In the face of limited progress toward meeting Millennium Development Goals or addressing climate change and resource degradation, increasing attention turns to harnessing the entrepreneurial, innovative, managerial and financial capacities of business for improved social and environmental outcomes. A more proactive role for business in sustainable development is especially pertinent in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been plagued by conflict and poverty but shows signs of a brighter future as the world’s second-fastest-growing region. The book considers how the socio-economic context influences the objectives of social innovation and even our definition of what we mean by social innovation. Secondly, the book aims to show how social innovation initiatives emerge and fare in context of the limited ability of many African countries to provide public goods and services.
Environmental challenges such as pollution, climate change, water and natural resources depletion and dwindling bio-diversity are true threats to the survival of our civilization, forcing us to learn how to act now. Fortunately this is exactly what this book does: presenting real life cases, along with theory, methodologies and tools demonstrating how eco-innovation can support sustainable economic growth and save our planet for future generations. Following an introduction describing developments and directions of eco-innovation, Section One discusses Models and Frameworks Supporting Eco-Innovation, with chapters on search strategy for radical eco-innovation; and systematic eco-innovation with TRIZ Methodology. Section Two offers surveys and case studies showing eco-innovation in practice, including a sketch of the eco-innovative landscape in the Brazilian Cellulose, Paper and Paper Products Industry; efforts to eco-innovate among large Swedish companies; progress towards joint product-service business models and more. The third section surveys future directions and emerging trends, among them a new methodology for eco-friendly construction; the development of lightweight small inter-island ferries in Scandinavia and BioTRIZ: a win-win methodology for eco-innovation. The book explores eco-innovation as a framework for supporting the development of new business models which consider the entire business ecosystem, on the way to a sustainable world. Moreover, it explores the eco-innovation process in cross-national and cross-sector perspective.
Sustainability is a phenomenon that must be pursued in a complex system of interrelated elements of business, society, and ecology. It is important to gain an understanding of these elements, the interplay between them, and the behavior of the system. This book explores the business-societal-and-ecological system in which sustainable innovation has to be envisioned, conceptualized, realized, and improved. Author Bart Bossink offers insight into the systematic coherence of drivers of eco-innovation and sustainability utilizing a three-part approach: (1) eco- and sustainable innovation in business is based on ideas and people who cooperatively develop these ideas; (2) groups of people, organized in commercial firms, must realize these ideas cooperatively and create the innovations that can conquer the market; and (3) that people from governmental, non-governmental, not-for-profit, research, and commercial organizations can build institutional arrangements that stimulate these sustainable innovations, changing both industry and society. Adopting a managerial perspective and discussing concepts and methods to manage eco-innovation in business, this book highlights the interrelated roles of the individual, the firm, partnerships, and business environments. Researchers and practitioners who want to combine a commercial and economical approach with an ethical and social ambition to create an ecologically sustainable firm stand to learn much from these pages.
Sustainable entrepreneurship has attracted growing attention in both scholarly and practitioner circles. Focusing on generating social, environmental and business value, the notion has been raised more recently to address the contribution of entrepreneurial activities to sustainable economic and social development. Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation builds on a theoretical framework that addresses related topics via a combination of insights from sustainability, policy, managerial, strategic, innovation and institutional perspectives. Providing empirical casework as well as a conceptual and theoretical framework, the book takes a global, interdisciplinary approach to the emergent field of sustainable entrepreneurship. The book highlights elements of sustainable entrepreneurship which have a societal impact as well as regional relevance and related aspects of innovation are also presented. Definitional issues are further elaborated in order to encompass the main inter-connected fields of study, sustainable entrepreneurship and social innovation. This book is an important resource for academic researchers, and postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability.
The aim of this edited book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and challenges related to innovation for sustainability. Combining work from both emerging and established scholars in different academic fields, this book provides an integrated understanding of the topic from four perspectives. First, the big picture: frameworks, types, and drivers; second, strategy and leadership; third, measurement and assessment and fourth, tools, methods and technologies. Chapter 11 of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com. The editors donate their remuneration for this book to conservation organisation the WWF.
Innovation and Scaling for Impact forces us to reassess how social sector organizations create value. Drawing on a decade of research, Christian Seelos and Johanna Mair transcend widely held misconceptions, getting to the core of what a sound impact strategy entails in the nonprofit world. They reveal an overlooked nexus between investments that might not pan out (innovation) and expansion based on existing strengths (scaling). In the process, it becomes clear that managing this tension is a difficult balancing act that fundamentally defines an organization and its impact. The authors examine innovation pathologies that can derail organizations by thwarting their efforts to juggle these imperatives. Then, through four rich case studies, they detail innovation archetypes that effectively sidestep these pathologies and blend innovation with scaling. Readers will come away with conceptual models to drive progress in the social sector and tools for defining the future of their organizations.
