Start today and finish yesterday—Social innovation as a contribution to the community

Abstract

Start today and finish yesterday" wants to emphasize the importance and the potential urgency of social innovation and its positive impacts, since there is a clear impact of social innovation on society and the welfare of individuals, and for that reason, there is a need to gain in-depth knowledge on the topic. Social innovation can be seen as enhanced forms of action, new ways of doing things, or new social inventions, and by addressing different issues through a social innovation lens, we can expect to contribute to the well-being and prosperity of the community, potentially leading to a more sustainable and equitable future. The present research aims to understand how the context, market, potential human performance, and competitive advantage strategies, interfere with the process of social innovation and foster the creation of social value for the community. The case study was the method used, with semi-structured interviews that enabled the comparison of five social innovation projects. Our main conclusions show the importance of contextual factors and the strong presence of the market as important impacts on social projects. Social innovation often stems from the efforts of motivated individuals who strive to bring about change and are willing to take on risks. Evaluating and communicating the social value generated by social innovation projects is vital, but can be difficult to quantify. Finally, the credibility of these projects plays a crucial role in their recognition and competitiveness, and government support through legislation promoting value-sharing and sustainable development can help legitimize them.

Global entrepreneurship research and practice in the post‐pandemic world

“…The second article, "Start today and finish yesterday-Social innovation as a contribution to the community" by Martins et al (2023), illuminates the role of social innovation in the global community. Increasingly, innovation and entrepreneurship are being evaluated from a social standpoint, focusing on the creation of social value.…”

Social Innovation – a Powerful Statement from Companies for a Sustainable Environment

“…Social innovation is a phenomenon in today's economic world that constitutes changes in the society structures and increases and improves the collective power resources and economic performances [Potts & Hartley, 2015;Slee, 2019]. The outcomes of social innovation are various, ranging from new social practices, new structures of collaborative work, considering innovation process impact on business strategy and culture, having great contributions to inter-and intra-organizational learning [Mumford, 2002;Moulaert et al, 2005;Martins et al, 2023].…”

Digital Health Challenges in Social Entrepreneurship:

“…Providing dignified care to needy populations around the world is a commitment that must be assumed by all of society, regardless of where and in what conditions they are (Baehr, 2016;Freeman, 2022;Fukuyama, 2018;Tomuschat, 2014). It is crucial that modern businessmen and entrepreneurs include social responsibility in their businesses (Kickul & Lyons, 2020;Satalkina & Steiner, 2020) because they are also influenced by a representative part of the population in need of everything or almost everything (Martins et al, 2023).…”