Transformed management scholarship and ways forward for exploring social innovation in organizations

Abstract

Inspired by recent calls for a transformation of management scholarship, we conduct a scoping review of empirical studies during 1998–2015 on the phenomenon of social innovation within organizations. Social innovations are novel solutions that address social problems and create value for society as a whole. We make several problem-based observations and suggest how the social innovation phenomenon can be empirically grounded and contextualized to make future research intellectually relevant and meaningful for practice. We propose that the way forward lies in using abduction as a logic of discovery, adopting complexity theorizing, and using set-theoretic analytical methods to reflect multiple realities. The application of these three methods will help link theory and research methods with practice, thereby improving the ability of research to tackle managerial and societal issues and hence strengthening management scholarship.

Keywords:

• Contexts
• management scholarship
• organizations
• phenomenon-driven research
• social innovation

Notes

Acknowledgements

This is a full version of the paper entitled, Exploring a Pre-Theoretical Management Phenomenon: Promising Ways Forward for Researching Social Innovation in Organizations, which was presented and awarded Best Paper—Public Sector Management and Not-for-Profit Stream at the 30th Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM) conference in December 2016. Only the abstract was published in the conference proceedings.

Notes

1 Organizational capabilities derive from the organization’s capacity to bring its resources and skills together and deploy them advantageously, and as such they form the identity of the organization by defining what strategies [social innovations] they are good at doing (Barney 1991).

2 Organizational performance is the outcomes an organization obtains as a result of the implementation of its strategies [social innovations], and is often defined in terms of “comparing actual value created by [an organization] with its expected value” (Barney 1997, 63).

3 Doing so through, for example, “theory elaboration” which is “the process of conceptualizing and executing empirical research using preexisting conceptual ideas or a preliminary model as a basis for developing new theoretical insights by contrasting, specifying, or structuring theoretical constructs and relations to account for and explain empirical observations” (Fisher and Aguinis 2017, 438).

Additional information

Funding

This research has received financial support through an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.

Notes on contributors

Rachel Taylor

Rachel Taylor is a Lecturer in Management at the Federation University Australia. Her research focuses on the role of social innovation by nonprofits and social enterprises. With previous roles in nonprofit organizations, Rachel is passionate about research that is accessible and that can achieve practical outcomes for organizations and their stakeholders.

Nuttaneeya (Ann) Torugsa

Nuttaneeya (Ann) Torugsa is an Associate Professor in Management at Ratchasuda College, Mahidol University; and an Adjunct Senior Researcher in Innovation at the University of Tasmania. She has expertise in four interlinked research areas, including: (a) innovation management and policy in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors; (b) sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, and strategic management; (c) health service management; and (d) innovative research designs, methods, and analyses that make research intellectually relevant and meaningful for practice.

Anthony Arundel

Anthony Arundel is a Professorial Fellow at The United Nations University—Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tasmania. He specializes in the design, implementation, and analysis of innovation surveys. His research interests include questionnaire design and methodology, technology assessment, environmental issues, intellectual property rights, biotechnology, and knowledge flows from public research to firms.