2 Innovation as Key Driver
Before diving into the field of Social Innovation, it appears needed and helpful to
have a look at Innovation in general, as it is the key underlying conceptual
framework for Social Innovation. Sometimes, little attention is given to known
and proven concepts of Innovation when Social Innovation is discussed.
Based on the works of the Austrian economist Joseph A. Schumpeter,
Innovation can be understood as a new combination of production factors
(Schumpeter 1982). Thus, Innovation can be understood as the creation and
adoption of something new that creates value for the organization that adopts it
(Baldwin and Curley 2007). It can be a specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the
act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth (Drucker 1985).
Contrary to the mere invention, the concepts of Innovation include the process of
transforming an idea or an invention into a solution that creates value for
stakeholders like customers, shareholders, or societies. Thus, Innovation should
not be confused with invention.
Innovation theory has seen constant transformation over the last decades. Focusing
on the concept of newness (1950s), Innovation started to be integrated into
Management theory (1960s) and focused on the meaning for the demand side
(1970s). This was followed by research on Process Innovation (1980s) and Service
Innovations (1990s). Finally, over the last decade, we saw a discussion about Open
Innovation and, for some years now, a focus on Social Innovation