The roles of social enterprises in a Swedish labour market integration programme – opportunities and challenges for social innovation

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) in the Swedish establishment programme for newly arrived refugees, and how its set-up affects WISEs preconditions for social innovation. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds on a longitudinal and qualitative action research study of a WISE and its work in organising a course for labour market integration, in the context of the Swedish establishment programme. The authors were actively involved in the study as embedded researchers. Findings The exploration identifies a number of roles that WISEs take on in the establishment programme. It illustrates how WISEs hybrid character places participants at the centre of the innovation process, where their opinions and knowledge are considered crucial, and how this positively affects their ability to gain skills and confidence. However, the study also makes visible how issues of coordination between stakeholders in the programme lead to mismatches between course content and participant profiles, colliding activities and sporadic participation. In short, the bureaucracy embedded in labour market integration systems erodes the preconditions of WISEs to foster social innovation. Originality/value The embeddedness of the authors provides in-depth knowledge regarding how complex state systems affect WISEs in practice. Importantly, it also gives insights into the experiences of refugees, a group that is often mentioned in the literature on WISEs, although mainly in passing.

Social innovation and food provisioning initiatives to reduce food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…Beyond public support, social innovation initiatives can be also stimulated by other actors, particularly NGOs and social enterprises. Describing a potential role for a social enterprise involved in refugees' integration in Sweden, Kraff and Jernsand (2021) found a space for social innovation, as this organisation places people at the centre of the innovation process, with participants' opinions and knowledge considered as crucial. They also describe this approach in contrast with excessive bureaucracy and reveal that overly rigid public systems may hinder social innovation from flourishing.…”

Conceptualising a chameleon: social enterprise as a public provider

“…the very characteristics that make social enterprise attractive. The fundamental requisite for government-level institutional support and genuine, long-term collaboration is critical for the creation and sustenance of social innovation, here, through social enterprise (Kraff and Jernsand, 2021;Vanderhoven et al, 2020). Furthermore, it is crucial for bringing about the benefits associated with New Public Governance (Barraket et al, 2016;Vanderhoven et al, 2020).…”

Strengthening social innovation in higher education institutes – an organizational change process involving staff and students

“…These obstacles are known to some extent from previous social innovation projects or social enterprises outside the higher education sector. Here, for example, the lack of funding poses a problem as well as administrative and bureaucratic barriers (Kraff and Jernsand, 2020;Oganisjana et al, 2017). These results therefore primarily show that transfer, third mission activities and social innovation projects often fail due to structural and cultural obstacles.…”

“…This is where HEIs can benefit from the experience of other organisations. For example, collaboration between actors (Kraff and Jernsand, 2020) and leveraging peer support (Lettice and Parekh, 2010) seem to be important enablers in the field of social innovation. Coordination (Kraff and Jernsand, 2020) and leadership (Aksoy et al, 2019) are also important factors in making the implementation of social innovation successful.…”

“…For example, collaboration between actors (Kraff and Jernsand, 2020) and leveraging peer support (Lettice and Parekh, 2010) seem to be important enablers in the field of social innovation. Coordination (Kraff and Jernsand, 2020) and leadership (Aksoy et al, 2019) are also important factors in making the implementation of social innovation successful. Against the background of our results, it is particularly interesting to see how leaders are able to keep up the initial enthusiasm.…”