Social innovation is a subtype of
innovation that leads to outcomes that can be measured in terms of improvement
of earlier practices. It is not specific to any sector of the economy, but can
be specific to a context. Social innovation enhances social relationships with
a focus on governance, alters social resilience, and raises the capacity and
accessibility of the beneficiary to resources. Young Foundation, and the Danish
Technology Institute, among other TEPSIE partners, view social innovation as a
new solution in the form of products, services, processes, models, and markets
that meet social needs. The need is met more efficiently than when applying the
existing solutions. This leads to improved capabilities so that resources and
assets are used better.
Overview
It has been realized worldwide that old ways have become ineffective. The new solution has features that enable the following:
- fair trade,
- mobile money transfer,
- zero-carbon housing, and
- distance learning, which have helped solve the world’s most disturbing challenges
Social innovation has widened thoughts about enterprise and business engagements, encouraging the interconnection of various factors and stakeholders. In continents like Africa, social and economic growth has occurred consecutively for more than ten years. From 2005 to 2008, Africa’s GDP was observed to rise at an annual rate of 5.5%. Africa is now second after Asia in terms of fast growth, and such acceleration is attributed to crucial improvements in macroeconomic policies, advancing business contexts, and growth in political policy.
While reporting for the OECD, Geromettaet al. state three essential benefits of social innovation:
- First, it focuses on the satisfaction of human wants that existing solutions need to include
- Secondly, it brings beneficial societal changes that target governance to satisfy the ignored human wants to raise participation levels, especially for the deprived social groups
- Thirdly, it expands sociopolitical strength and access to resources required to sustain human wants and participation. Social innovation is the production of new ideas and structures that brings contingent construction changes within the society, providing importance to knowledge and cultural factors. It results in the public good, justice, and equity.
Social Innovation in the Service Economy
The industrial policies of the
1950s in the manufacturing sector have been improved by the changes that followed
in the 1960s and beyond. The Neo-industrial theory of Galbraith, for example,
is from the 1960s. Galbraith emphasized restructuring the industrial
structure, followed by changes in the relationship between the industrial
sector and public impacts.
Later, Bell adopted the
post-industrial approach that stressed the role of knowledge in determining new
social relations in production. Galbraith’s and Bell’s theories
both originated in the US. Galbraith was more concerned with industrial economics,
while Bell emphasized sociology. Today, Bell’s concepts are observed in the industrial
expansion of knowledge or information societies. These theories share the idea
of transitioning from industrialized countries to complex service-based and
expanding knowledge-based economies.
Hauknes explains that economic
development observed in the past decades has been influenced by advancement in
service sectors that resulted in a “service society” called an information
society. However, the activities included in the service form are not immediate,
and service sectors still lack visible characteristics that are coherent with
the concept of industrialization.
The information or knowledge
societies are also unclear as their content is not yet revealed except for the
expression of simple surface traits (Hauknes, 1998). Therefore, the question is
whether the present structural changes in
the manufacturing industry should be considered a service society. Porter’s
diamond and PESTLE models will be applied to present an in-depth analysis of
the management issues, considerations, and opportunities surrounding social
innovation.
Social Innovation: A strategic issue in the manufacturing industry
The commonwealth recognizes that
“manufacturing controls technology, production, and innovation” across all
sectors. The manufacturing sector has underperformed due to several challenges,
the greatest being the inability to find workers trained in trade skills. In
America, for example, The National
Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
Manufacturing Institute 2011 reported that 82% of manufacturing companies
suffer from a severe shortage of skilled workers.
This shortage stems from the fact
that “America does not emphasize the study of subjects like math, physics,
engineering and technical knowledge,” which has brought economic development in
countries like India and China that focus on them. The
Program for International Student Assessment 2009 reported that America
was ranked average in reading and sciences, but was below average in math. The
shortage of skilled workers for the American manufacturing industry, therefore,
results from the nature of the education curriculum.
To correct this situation, NAM
proposes A Manufacturing Renaissance with
Four Goals for Economic Growth. The strategy aims at uniting “people,
schools, businesses, and government” to ensure the production of skilled
graduates. It states that manufacturers will only emerge as the top in
designing, building, and exporting high-quality commodities that will encourage
economic growth.
The National Council for Advanced Manufacturing proposes three steps in reviving the American Manufacturing sector. These include the “establishment of better education and trained workers, promotion of products/processes and development, and improvement of global competition.” The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) suggests that the manufacturing sector and policymakers should focus on local and state job creation. Relevant teaching styles and curricula should be adopted in schools. Schools also need to provide vocational programs through connections between trade schools and manufacturers.
Appendix
STUDENT
HANDOUT SUBJECT WITHIN IBIS
WORLD: GLOBAL INDUSTRY REPORTS |
||||||||
|
Focus |
Teaching
tools/approaches |
Key Concepts |
Key Theorists |
||||
Business and organisational strategy |
Analysis of
strategy |
Framework |
Stakeholder
management |
Gerometta Nichols &
Murdock |
||||
Business Ethics and sustainability |
Ethics relates to managerial and organizational behaviour
while focus remains on sustainability |
Case studies
of businesses within the society |
Ethics in
business and sustainability |
Gerometta Mulgan |
||||
Understanding organisational or theory
and practice |
Cultural
application from theory to practice |
Case studies
or debates |
Organizational
power, comparative approaches |
Heiskala
& Hamalainen |
||||
Global operations and supply chain
|
Problem-based
procedures to organizational resources in supply chains and value flow |
Analytical methods and tools |
Neo-industrial
theory. Post-industrial
theory |
Galbraith Bell |
||||
Managing the Self
at Work |
Proficiency in the workplace through learning, self-growth,
and development |
Self-assessment in a reflective way, critical review,
and case study |
Positive mindset and organizational behavior |
Nicholls & Murdock |
||||
Managing People and Organizations |
Application of organizational theory and practice for
managing people |
Applying critical thinking skills to management theory
and practice |
Power, culture, ethics, and social accountability |
Heiskala & Hamalainen |
||||
ELECTIVES |
||||||||
Human Resource Management |
Foundational and functional concepts that relate to
employee management in an extensive organizational environment |
Theoretical concepts; evidence-based decision making |
Critical comparison of traditional HRM and organization
theory |
Gerometta |
||||
Management Consulting |
Problem-solving for a consumer or project management |
Simulating consulting projects, or real customer consulting
projects |
Data analysis, problem-solving, project management,
|
Theories addressing professional service firms |
||||
Innovation & Entrepreneurship |
Application of concepts and theories of innovation and entrepreneurship
for the development, organization, and management of new ventures |
Case studies; Reflective learning and collaborative
teamwork |
Types of innovation and entrepreneurship: User and Open innovations and crowdsourcing; Social innovation |
Mulgan Nicholls
& Murdock |
||||
International Management Field Study |
Experiencing management and organizational practices
in a global setting |
Experiential field study and critical reflection on experiences |
Globalization, economic development phases; cultural
dimensions and biases; analysis of the business context |
PESTLE |
||||
Strategy Theory and Practice |
Critical analysis Strategy theory Foundations and practice |
Discussion of ideas and practical application of strategy
theory through examples and case studies |
Strategic decision-making; competitive forces and positioning;
resources and capabilities; strategy processes and practice |
Porter |
||||
Transnational Management |
Analysis of the challenges associated with the
management of organizations operating across national borders |
discussion of ideas and practical application of management |
Development of transnational strategies and
establishing a transnational organization, fostering innovation and learning,
implementing a strategy |
Porter |
||||