Social and Business Innovations: Linked in Practice – But Two Worlds Apart in Theorising?

Abstract

Thorough case studies clearly indicate that in many cases social innovations can only be successful when supported by various types of business innovations, be they product, process, management, organisation, business model or market innovations. Both business and social innovations have been studied for several decades by now. Yet, these two communities still seem to live in their own fiefdoms. This review is aimed at stressing the need and possibilities for more interactions and exchanges between these two ‘tribes’. As a first step, lessons from business innovation studies are highlighted below, indicating opportunities to refine the analytical tools and methods we use, and thus improve our understanding of social innovation processes. These insights – on the degree of novelty, level of change, the ‘dark side’ of innovation, policy rationales to justify interventions, and policy implications – can be useful for practitioners, social innovation scholars, policy analysts and policy-makers.

Keywords: Social innovations, Business innovations, The ‘dark side’ of innovation, Intertwined social and business innovations, Policies to support social innovation

JEL Classification: O35, O38, O39, O30