development of social innovations from the rest of the organization, following to the structural ambidexterity model; applying the principles of open innovation to the development of social innovations, by involving in particular non-profit organizations as a source of ideas for new social innovation projects and leveraging them to enable adoption of the new products and services. Originality/value – So far there is very limited knowledge on how for-profit organizations can develop a capability to manage social innovation projects. This paper provides exploratory evidence to fill this gap.

scholarly journals The Socio-technical Balanced Scorecard for Assessing a Public University

2010 ◽  
pp. 47-60
Author(s):  
Ramanjit Singh ◽  
Trevor Wood-Harper
Keyword(s):  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public University ◽  
Work Lives ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
The Balanced Scorecard ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Non Profit Organizations ◽  
For Profit Organizations

The socio-technical theory is concerned with humanistic welfare paradigm. The socio-technical principles aim to improve redundant jobs and thereby benefit human work lives. Hence, jobs are enriched using flexible work methods, empowerment strategies and new technologies. Balanced scorecard is a framework that measures whether the firm is meeting its objectives in terms of vision and strategy. It assesses four perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes and innovation & learning. Even though the balanced scorecard has proven to be beneficial in the for-profit organizations of the past, most non-profit organizations were unable to utilize the balanced scorecard. The original configuration of balanced scorecard placed financial goals on the top of the hierarchy and since maximizing shareholder wealth is not the main objective for most non-profit organizations, it was not widely applied by these organizations. Since non-profit organizations usually operate to maximize the well-being of the society, socio-technical work design principles may receive a greater acceptance in these organizations than in for-profit organizations. Thus, a socio-technical balanced scorecard for the non-profit organizations will be formulated with an emphasis on employee perspective and a public university wide assessment will be proposed.

Lean Startup for social impact

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Semcow ◽  
Jenny Knowles Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Research Team ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Lean Startup

Purpose This paper aims to explore an adaptation of the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-CorpsTM) program, which uses the Lean Startup methodology to help STEM scientists commercialize their research. The adaptation, known as I-Corps for Social Impact (I-Corps SI), extends the for-profit canonical model to include mixed revenue and non-profit business models, to help researchers generate social impact. Design/methodology/approach A research team of policy and non-profit experts observed and adapted a canonical I-Corps process, then interviewed academics who are scaling and sustaining socially impactful solutions from their research, including past I-Corps participants, to validate research team learning. Findings The paper describes limitations of the I-Corps model and modifications required to enhance social impact. Practical implications While the field of social entrepreneurship has grown rapidly over the past few decades, social scientists have lagged behind in translating evidence-based research into solutions that can be scaled and sustained to achieve social impact. The paper presents an evidence-based case for a pedagogical tool to close this gap. Originality/value A focus on validated learning and business model development supports a paradigm shift within the social sciences, which can help spur greater social innovation from evidence-based research.

scholarly journals Fractal-Synergetic Approach to the Research of Entrepreneurship in the Non-Profit Organizations

wisdom ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudmila Alexandrovna Vasilenko
Keyword(s):  
Social System ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Order Parameters ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Innovation Activity ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
Non Profit Organizations ◽  
The Impact

We have applied the term “entrepreneurship” to the development of non-profit organizations working in the field of social and innovation activity. We consider entrepreneurship as a process of personal, self-organizing or systemic renewal and self-organization, as a movement through the development of ideas towards creating new and existing enterprises. We reviewed the promotion of social innovations on a methodological basis of sociosynergetics using cross-disciplinary and fractal-evolutionary approaches. The introduction of innovations is accompanied by the irreversibility expressed by the violation of symmetry between the past and the future (according to I. Prigogine), and the research of innovations requires the introduction of the concept of an “event”. Some events should have the ability to change the course of evolution. The criterion for evaluating the advancement of social innovation is the degree of its influence on the social system: the local nature of the impact (change in one or several order parameters) – Auto-Poesies models; the emergence of a new parameter of order in connection with the acquisition of a new quality of the social system – Synergy-integrating models; the allocation of a new sub-system in the framework of the modernized old social system – Openness entrepreneurship models; the birth of a fundamentally new social system, accompanied by the destruction of the old order parameters. In managing innovation processes, it is important to choose such innovations that are in line with the trends in the development of the social system, given the scale of social consequences.

