INSCOPE
Social Innovation for Competitiveness, Organizational Performance, and Human Excellence
Themes 1
Flexible Organizational Forms
2
Dynamic Management Capabilities
3
Development of Human Capital
4
Learning Alliances and Open Innovation
5
Management of Institutional Stakeholders
6
Social Innovation
7
Productivity Measurement and Impact Assessment
Top Institute INSCOPE: Research Consortium of Erasmus University Rotterdam, TNO, University of Amsterdam and Maastricht University
INTRODUCTION
Social Innovation for Competitiveness, Organizational Performance, and Human Excellence
Innovation is considered to be the primary driving
innovations. Like technological changes require
force of progress and prosperity. Consequently,
systematic R&D, the development and diffusion
much effort is put in developing new technical
of social innovations require systematic research
knowledge, new process technologies and new
on the crucial determinants of success.
products. However, evidence from both SMEs and large firms shows that successful innovation is not
To realize this the importance of establishing
just the result of technological inventions, but is
a dedicated top research institute to study social
also heavily dependent on what has been called
innovation and its effects on competitiveness,
“social innovation”.
organizational performance, and human excellence has been widely recognized. Leading
Social innovation consists of changing a firm’s
governmental and institutional actors in the field
organisational form, its management roles and
like Innovation Platform I and II, SER, NWO,
the organization of work in a way that is new
the Ministry of Education (OCW), the Ministry
to the firm and/or the industry, and results in
of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Social
leveraging the firm’s technological knowledge
Affairs and Employment all have emphasized
base and its performance in terms of innovation,
the necessity to rigorously investigate Social
productivity and competitiveness.
Innovation in this way.
Recent research based on the Erasmus Innovation
I N S C O P E ’s aim is to increase the fundamental
and Competition Monitor shows that social
understanding of social innovation and its
innovation explains about 50-75% of the variance
influence on technical innovation, productivity
in innovation performance of Dutch firms.
and competitiveness of firms and within
Consequently, more active stimulation of social
networks of firms.
innovation and its leverage of technological innovation will be crucial to improve the inter-
As a joint initiative of Erasmus University
national competitiveness of the Dutch economy.
Rotterdam, Maastricht University, TNO and
However, only solid research can increase our
University of Amsterdam, INSCOPE brings together
understanding of what matters in various social
an unprecedented combination of leading academic and applied researchers in all fields of social innovation. I N S C O P E ’s research will be highly innovative. Among others, field experiments will increase “evidence based” understanding of the impact of social innovation. The valorization of this research will be strengthed by I N S C O P E ’s affiliation with the Dutch Center for Social Innovation (NCSI) and relation with industrial firms and service organizations (both large firms and SMEs).
5
Institutional Stakeholders (Role Government, Social Partners) 1
This close link to unions, employers’ federations and various other relevant organisations
Knowledge level depth / breadth
facilitates the diffusion and implementation
4
Social Innovation
The conceptual framework of I N S C O P E ’s research programme (Source: Erasmus Concurrentie en Innovatie Monitor 2005)
distinguish themselves by their ability to exploit (1) flexible organizational forms; (2) dynamic rather than routine management practices, with a large absorption capacity and readiness to learn;
relations which enable firms to work “smarter”
(3) a willingness to invest in employees and
and increase human excellence and the firm’s
fully deploy internal as well as external labour
performance. Theme 4 studies how learning
flexibility. Furthermore, two enabling factors
alliances, sophisticated market sensing, interactive
seem to be of significant relevance to explain
client-based innovations, and open innovation
the innovativeness of firms: (4) their openness
networks enable the integration of internal and
to interactions with external partners and various
external knowledge and new interorganizational
knowledge institutions; and (5) their ability to
relationships. Theme 5 concentrates on the role of
mobilize institutional stakeholders, from social
educational, regulatory, and financial institutions
partners and educational institutions to financial
and institutional stakeholders as enablers of
investors. The overall performance of the firm
innovation and “win-win” solutions. These five
is heavily influenced by the combined effects
themes are integrated in Theme 6, through
from these five aspects of social innovation (6).
systematic measurement and evaluation of their
Investments in social innovation will result
effects on:
in increased productivity of firms and their
1. the firm’s performance and productivity
competitive position (7).
