Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Networks as Success Factor for Social Innovation
RESER Conference Bucharest
Session on Social Innovation
21th September 2012
Jürgen Howaldt
Howaldt/ Bucharest 2012
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Basic assumption
The transition from an industrial to a knowledge and
services-based society corresponds with a paradigm shift
of the innovation system.
This paradigm shift also implies an increasing importance
of social innovation as compared to technological
innovation.
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
“The tracks of international research on innovation
demonstrate that the technology-oriented paradigm –
shaped by the industrial society – does not cover the
broad range of innovations indispensable in the
transition from an industrial to a knowledge and
services-based society: Such fundamental societal
changes require the inclusion of social innovations in a
paradigm shift of the innovation system.”
Vienna Declaration: The most relevant topics in social innovation research
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Main characteristics
 Co-ordination and mediation between various different groups
of stakeholders who are involved in innovation activities
 Interdisciplinarity, heterogeneity and reflectivity of the
processes of creation
 Emphasis on historical, cultural and organizational
preconditions
 Increased involvement of users/citizens
in processes of “co-development”
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Social Innovation moves from the margins to the
mainstream
At the start of 2009 President Obama announced the establishment of a new
“Office for Social Innovation at the White House“ and allocated USD 50million to
a fund for social innovation.
The Fund will focus on priority policy areas, including education, health care,
and economic opportunity.
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Social Innovation
 a new combination or new configuration of social practices
 in certain areas of action or social contexts
 prompted by certain actors or constellations of actors
 in an intentional targeted manner with the goal of better satisfying or
answering needs and problems than is possible on the basis of
established practices
 socially accepted and diffused widely throughout society or in certain
societal sub-areas
 finally institutionalized as a new social practice
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
In this light innovation can be understood
“as a process of collective creation, in the course of which
the members of a particular total population learn, i.e.
invent and establish, new ways of playing the social game
of collaboration and conflict, in a word a new social
practice, and in the course of which they acquire the
necessary … abilities to do this.”
(Crozier/Friedberg 1993)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Areas of social innovation
civil society:
the increase in the significance of cohabitation or the
environmental movement
state action:
the introduction of social security and national
insurance
business world:
the advent of team work, knowledge management or
new social services
(cf. Katrin Gillwald 2000)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Research fields
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Management and Organizational Research
Social Economy, CSR, Social Entrepreneur
Creativity Research (Creative Industries)
Local and Regional Development
(Moulaert et al. 2005)
 Service Innovation/ Social Services
 Sustainable Development/ Climate Change
 Social Innovation in a digital era (Enterprise 2.0; Society 2.0)
(Howaldt/Schwarz 2010)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Social Innovation – Social Entrepreneurship
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An innovative, pragmatic and
sustainable entrepeneurial activity
for a significant, positive change in
society
Connection between entrepeneurial
activity and social goals
Multitude of global initiatives (e.g.
Ashoka, Grameen Bank) and a barely
clear number of regional initiatives
http://www.businesspj.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/socialentrepreneurship.jpg
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Social Innovation – Carsharing
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Common use of cars through the
provision of vehicles in main areas
Carsharing-organisation
professionalized the traditional
„driving communities“
In Germany there are around
110 carsharing-organisations with
158.000 customers
http://www.carsharing-vergleich.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/carsharing-münchen.jpg
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Focusing on social innovators as individuals?
“Most social businesses are likely to
originate with one person, or perhaps with
a small group of people—friends, work
colleagues, or people with a shared
interest in a particular social problem.
Within such a small group, you may not
have all the expertise, experience, ideas
and resources needed to make your
social business idea into a reality. Don’t
let that stop you! Look around for others
you can partner with.”
(Yunus, 2010: 79–80)
www.br-online.de
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
“It was the time when talented and
energetic
engineers
could
make
enormous contributions and, for a while,
they were the ‘superstars’ of their age.
Thereafter, mayor projects became
increasingly complex and grew beyond
the grasp of a single person.”
(London, Science Museum)
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum.aspx
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Networks as Success Factor for Social Innovation
“Complex challenges demand complex solutions.”
(Moore and Westley, 2010)
Networks can be described as one of the most important features of the
new innovation paradigm, a result of a profound transformation of the
innovation process.
(Howaldt and Schwarz, 2010)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Howaldt/ Bucharest 2012
A New Nature of Innovation” (OECD 2010)
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Central Scientific Institute
Why networks?
 Typical incentives and advantages of network co-operation
 better information
 larger resources
 a higher status
 What is special about innovation networks (Powell and Grodal, 2005)?
 -||- etc.
 But: better information is even more important as knowledge is crucial
for innovation
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Types of networks
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Why Social Innovation Networks?