Social innovation in a tourist coastal city: a case study in Argentina

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-62
Author(s):  
Silvina Elias ◽  
Andrea Cecilia Barbero
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Alternative Livelihood ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
The One ◽  
Private Actors

Purpose This study aims to reflect on the interactions that result from the use of the seacoast in a small touristic town in Argentina. Agents in conflict are both beach users: on the one hand, tourists that enjoy sunbathing and, on the other hand, the artisanal fishermen who use the seacoast as a space for the circulation of tractors and boats and commercialization of their production in informal conditions. The case aimed to provide evidence on social innovation as a mobilizer of the creativity of citizens, the organizations of the third sector and public and private actors for the development of new solutions and better use of common resources. Design/methodology/approach This paper followed the methodology of the centre for research on social innovations (as per its initials in French) as proposed by Tardif and Harrisson (2005). The fieldwork was carried out with interviews to the stakeholders, visits of recognition and direct participation in the territory. Findings The paper provides empirical insights about how an overarching project arises from agreements between stakeholders and a public policy that promotes it. Governance mechanisms to promote sustainable fisheries, to create cooperative management methods and to support alternative livelihood programmes are essential for preventing conflicts and mitigating their impacts on fishing communities. Originality/value The value of this paper is to show how social innovation can emerge from civil society initiatives and how the state can create conditions to favour it, participating and cooperating in a process of co-construction.

The effect of enabling factors on social innovation in Russian non-profit organisations

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 447-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Krasnopolskaya ◽  
Lucas Meijs
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Governmental Policy ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
Quantitative Verification ◽  
First Time

Purpose This paper explores the factors that are associated with a capacity of non-profits to develop social innovations (SIs). The purpose of this paper is to examine factors in the Russian national context with weak non-profit sector with an ambiguous governmental policy toward the sector. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on survey data (n=850 NPOs, 2015, Russia). The paper analyses the likelihood of a non-profit to introduce SIs due to external framework and organizational factors. Regression analysis was applied in the study. The study is based on a new sampling approach and examines non-profits as producers of SIs, but not cases of SIs per se. Findings The results demonstrate that the capacity of an NPO to develop SIs is explained by the following enabling factors: cross-boundary collaborative relations, volunteer involvement and diversity of the revenue structure. Composition of innovative sub-sector, opportunities and chances of getting into this group are explicitly determined and regulated by the current governmental policy toward the sector. That is that large and established non-profits are more likely to be innovative in Russia, unlike expected grass-roots. Originality/value The paper applies a theoretical framework to analyze the SI concept in a non-western context with weak civil society and an influential government. From this perspective, the results present empirical quantitative verification of the determinants of SI capacity of NPOs. The paper is among the first to apply a reverse sampling principle and examine SIs via NPOs as producers. The paper produced, for the first time, an empirical description of the nature of innovative activity by NPOs and an estimation of the extent of this activity in Russia.

Successful without profits: personal factors that affect performance in NPOs

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1135-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Reinhardt ◽  
Susanne Enke
Keyword(s):  
Model Building ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Set Up ◽  
For Profit Organizations

PurposeStudies on personal characteristics that influence managers' performance in their jobs and their ability to innovate focus mainly on for-profit organizations. We argue that non-profit organizations (NPOs) differ substantially from for-profit organizations in their organizational set-up and processes, so the skills they demand from their managers and employees also differ. We undertake this research to explore the personal factors that could be particularly relevant to managers' performance and innovativeness in the non-profit sector.Design/methodology/approachWe conduct a qualitative, model-building study to derive the personal factors that influence managers' intention to perform and to innovate and their behavior in that regard. The base of our analysis is 15 interviews with knowledgeable informants who either work in NPOs, provide services to them or perform research about them.FindingsWe derive 14 personal factors that can be aggregated into four categories—experience, virtues and vices, interpersonal skills and management skills—each of which affect NPO managers' individual performance and/or individual innovativeness.Originality/valueThis study adds to existing research on Ajzen's (1985) Theory of Planned Behavior by extending it to the nonprofit context, so it contributes to the literature on individuals' behavioral intentions.