(with the Social Innovation Monitor) 2. the quality of labour (with the HR benchmark).
I N S C O P E ’s research is clustered in six corresponding themes: Theme 1 investigates
In addition, international innovation rankings
how various flexible organizational forms and
(on the basis of World Economic Forum data)
restructuring enable social innovation. Theme 2
and international productivity benchmarks
focuses on how innovations in management roles
are produced. The conceptual framework of
and leadership styles, managing diversity in teams
I N S C O P E ’s research programme illustrates
and entrepreneurship give rise to dynamic manage-
the relationship between the main themes.
rial capabilities that trigger social innovation. Theme 3 concentrates on the development and maintenance of employee skills and competences, effective internal communication, and HRM/labour
Level of Competition
Enablers (Network Relations, Knowledge Alliances)
organizations in the Netherlands and abroad. Research to date shows that innovative firms
7
6 2 Management (Dynamic Capabilities) 3 Labour (Knowledge Worker)
of the knowledge created by I N S C O P E , and the application of best and next practices in
Organization (Flexible Forms) Competitive position & Productivity
Theme 1 & 2 Flexible Organizational Forms & Dynamic Management Capabilities Increased levels of change in the environment of companies requires them to advance their ability for more rapid co-evolution and accelerate internal change. Ideally the rate of internal change exceeds what is required to sustain the position in the market place and advance to “blue ocean” opportunities for value creation, ahead of the competition.
“Flexible Organizational Forms” will investigate how various Theme 1
flexible organizational forms and restructuring enable social innovation. In particular theme 1 will study how organisations increase the velocity of internal change, optimise self-organisation and synchronize advanced levels of efficiency and productivity (exploitation) with investment in creation of new opportunities (exploration).
Many companies tend to concentrate on only one of the two, but long term survival of firms requires a sophisticated combination of exploitation and exploration, also known as ambidexterity. The traditional hierarchical structures of “command and control” are not sustainable in the face of this requirement and increasing competitive environments. Consequently, alternatives based on self organisation, delegation and maximum development of capabilities at all levels need to be further explored.
Coordinator: Dr. Justin Jansen
Theme 3 Development of Human Capital Not unlike traditional management approaches, the traditional perspective on labour and workers is not appropriate for the challenges in the 21st century. Education has become much more important and a skilled workforce can add much value to the design of processes and products, by Flexibility and agility require dynamic management capabilities. The traditional top-down routines designed to manage
contributing their knowledge expertise in a participative way.
“business as usual” do not suffice to remain
Improving education and
competitive in a turbulent environment.
management of the quality of a
Theme 2 “Dynamic
firm’s labour force increasingly
Management
Capabilities” investigates the
constitutes a source of competitive
constituent parts of dynamic management,
advantage and differentiation.
especially the relative importance of: • profound domain expertise; It is far from trivial, however, how an optimal • broad management experience performance and utilization of their human regarding various managerial roles resources can be realized. A process of and leadership styles; systematic learning what works is required. • significant knowledge absorption capacity and the ability to identify relevant clues in an early stage;
Theme 3 “Development
of Human
Capital” focuses on key questions relating to the growth of human and social capital
• an entrepreneurial attitude; within education and the firm, and the • the ability for higher order learning maintenance and development of the and tries to clarify their effect on social knowledge and skills of individual employees. innovation This includes research on the development of human capital in schools and the connection Coordinator: Prof. dr. Frans A.J. van den Bosch between initial education and the skill demands in the labour market and the best ways to address any skill gaps through formal and informal modes of lifelong learning.