Cross-sector collaborations
“Increasingly, innovation blossoms where the sectors converge. At
these intersections, the exchanges of ideas and values, shifts in
roles and relationships, and the integration of private capital with
public and philanthropic support generate new and better
approaches to creating social value. To support cross-sector
collaborations we have to examine policies and practices that
impede the flow of ideas, values, capital, and talent across sector
boundaries and constrain the roles and relationships among the
sectors.”
(Phills et al., 2008: 43)
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Central Scientific Institute
 Combine the potential of social innovation in the social economy, civil
society, business firms and the state (Multi-level governance)
 Promote alliances between universities, companies and the state
around social innovation
 Opening the process of innovation to society including all stakeholders
in the development and diffusion of innovation
 Empowering people: Include citizens, clients, social movements,
communities in the process of social innovation
 Innovation „bottom up“: learning from experiences of innovation
research and business and public service innovation
 Ameliorate the conditions of participation and self-management in
social innovations aimed at overcoming poverty and pauperisation
Vienna Declaration: The most relevant topics in social innovation research
Howaldt/ Bucharest 2012
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Why Social Innovation Networks?
One critical question is “whether and how networks
can help facilitate innovations to broad the seemingly
insurmountable chasms that separate local solutions
from broad system transformation: that is, how they
help innovations to “cross scales”.
(Moore and Westley, 2011)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Institutional Entrepreneurs in Social Innovation Networks
 “One type of entrepreneurship may be the inventor of a novel
norm, idea, or product (sometimes called the social
entrepreneur).”
 “A second type is the institutional entrepreneur, whose job it is to
manage the context, complex as it is, in such a way that the
innovation has a chance to flourish, widening the circle of its
impact.”
 “An institutional entrepreneur, therefore, not only introduces a
certain innovation but also works to change the broader context
so that the innovation has widespread appeal and impact.”
(Moore and Westley, 2011)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Institutional Entrepreneurs in Social Innovation Networks
Institutional entrepreneurs are key agents in effective social networks
and rely on a “complex skill set”, which “enables them to recognize
which types of relationships within the network are crucial at specific
times and to mobilize those relationships in order for innovations to
cross scales.
In some cases, this means skillfully establishing strong
bonds and weak links, where appropriate, as well as understanding
the content of those relationships and whether the connections provide
specific resources (information, financial support, access to new ideas)
and ways to leverage those resources”.
(Moore and Westley, 2011)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Institutional Entrepreneurs in Social Innovation Networks
Findings by Moore and Westley (2011) indicate that some of the key
entrepreneurial skills are:
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pattern generation (recognizing “the patterns causing a rigidity trap” e.g.
efforts “to change cultural, economic, and policy institutions”)
relationship building and brokering (“working to ensure the purpose of a
formal structure is replaced by the mission of an informal group”)
knowledge and resource brokering (“ability to understand specialized
knowledge and reframe the discourse about the subject so as to make it
comprehensible, accessible, and engaging for others, particularly decisionmakers”)
network recharging (being “the visionary leaders who give form and
direction to the network and its mission”)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Social Innovation Networks in different areas
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Social Services in general
Health Care Services for Elderly and
Dependent Persons
Modernization of Education Systems
(LLL)
Social Integration and Equal
Opportunities
Clean Technologies
Sustainable Development
Climate Change
Howaldt/ Bucharest 2012
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Central Scientific Institute
Social Innovation Networks – Climate Change
 developing a regional strategy for
adapting to the consequences of
climate change
 platform for collaboration and
dialogue as well as think tank,
knowledge repository and expert
partner for the region
 applying a 2020 roadmap, the region
expects to receive the support it
needs to proactively anticipate and
respond to the challenges of climate
change
“social-science-driven” cross-sector
collaboration and fertilization
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Relevance of Social Innovation Networks in scientific
debate and for policy-making
 focusing on the single person of the social innovator does not
cope with the reality of innovation processes, often
characterized by multiple interactions and a systemic nature
 this perspective may raise false expectations regarding
successful social innovations: if societies should benefit from
social innovations, promotion and consultancy in this field
should hardly concentrate on extraordinary personalities, but
rather on systemic approaches with various actors involved
(Howaldt, Domanski and Schwarz, 2011)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Conclusion
“The world needs more social innovation - and so all
who aspire to solve the world’s most vexing problems entrepreneurs, leaders, managers, activists, and
change agents - regardless of whether they come from
the world of business, government, or nonprofits, must
shed old patterns of isolation, paternalism, and
antagonism and strive to understand, embrace, and
leverage cross-sector dynamics to find new ways of
creating social value.”
(Phills et al. 2008)
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Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund
Central Scientific Institute
Social Innovation:
Concepts, Research
Fields and International
Trends
Studies for Innovation in
a Modern Working
Environment 5
Jürgen Howaldt/Michael
Schwarz
www.sfs-dortmund.de
howaldt@sfs-dortmund.de
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