Why do private non-profit organizations provide information on the Internet?

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Van Hulle ◽  
Nico Dewaelheyns
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Internet Information ◽  
Non Profit Organizations

Purpose – The aim of this study is to show the provision of research measures information on the Internet by private non-profit organizations (NPOs) and provide insight on underlying drivers. Design/methodology/approach – This research involves scoring websites of Belgian NPOs on the basis of their information dissemination and applies univariate and multivariate statistical methods to analyze the driving forces. It also provides two illustrating case studies. Findings – The drivers of Internet information provision in our sample organizations show many similarities to those found for for-profit corporations. However, contrary to the latter, NPOs include little financial information and focus on their goals. Furthermore, in line with the notion that insiders-workers may capture the organization, we find that the degree of professionalization has a significantly negative impact on disclosure. Overall, outside pressures as predicted by neo-institutional theory and agency issues are important in shaping communication of information. In fact, the two cases indicate that the pressures, as predicted by neo-institutional theory, may easily lead NPOs to cater to key stakeholders in much the same way as for-profit corporations cater to customers. Research limitations/implications – The results are indicative of general forces driving NPO behaviour. Of interest would be a more in-depth analysis to link the prevalence of certain forces to specific governance models and to contextual factors. Practical implications – These findings may give users/visitors of websites better insight into the forces shaping information communication policies of an NPO. Originality/value – This paper adds to the scant evidence on Internet information provision by private non-profit organizations and its drivers. As such, it offers an opportunity to study the forces that are likely shaping decision-making within NPOs.

Waseela Foundation: Accounting for Zakat

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. S55-S60
Author(s):  
Junaid Ashraf ◽  
Abdul Rauf
Keyword(s):  
Accounting System ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Excellent Opportunity ◽  
Fund Accounting ◽  
Non Profit Organizations ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
For Profit Organizations

The case focusses on the issues faced by Waseela Foundation in its accounting system, specifically in recording the receipt of zakat donations and utilization thereof. The existing accounting system is simple and puts all types of donations into one pool. Expenses are paid out of that pool indiscriminately. It is not acceptable to some zakat donors who have different interpretations regarding the use of zakat funds. Mr Mustafa was given the task of redesigning the accounting system which would assure the donors that their zakat was being managed and disposed of as per their instructions. Accounting for donations in non-profits requires an elaborate system of recording and reporting that can distinguish between different sources of donations and their utilization. This is important because some donations have to be spent on specific purposes. Hence, unlike for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations have to keep different sources of funds separate for recording and reporting purposes. Zakat poses special accounting challenges because there are variations in interpretations of different schools of thought with regard to avenues of spending the zakat. The case thus provides students with an excellent opportunity to understand the intricacies of fund accounting for non-profits.

Using the social return on investment (SROI) as a measure of the effectiveness of social innovation projects implemented under public policies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Moroń ◽  
Monika Klimowicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Policy Intervention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Social Return On Investment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Innovation Projects

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the on-going debate about the best way to measure the economic effectiveness of public policies, as well to explore the possibility of using the social return on investment (SROI) method as one of the indicators. Design/methodology/approach This study combines the SROI method with the case study analysis and comparative study. The paper presents the process of economic evaluation with the use of the SROI methodology and its results, along with methodological and evaluation observations. Findings This study confirms some assumptions based both on the subject literature, as well as, on own experience related to the implementation of the evaluation, the author also points out dilemmas related to the use of SROI analysis and the possibility of using it to measure the effectiveness of social innovation projects. Research limitations/implications The study contains several practical suggestions on the advantages and disadvantages of the SROI method in the evaluation of particular public policy intervention. Practical implications The paper includes implications for the use of SROI analysis of social innovation projects implemented in the frames of public policies. Originality/value The authors’ ambition is to provide practical suggestions on the advantages and disadvantages of the SROI method in the evaluation of particular public policy intervention and to contribute to the discussion about the possible space for comparing the results of economic evaluation based on the SROI method. Furthermore, it is different than most approaches to SROI analysis as the authors combine this method with the case study analysis and comparative study.

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