Are Ethnic Entrepreneurs Social Innovators? Turkish Migrant Entrepreneurs in Salzburg

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-371
Author(s):  
Heiko Berner

Social innovations are targeted measures that are capable to resolve social problems (Rammert 2010) and they are directed towards an improvement of the situation (Gillwald 2000). Finally, they are directed towards an amelioration of the situation (Gillwald 2000). In Austria it is argued that ethnic business represents a type of social innovation (Haberfellner 2000). The question the paper addresses is if and to what extent ethnic business goes hand in hand with social developments and possibly boosts social change. Entrepreneurs of Turkish origin in Salzburg are the focus of analysis. The paper starts with a definition of the term ‚social innovation‘ (1), the issues of ethnic vs. migrant business (2.), followed by the description of the labour market situation of Turkish migrants in Salzburg and discrimination in the labour market (3.), and, to to round up, the analysis of biographic interviews with Turkish entrepreneurs in Salzburg (4.). The preliminary results show that there exist social problems such as the lower socio-economic situation of Turkish migrants in Salzburg and discrimination in the labour market. These problems can be seen as basis for the need of social innovations. But nevertheless Turkish run ethnic businesses in a strict sense of the word are no social innovation because they do not act against the problems in an intended way; they rather work on their own account. They may overcome disadvantages on the labour market but their actions are not directed towards overcoming the problem per se. It is much rather a transintentional aspect (Schimank 2010), which goes beyond the economic interest of the actors.

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 891-900
Author(s):  
Iban Lizarralde ◽  
Audrey Abi Akle ◽  
Mikhail Hamwi ◽  
Basma Samir

AbstractCurrent development of renewable energy systems (RES) is characterised by an increasing participation of citizens in the upstream decision-making process. These citizens can be future users of the RES but also members of a Renewable Energy Community that develop RES. They can be at the same time Renewable Energy producer, investor and consumer. Moreover, several type of businesses and terms are used to cope with social innovations within the energy sector: local renewable projects, sustainable energy communities or community of renewable energy production. So, actors' engagement opens new solutions for designers who are induced to share alternatives before making decisions. They usually impose constraints since the early phases of the design process. This approach implies for designers to consider new criteria related to citizens motivations and barriers. This paper presents a study to define the main factors that drive people to contribute in social innovation schemes for clean-energy transition. After a state of the art, a survey about 6 main factors and 18 criteria is presented. The analysis based on the responses from 34 participants (i.e. experts) reveals 2 most important factors of motivation and 2 principal barrier sources.


Author(s):  
Donatella Ettorre ◽  
Nicola Bellantuono ◽  
Barbara Scozzi ◽  
Pierpaolo Pontrandolfo

This chapter focuses on social innovation, a topic that the literature has been increasingly discussing in the last decade. The authors revise the many available (and, to some extent, too general) definitions as well as identify the main features that have been claimed as relevant for social innovation (e.g. Mumford, 2002), which concur in providing its definition. By doing so, they pursue the assessment of a less fuzzy definition of social innovation and make a first attempt to focus on the role that companies play in developing as well as scaling social innovations. The adopted approach exploits the literature review and is based on an in-depth analysis of the definitions of social innovation: the authors collected and catalogued them, so identifying the main dimensions of analysis. Clarifying what social innovation is and the role that companies play in social innovation initiatives can increase companies' awareness of what they (can) do with respect to social innovation, possibly taking advantage of this in terms of business objectives.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 887-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakomijn van Wijk ◽  
Charlene Zietsma ◽  
Silvia Dorado ◽  
Frank G. A. de Bakker ◽  
Ignasi Martí

Social innovations are urgently needed as we confront complex social problems. As these social problems feature substantial interdependencies among multiple systems and actors, developing and implementing innovative solutions involve the re-negotiating of settled institutions or the building of new ones. In this introductory article, we introduce a stylized three-cycle model highlighting the institutional nature of social innovation efforts. The model conceptualizes social innovation processes as the product of agentic, relational, and situated dynamics in three interrelated cycles that operate at the micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis. The five papers included in this special issue address one or more of these cycles. We draw on these papers and the model to stimulate and offer guidance to future conversations on social innovations from an institutional theory perspective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Miroslav Kuka

One of the most significant characteristics of the contemporary society is the continuous and an intense social change. This continuous social change initiates a special subject of research into social practice, which envisages in social innovations, influencing to change the life style of citizens of a society. Social innovations are encouraged through the interaction of the institutional networks and individuals and changes can be visible in practice, processes, business models, and organizational forms, all in order to respond to a social problem. In addition to historical and political conditions, social innovations are also determined through cultural patterns, in a manner that not every social innovation will aim to develop potential and seek to answers to social problems. In contemporary societies of the 21st century with a colonial past (inheritance), the inherited cultural and historical patterns are just the crucial components which creating social problems, by developing organizational models of corruption, as a parallel form of functioning of the rule of law. The institutional practice within the Serbian institutions through a direct research in the form of this paper, considering period from 2009 to 2021, serves to analyze the genesis of the emergence and development of corruption, i.e., an illegal use of the system of positions (status) for the purpose of gaining one's own benefit and collapsing the rule of law. Simultaneously, the paper provides with a hypothetical answer to explain how corruption, as the primary form of a social innovation in the countries of “colonial democracy inheritance”, can potentially suppress.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Cukier

