Universities’ contributions to social innovation: reflections in theory & practice

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to resolve a tension in understanding how universities contribute to knowledge-based urban development (KBUD). Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a conceptual paper, which analyses the tension as emerging between the university and the wider societal activity. The paper creates a framework for combining insights from both those theoretical frameworks to better understand why universities might choose to contribute to KBUD. Findings – The paper argues that it is important to understand the benefits that the universities get from participating in the KBUD. This can be through the unique tacit knowledge that emerges in the social innovation process, but their might also be value for the university in terms of two other variables, material resources and symbolic legitimacy. Research limitations/implications – The paper is a literature review and therefore is limited to raising a series of future questions and directions for research in the field, as well as to providing a lens and context for existing work. Practical implications – There are clear implications for those seeking to improve universities contributions to KBUD. It is not merely enough for strategic leaders to come together and agree that promoting the university will promote KBUD: it is necessary to modify a range of processes within the university to ensure that a wide range of actors are able to benefit from participating in KBUD activities, and that it facilitates their own teaching and research activities. Social implications – For universities to make a substantive contribution to promoting KBUD, policy-makers must ensure that they do not create disincentives through universities’ teaching and research activities. Originality/value – This is the first time that a paper has sought to bridge between theories of urban development and social innovation, and universities’ internal institutional and organisational dynamics.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Innovation: A Conceptual Understanding

“…New superior knowledge resource is created through the processes of strategic knowledge management that involves the process of knowledge creation, knowledge transfer and knowledge application [48,49]. These processes involved the interplay of tacit and explicit knowledge [43,50]. Figure 2 illustrates the conceptual view of corporate social innovation towards social, economic and technological benefits.…”

Design for social innovation between university and the broader society: a mutual learning process

“…Moreover, social innovations are also related to specific areas and disciplines, such as sustainable production and consumption (Manzini, 2002;Jaeger-Erben et al, 2015); education (Benneworth and Cunha, 2015); psychology (Bulut et al, 2013) and design (Morelli, 2007). Thus, there are many definitions of social innovation, each best suited to serve the purposes of these various topical and research concerns.…”

“…The term 'social innovation' is used here with different meanings in five main topics: processes of social change and societal transformation (Young, 2011;Handerson, 2013;Cajaíba-Santana, 2014); business strategies and organizational management (Drucker, 1987;Altuna et al, 2015;Herrera, 2015); social entrepreneurship (Cunha et al, 2015); new products and services (Gershuny, 1982;Mulgan et al, 2007;Phills et al, 2008); and governance and capacity building (Garcia et al, 2016). Moreover, social innovations are also related to specific areas and disciplines, such as sustainable production and consumption (Manzini, 2002;Jaeger-Erben et al, 2015); education (Benneworth and Cunha, 2015); psychology (Bulut et al, 2013) and design (Morelli, 2007).…”

Dimensions of social innovation and the roles of organizational actor: the proposition of a framework

“…Therefore, this inte grated approach demands an interdisciplinary team, introduction of new assign ments, a new division of labor based on aptitude and interests, new coordination and learning methods to improve practices (Cloutier, 2003;Tardif & Harrisson, 2005;Benneworth & Cunha, 2015).…”