Learning from case studies of social innovation in the field of social services: creatively balancing top-down universalism with bottom-up democracy

2013 ◽  
pp. 346-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Martinelli
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up

Contradictory dynamics of empowerment in social innovation initiatives

2019 ◽  
pp. 113-136
Author(s):  
Stijn Oosterlynck ◽  
Andreas Novy ◽  
Bernhard Leubolt ◽  
Carla Weinzierl
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Over Time

In this chapter, we undertake a systematic analysis of the empowerment dimension of social innovation initiatives. The notions of social innovation and empowerment have a rather similar history. We provide a brief historical overview of the concept of empowerment and the diverse and competing meanings the concept has acquired over time. We then specify three dimensions of empowerment to analyse the empowering potential of social innovation: the bottom-up and top-down dynamics of empowerment, the relation between individual and collective forms of empowerment and the extent to which empowerment has an instrumental or expressive focus. In the analysed case studies of social innovation initiatives, we observe a pre-eminence of top-down empowerment, the dominance of individual empowerment dynamics and a predominant focus on instrumental forms of empowerment in social innovation initiatives, especially in the governance of labour market activation.

scholarly journals Elementary Principal/Superintendent Relationship as Perceived by Teachers

2001 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Catherine H. Glascock ◽  
Diane Taylor
Keyword(s):  
School Climate ◽  
School District ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
School Change ◽  
Elementary Principal ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up

Despite more than a decade of research on bottom-up school change, the principal/ superintendent relationship continues to be studied primarily as a traditional flow of power from the top down. There is little research that considers the proposition that power vested in principals can be exercised upwardly within the school district hierarchy in the form of independence from and influence on the superintendent. Given the lack of research on these phenomena, it is not surprising that we could find no studies that explore the effects of hierarchical independence and influence on school climate. The present study investigates both. Two schools form the basis of this comparative case study. The schools were chosen based on scores obtained through the OCDQ and TAI instruments. The first school is selected for its high scores on both instruments and the second school is selected based on average scores on the OCDQ and the TAI. Both schools are in the same school district and a brief description of that district begins the discussion. Individual case study findings as well as a comparison of the two case studies follow.

Starchitects in Bohemia: An Exploration of Cultural Cities from the “Top-Down” and “Bottom-Up”

2020 ◽  
pp. 107808742093404
Author(s):  
Hyesun Jeong ◽  
Matt Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
National Level ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Ecological Relationship ◽  
Significant Attention

Urban scholars have devoted significant attention to the “cultural city,” but less attention has been paid to how different forms of culture relate to each other and to the larger urban environment. In this article, we compare two quintessential forms of culture-led urbanization that represent opposite ends on a spectrum: iconic architecture and neo-bohemia. While iconic architecture is a “top-down” approach to culture involving large budgets, elite “starchitects,” and powerful clients, neo-bohemia tends to be a “bottom-up” phenomenon formed as individual artists gravitate toward particular neighborhoods, establishing arts scenes. Using a combination of neighborhood case studies and national-level quantitative analysis, we investigate the ecological relationship between these two phenomena. In doing so, we provide new insights into the geographic and social structure of the cultural city.

The multi-scalar puzzle of social innovation

2019 ◽  
pp. 91-112
Author(s):  
Yuri Kazepov ◽  
Fabio Colombo ◽  
Tatiana Saruis
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Local Dimension ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Relational Approach

Most of the scholars emphasise the local dimension and the bottom-up dynamics as the modus of social innovation. At the same time, they tend to assume that other (higher) spatial, institutional and political levels are hostile to social innovation. These assumptions entail manifold risks for both social research and action. In this chapter, we challenge the idea that social innovation is a solely bottom-up practice, to embrace a more comprehensive and relational approach on how it actually moves between and across scales, depending on the strategies it adopts and on the institutional scalar arrangements framing its development. We do not argue that the local does not play a relevant and special role. Many initiatives are indeed ‘bottom-linked’ and the ‘local’ is the level where all other levels conflate. The case studies´ analysis of the ImPRovE project highlights which scales are mainly involved in social innovation and how opportunities and constraints are distributed among them. A typology on the multiscalar nature of social innovation is proposed, considering the strategies that socially innovative initiatives adopt in order to establish connections between and across scales. Finally, the potential avenues for further research are described to better disentangle the multi-scalar puzzle of social innovation.

