Social Innovation: An Exploration of Conceptualization Based on the Content Analysis of Definitions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 University of Tehran

2 Supreme National Defense University

Abstract

Today social innovation is a critical and vital issue in communities. However, reviewing the literature reveals a wide variety of interpretations and definitions of social innovation, and little integration among various authors. Therefore, analyzing existing definitions and presenting an obvious, clear, comprehensive and integrated definition for social innovation necessary, which could help authors come to common understanding and reasoning. To this end, by referring to valid and available documents, 100 valid definitions of social innovation proposed by scientific and research centers and various authors are extracted and grouped into three main categories of "purpose", "focus" and "nature." Content analysis method is used to identify the constituent concepts, dimensions and effective elements. And in order to validate the extracted concepts, Delphi panel method is used with the participation of a number of scholars and experts. At the end, the findings are presented as seven propositions about the concept of social innovation: "the idea of public goods and services", "governance and capacity building", "social entrepreneurship", "business strategy and organizational management", "new products, services and programs meeting social needs", "the processes of social change" and "institutional change."

Keywords

References

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Innovation Management Journal
Volume 4, Issue 2 - Serial Number 12
September 2015
Pages 115-134

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History

  • Receive Date: 31 May 2015
  • Revise Date: 12 October 2015
  • Accept Date: 23 November 2015

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