Coordinator: Prof. dr. Andries de Grip
Theme 4 Learning Alliances and Open Innovation Especially where it concerns
Theme 5
innovation and recognizing and
Management of Institutional
exploiting substantial
Stakeholders
opportunities in a global market,
Whereas the Anglo-American
firms can no longer afford
management tradition tends to
a “go it alone” strategy. Instead,
emphasize that especially
the ability to collaborate in
the interests of the shareholders
alliances and in dynamically
are taken into consideration, the
changing virtual organizations
European continental tradition
with others is increasingly critical
typically takes a broader
to the firm’s performance.
perspective and also takes into
Advances in ICT have facilitated the easy exchange of rich information across organizations and enabled the “death of
account the interests and possible contribution of other powerful groups or institutions.
distance”, but of course the success of collaboration requires the strategic ability to
Maintaining a constructive dialogue with local
select the right partners and create conditions
authorities and other governmental institutions
that are beneficial to all. Theme 4
is an obvious example of a vital requirement to
“Learning Alliances and Open Innovation” investigates
protect and develop the opportunities of the
how collaboration with business partners
education in (local) universities and other
and consumers enables the integration of
schools is another which recently became
internal and external knowledge and contribute
more recognized as a possible explanation
to social innovation. It studies learning alliances
for differences in innovation performance.
and other examples of open innovation, via
Theme 5 “Management
firm. Intensive involvement in research and
corporate campuses or otherwise. It also
of Institutional Stakeholders” studies
investigates the role that the active involvement
these and other elements of stakeholder
of customers can play in triggering change and
management and tries to find general principles
exploring new directions, based on the idea of
and define best practices in this respect.
“democratizing innovation”. Coordinator: Prof. dr. Jelle Visser Coordinator: Prof. dr. Geert Duysters
Theme 6 “Social
Innovation”
concentrates on four aspects: • Support of companies in the process of
Theme 6 Social Innovation
Open innovation and to practice producer, user and community involvement. • Social-cultural aspects of adoption of
Effectively organizing for social
innovation and methods to forecast and
innovation needs the development of
improve adoption.
proven concepts, systematic study in
• Integration of knowledge of human
best practices, research based
aspects (brain-machine interaction,
methods and tools for implementing
cognitive- emotional functioning and
the combined knowledge on technical and social innovation.
learning) in the development of new products, services and processes. • Methods to release the creative and innovative powers of staff.
Coordinator: Dr. Fietje Vaas
Theme 7 Productivity Measurement and Impact Assessment This theme integrates the six themes through systematic measurement and evaluation of their effects on organizational performance and productivity (Social Innovation Monitor), as well as quality of labour (HR benchmark). In addition, international innovation rankings (on the basis of World Economic Forum data) and international productivity benchmarks will be provided.
Coordinator: Prof. dr. Henk Volberda, chair and scientific director of INSCOPE
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I N S C O P E has a supervisory board consisting of: Prof. dr. E. Fischer, Chair Dutch Center for Social Innovation (NCSI) Mr. J. Oosterwijk, Chairman Executive Board Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) Dr. Ir. J. Ritzen, President Maastricht University (UM) Representatives Employers and Employees Associations
I N S C O P E is lead by a management team: Prof. dr. Henk Volberda (EUR), Chair and Scientific director of INSCOPE Dr. Justin Jansen (EUR), Managing Director of INSCOPE Prof. dr. Andries de Grip (UM) Prof. dr. Jelle Visser (UvA) Dr. Fietje Vaas (TNO)
The central I N S C O P E office is based at Erasmus University Rotterdam
INSCOPE Burgemeester Oudlaan 50 Room T07-25 3062 PA Rotterdam P.O. Box 1738 3000 DR NL-Rotterdam Mrs. Patricia de Wilde-Mes Tel. + 31 10 408 2984 / 2210 Fax. + 31 10 408 9013 E-mail inscope@rsm.nl Internet www.inscope.nl
Top Institute INSCOPE: Research Consortium of Erasmus University Rotterdam, TNO, University of Amsterdam and Maastricht University