Innovation in China’s information and communications technology industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingzhi Li ◽  
Kai Reimers
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Ict Industry

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the sources of innovation in the current business environment of China. With the set target of transforming China into an innovative society by 2020, the Chinese government has taken dramatic measures to foster the nation’s innovation capability. Whether this Chinese model of promoting innovation has been successful and can be sustainable are controversial issues which need to be analyzed from an academic perspective. In recent years, there have been successful cases of innovation driven by grassroots entrepreneurs, especially in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. Therefore, it is time to analyze their success factors from the perspectives of both corporate strategy and government policy. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used in this research is a comparative case analysis, and several high-profile cases in China’s ICT industry have been selected for this comparative study. Information used in the analysis comes from publicly available sources such as business school case studies and industry and news media reports. The authors have been following the evolution of China’s ICT industry for more than a decade; insights from their prior research and knowledge gained through industry contacts are also used in the analysis. Findings – Generally speaking, the types of innovation in China’s ICT industry can be categorized into a top-down or a bottom-up approach. For the top-down approach of innovation driven by the government, the authors analyzed the case of the Chinese government’s effort to build an industry value chain through fostering the Chinese indigenous third-generation mobile communications standard time division–synchronous code division multiple access. In comparison, the authors use several success cases, including the ecosystem built around the highly successful XiaoMi mobile phone and Tencent’s mobile portal WeChat, as it showcases of the bottom-up approach of innovation driven by grassroots entrepreneurship. The comparison of these two approaches suggests that massive government-sponsored projects are unlikely to generate genuine innovation in the highly competitive and dynamic ICT sector. The government’s role should be to foster entrepreneurship and to create a fair business environment. Originality/value – This research uses the method of comparative case studies to identify the source of innovation in a highly dynamic and uncertain business environment. Findings of this study shed light on the government policy toward innovation in the ICT industry and on the business firms’ strategy on innovation.

Top-down bottom-up strategic green building development framework: Case studies in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
pp. 108052
Author(s):  
Nur Kamaliah Mustaffa ◽  
Che Maznah Mat Isa ◽  
Che Khairil Izam Che Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Development Framework

scholarly journals Network orchestration: new role of business incubators?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Guilherme Rodrigues Antunes ◽  
Cleber Carvalho de Castro ◽  
Andrea Ap da Costa Mineiro
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Business Incubators ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Network Orchestration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the performance of incubators in the stages of formation and development of incubated business networks, especially in bottom-up and top-down network models. Design/methodology/approach The research is defined as qualitative and descriptive, with the application of multiple case studies, in which two networks of incubated businesses were investigated, one being top-down and the other bottom-up, which emerged within the incubation process of two business incubators (CIETEC and INCIT). To make the study operational, 11 semi-structured interviews were carried out and the thematic analysis of content was developed. Findings The results pointed out that in the top-down network the incubator performs a new assignment, the network orchestration, which corresponds to the actions of formation, coordination and governance of the group. In the bottom-up network, it was found that the role of the incubator was to expand the value offers usually practiced. Research limitations/implications As a limitation of the research, the very limitation of case studies is pointed out that is they do not allow for generalizations. Practical implications The research contributes to reflections on the effectiveness of the incubator and sheds light on the complementarity of networks in incubation processes, providing gains for incubators, incubated businesses and society. Originality/value The originality of this document is the new role of the incubator, which is orchestration, and its categorization. The results allow us to understand the effects of providing networks and relationships for incubated businesses. In addition, this study broadens the focus of traditional analyses of the incubator–incubated duo to consider the incubator–network–incubated trio.

ICT-Enabled Social Innovation in Children’s Services

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Lara Montero ◽  
William Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Social Welfare Services ◽  
Shared Information ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
Ict System

ICT has become increasingly prevalent in the development and provision of social services for children and families. ICT has enabled social innovation in children’s services and the wider social services sector through its contribution to the transformation of service management and implementation, cost-efficiency improvement and the effectiveness of service delivery. ICT-enabled social innovation (IESI) can help to address the increased demand on social welfare services, for example through improved coordination between professionals and enhanced communication with service users. These changes are presented through a number of case studies of ICT in children’s services in Europe. One of these is the development of tools for data collection by the National Child Protection Observatory in cooperation with local authorities in France. Another example is the KOMBIT standardised ICT system for the case management of children at risk in Denmark. One further example is Alborada, a shared information system in Andalucía (Spain), which facilitates data sharing and coordination between professionals from health, education and social services working with children with developmental difficulties. The analysis of the case studies has allowed the formulation of some key recommendations for the development of ICT-enabled innovation in children’s services in terms of the role that policy can play in driving forward ICT-enabled services, ICT’s role in meeting children’s needs, and professionals’ training and development for the successful introduction and implementation of ICT in children’s services.

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