Social enterprises create innovative solutions to address social issues and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper examines the innovative social entrepreneurial processes using the theoretical foundation of responsible innovation (i.e., anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion and deliberation, responsiveness, and knowledge management). The data collected from three case study organisations reveals that social enterprises at the initiation stage address only a few SDGs. However, innovation development and implementation processes lead to products and services diversification and geographical expansion which broaden the SDG focus. During this process, enterprises iteratively conduct activities associated with different dimensions of responsible innovation and operate within ethics, values and rights-based boundaries. Based on these findings, this paper proposes a process model combining SDG literature with responsible innovation. The managerial implications of using responsible innovation perspective to achieve SDGs are also highlighted.

PurposeThis article explains how business internships can be used to develop innovation skills in undergraduates.Design/methodology/approachUsing work-integrated learning and current literature on innovation, this article proposes a theoretical framework to design, implement, and measure outcomes of Innovation-Focused Internships (IFIs). The article also uses an illustrative case study from an Australian university to discuss practical use of this framework.FindingsThe theoretical framework illustrates that stakeholders (i.e., students, industry, and university) need a common goal. Factors associated with managing innovation and student placements are key features of the framework. The illustrative case study demonstrates ways in which students gather both professional work experience and innovative skills.Practical implicationsThe illustrative case study outlines practical strategies and challenges in IFI programs. Managing innovation-related challenges requires adjustments from all the stakeholders.Originality/valueThis article modifies the existing stakeholder interdependency model of work-integrated learning by combining it with innovation-related literature. The novel insights from the IFI program demonstrate how factors associated with students, industry, and university, and associations between these key stakeholders shape and determine IFI success.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how vulnerabilities arising from physical impairments, age, widowhood, forced displacement due to war or natural disasters and sexual orientation affect women’s microfinance-related entrepreneurial activities and economic empowerment.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a structured literature review and uses preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) method. The paper also uses agency, resources and achievement dimensions of empowerment to assess the findings.FindingsThis study reveals that although microfinance services promote women entrepreneurship, they also exacerbate exclusion and further discrimination. Individual-, household-, institutional- and community-level structures shape women’s agencies to access and use loans and conduct entrepreneurial activities; hence, ultimately economic empowerment.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper arises from the conceptual model we synthesised from our review which illustrates how vulnerable women’s agency is shaped by resources and how it affects their achievements in relation to entrepreneurial activities.

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