How do grand challenges determine, drive and influence the innovation efforts of for‐profit firms? A multidimensional analysis

Abstract

While raising concerns, the recent proliferation of grand challenges has sparked interest in the role played by innovation in causing them, and in how the attempts made to fix them may cause even greater challenges that present themselves down the line. This article provides an analysis of the bibliographic metadata, published between 2002 and 2020, focusing explicitly on the private‐for‐profit sector. By identifying common themes from 66 documents, a framework highlighting the shared concerns and research trajectories was derived. Our results are illustrated and discussed along 11 research themes. We contribute theoretically by identifying the innovation efforts of for‐profit firms that directly relate to grand challenges, through two cases of carbon capture and storage and deep‐sea mining. We conclude that a more holistic understanding of innovation and its many possible consequences needs to be developed. We highlight the limitations of perspectives that do not always take full account of the potential divergence of interests between stakeholders, and, how fuller input by a greater cross‐section of stakeholders may help identify any negative effects of innovations at an earlier stage. Informed by recent extensions of social innovation theory, we explore the potential for synthesis around a pragmatic understanding of institutions, stakeholders, and the nature and quality of ties that bind them.

The role of innovation in for‐profit firms' tackling of grand challenges: Special issue editorial

“…The second paper (Pereira et al, 2024) presents an exploration of the ways in which GCs determine, drive, and influence the innovation efforts of for-profit firms. The authors offer an analysis of bibliographic metadata with an explicit focus on the private for-profit sector.…”

Determinants of social innovation in hybrid organisations: The moderating role of technology readiness

“…A large part of the literature on corporate social innovation focuses on traditional organisations—a type of organisation that is transactional in nature, where social and environmental issues can only be addressed if the organisation has the extra resources and the right business case (Altuna et al, 2015; Pereira et al, 2023; Sigurdsson, 2020). The focus of the literature on traditional organisations obscures the significant contribution hybrid organisations make.…”