Purpose Analysts predict that disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, will have a monumental impact on the world of work in the coming decades, exacerbating existing skills gaps faster than education systems can adapt. This paper aims to review research on the forecasted impact of technology on labour markets and skill demands over the near term. Furthermore, it outlines how social innovations and inclusion can be leveraged as strategies to mitigate the predicted impact of disruptive technologies. Design/methodology/approach The paper engages in an overview of relevant academic literature, policy and industry reports focussing on disruptive technologies, labour market “skills gaps” and training to identify ongoing trends and prospective solutions. Findings This paper identifies an array of predictions, made in studies and reports, about the impact of disruptive technologies on labour markets. It outlines that even conservative estimates can be expected to considerably exacerbate existing skills gaps. In turn, it identifies work-integrated learning and technology-enabled talent matching platforms as tools, which could be used to mitigate the effects of disruptive technologies on labour markets. It argues that there is a need for rigorous evaluation of innovative programmes being piloted across jurisdictions. Research limitations/implications This paper focusses on these dynamics primarily as they are playing out in Canada and similar Western countries. However, our review and conclusions are not generalizable to other regions and economies at different stages of development. Further work is needed to ascertain how disruptive technologies will affect alternative jurisdictions. Social implications While “future of work” debates typically focus on technology and deterministic narratives, this paper points out that social innovations in training and inclusive technologies could prove useful in helping societies cope with the labour market effects of disruptive technologies. Originality/value This paper provides a state-of-the-art review of the existing literature on the labour market effects of novel technologies. It contributes original insights into the future of work debates by outlining how social innovation and inclusion can be used as tools to address looming skills mismatches over the short to medium term.


2019 ◽  
pp. 130-154
Author(s):  
Donatella Ettorre ◽  
Nicola Bellantuono ◽  
Barbara Scozzi ◽  
Pierpaolo Pontrandolfo

This chapter focuses on social innovation, a topic that the literature has been increasingly discussing in the last decade. The authors revise the many available (and, to some extent, too general) definitions as well as identify the main features that have been claimed as relevant for social innovation (e.g. Mumford, 2002), which concur in providing its definition. By doing so, they pursue the assessment of a less fuzzy definition of social innovation and make a first attempt to focus on the role that companies play in developing as well as scaling social innovations. The adopted approach exploits the literature review and is based on an in-depth analysis of the definitions of social innovation: the authors collected and catalogued them, so identifying the main dimensions of analysis. Clarifying what social innovation is and the role that companies play in social innovation initiatives can increase companies' awareness of what they (can) do with respect to social innovation, possibly taking advantage of this in terms of business objectives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Dora Szendi

In the last two decades, a new direction has appeared in the study of innovation processes in the literature. Researchers are paying more and more attention to social innovation beside the classical Schumpeterian approach. Social innovation is new solutions (product, technology, organizational solution) that can effectively meet market needs that are not or hardly met on a market basis, innovation can lead to new or more advanced skills / relationships, and contribute to a more efficient use of resources. However, there is no uniform definition of the concept. The issue of social innovation is particularly important in the case of the Northern Hungary region, because it can bring hope for some peripheral areas and a new approach to solving problems. High technological innovation potential and performance do not necessarily go hand in hand with high social innovation activity, so in the case of peripheral regions there is a hope for social innovations even in the absence of technological innovations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 46-49
Author(s):  
Nigina Usmanova ◽  

The article describes the development of the global digital economy, the work carried out in our country, the problems of economic and social innovations and efforts to solve them


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57
Author(s):  
Dorota Sobol

The aim of the article is to present the influence on the labour market of enterprises with participation offoreign capital in special economic zones (SEZ) in Poland. The research utilised selected results of the surveys conducted among enterprises with participation of foreign capital operating in all Polish special economic zones for the scientific project called Foreign direct investments in the special economic zones of Poland'. These findings are complemented by opinions from management boards of all the zones in Poland concerning the influence of the foreign direct investments (FDI) located in the individual zones on the labour market of the region in which they operate.


Author(s):  
Ursula Renz

This chapter discusses the implications of Spinoza’s concept of individual bodies, as introduced in the definition of individuum in the physical digression. It begins by showing that this definition allows for an extremely wide application of the term; accordingly, very different sorts of physical entities can be described as Spinozistic individuals. Given the quite distinct use of the terms divisibilis and indivisibilis in his metaphysics, however, the chapter argues that the physical concept of individuality is not universally applied in the Ethics but reserved for physical or natural-philosophical considerations. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the problem of collective individuals. It is argued that, while societies or states are described as individual bodies, they do not constitute individual group minds in the strict sense of the term for Spinoza. This in turn indicates that minds are not individuated in the same way as bodies.


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