INTEGRATING OPEN INNOVATION IN THE SOCIAL INNOVATION PROCESS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Innovation has become a more complex and dynamic phenomenon with the shift from the industry-based innovation paradigm, where the stress was put on product and process innovation for business, to a knowledge-based paradigm, where it can take many different shapes. Moreover, knowledge and expertise are no longer considered as being the monopoly of the R&D department of the firm. This brought some changes in innovation practices, that became more open and led firms to increasingly interact with their environment. In another concern, technological innovation, that is meant to bring value to the firm, has proved its limits for solving social problems like global warming, that are becoming more pressing. Of course, new technology has the capacity of improving people’s living standards, but is not sufficient. This is where some other kind of innovation, driven by the maximisation of its positive impact intervenes: social innovation. These two paradigms for innovation, more suitable than older ones to today’s challenges, have some convergence points regarding their integration within an outside environment: society and other innovation actors. However, little has been written concerning the links and interactions between these two innovation models. This research studies the integration of these two models through an exploratory study, during which 11 social organisation leaders were submitted to in-depth interviews. Social initiatives seem to be more likely to attract outside parties to cooperate with them, as they appear as selfless, unlike private initiatives. They seem to integrate these people and look for extra help, especially when scaling up. Even if some organisations see the institutionalisation of open innovation as a priority, others see it as secondary, or simply do not know how to do it. This results in a rather informal collaboration, that is not focused on research and development, a practice that nearly none of the firms in the sample had.