Abstract
Purpose – The importance of innovations in business management is a widely accepted hypothesis.
Lately the research on innovation has widened to include consideration of the impact of social
networks on the innovation. This paper aims to contribute to research on this approach by suggesting
a framework for studying the social aspects of economic innovations.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses economic innovation as a product of
organizational competencies, highlighting the importance of social network.
Findings – This paper has three goals: we clarify the concept of economic innovation, we present the
essential questions for studying the economic innovation process, and we present a proposal for an
empirical approach and address problems in collecting data about economic innovations.
Originality/value – The paper opens a new, socio-psychological approach to studying the
innovation processes. It proposes a holistic approach to the phenomenon by combining these with the
material aspects of an organization. The paper provides a scientific framework for a new research
program.