Moving beyond the narrow confines of a "how to" of Innovation management, The Business of Innovation sets out to track, trace and provide testimonies of innovation practice in small to large-scale organisations from countries around world. Through a combination of contemporary economic and social theory, and an array of practical examples from a wide range of sectors and industries, Jay Mitra offers critical insight into how global innovation works, where it works and most importantly, who makes it work, with an emphasis on innovative women. Suitable for postgraduate, doctoral and MBA students on business management and innovation courses and practitioners looking for a critical insight into the business of innovation.
This Open Access book, Responsible innovation provides benefits for society, for instance more sustainable products, more engagement with consumers and less anxiety about emerging technologies. As a governance tool it is mostly driven by research funders, including the European Commission, under the term “responsible research and innovation” (RRI). To achieve uptake in private industry is a challenge. This book provides successful case studies for the implementation of responsible innovation in businesses. The importance of social innovations is emphasized as a link between benefits for society and profits for businesses, especially SMEs. For corporate industry it is shown how responsible innovation can offer a competitive advantage to adopters. The book is based on the latest insights from theory and practice and combines conceptual work with first-hand experience. It is of interest to innovation managers, entrepreneurs and academics. For academics, the book will provide a combination of analysis and discussion, and present recent learnings from first-hand interaction with entrepreneurs. For innovation managers and entrepreneurs, it will provide inspiration and better ideas about what responsible innovation can look like in practice, why others have “done it” and what the potential benefits might be. The book will thus serve the purposes of spreading the word about the responsible innovation concept among different audiences whilst making it more accessible to innovation managers and entrepreneurs.
“This book is a must read for anyone who cares about the well-being of humanity in our modern world.” —Jake B. Schrum, President Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX “The Social Innovation Imperative advances a best practice framework to solving the world’s most pressing social issues. This is a foundational guide to changing the world that will be referenced for years to come.” —Michael Reynolds, Vice President, Product Development and Management, Cigna Health Care “Advancing the works of Clayton Christensen, Tony Ulwick, and others, Bates gives us a systematic approach for addressing critical human needs and the ecosystems in which they persist. This book is a blueprint to help us solve the ‘right’ things—the ‘right’ way.” —Joe Grieshop, President, Chief Innovation Executive, netTrekker, Founding Partner, Knovation Lab “Bates lays out a comprehensive, needs-driven approach for creating a social innovation road map. The detailed templates she provides offer particular insight for large, complex challenges.” —Sarah Miller Caldicott, author of Innovate Like Edison and Inventing The Future, great-grandniece of Thomas Edison “Bates shows how to create comprehensive innovation strategies using a six-step framework, and she gives the reader detailed ‘how to’ instruction for each step.” —Ellen Domb, Ph.D., President, PQR Group, Founder of The TRIZ Journal About the Book: In recent years, business leaders have been investing unprecedented amounts of time and money pursuing innovation to drive profits and growth. Although far from perfected, the innovation best practices they follow are by now well established. But when your expected ROI isn’t measured in dollars but in social good, the game is played very differently—which is where The Social Innovation Imperative comes in. Sandra M. Bates has spent the last decade helping major corporations create new markets for technology, consumer goods, and services. Now, she turns her attention to the social sector. The Social Innovation Imperative begins by explaining why innovation in social sectors, such as health care, conservation, and education, is unique and then provides the framework and tools that create a best practice for driving innovative change that will impact our world. Bates organizes the process into action-oriented steps you can follow to meet your goals effectively and in the most efficient manner possible. Learn how to: Investigate the Needs—define the social challenge, determine unmet needs, and examine opportunities for achieving them Innovate the Solution—devise a workable solution and develop a powerful social business model Implement the Solution—ensure the solution creates shared value and discover techniques to make certain that it does not become an orphan innovation In The Social Innovation Imperative, Bates combines everything she has learned as a high-level business consultant to offer a refreshing new approach for developing breakthrough products, programs, and services to meet society’s needs. The Framework for Social Innovation outlined in this book removes the mystery from innovation success and provides a systematic approach anyone can adopt. The Social Innovation Imperative offers essential wisdom for innovators everywhere—whether nonprofits, NGOs, foundations, government agencies, or corporations—who wish to generate meaningful social value.
In an age where the globalization process is threatening the uniqueness and vitality of small towns, and where most urban planning discourse is directed at topics such as metropol-regions or mega-regions and world cities, the authors here emphasize the need to critically reflect on the potential of small towns. They illustrate how small towns can meet the challenge of a fast-paced, globalized world, and based on case studies, movements, programs, and strategies, present the local cultures that effectively and sustainably promote traditions and identities. Small towns often play a critical role in regional economies. When small towns focus on their specific characteristics and exploit their opportunities, they can become stable niches within regional, national, and global economies, and thus contribute significantly to shaping their future. The second edition is expanded to cover the intensive development of small towns in China and Korea. In addition, the authors examine the impact of the economic crisis on small towns and the recent development of the Slow City movement.
