Forming a Typology for “Social Innovation”

Abstract

Social Innovation (SI) makes a clear departure from commercial innovations in their scope and persistence. Though social innovation research has received increased attention from researchers in the last decade, the concept is not free from conceptual ambiguities. Thus, the overarching objective of this study is to form a typology for SI. A qualitative research paradigm is adopted in this study based on the nature of the study phenomena. The study adopted the maximum variation sampling strategy to derive the study sample and interviews were conducted with 24 Sri Lankan social enterprises. The data were thematically analyzed, and theoretically positioned the typology based on two building blocks: a) efficiency and b) effectiveness of social enterprises. Subsequently, the paper explored three types of efficiency-based SIs, namely, a) market efficiency-based SIs, b) organizational efficiency-based SIs, and, c) mission efficiency-based SIs. The three types of effectiveness-based SIs are a) market effectiveness-based SIs, b) organizational effectiveness-based SIs, and, c) mission effectiveness-based SIs. By doing so, the study provides significant implications for SI theory, practice, and policymaking.