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Looking for a Needle in a Haystack : How to Search for Bottom‐Up Social Innovations that Solve Complex Humanitarian Problems
Citation Link: https://doi.org/10.15480/882.13259
Publikationstyp
Journal Article
Date Issued
2019-09-19
Sprache
English
TORE-DOI
Volume
36
Issue
6
Start Page
671
End Page
694
Citation
The journal of product innovation management 36 (6): 671–694 (2019)
Publisher DOI
Publisher
Wiley
The worldwide increase in societal challenges is putting pressure on humanitarian organizations to develop sophisticated
approaches to leverage social innovations in the humanitarian sector. Since humanitarian problems are complex
problems, with the relevant knowledge being hidden, organizational search theory advocates the application
of bottom-up and theory-guided search processes to identify the social innovations that solve these. Unfortunately,
there has been no theoretical attention to understanding which approaches apply in this context. Further, established
theory-guided bottom-up search processes, such as the lead user method, are unsuitable to the humanitarian sector,
and we lack practice examples of adequate search processes. To start addressing this gap in theory and practice,
procedural action research was done with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to
develop a theory-guided bottom-up innovation search process for the real-life humanitarian problem of recurring
floods in Indonesia. It revealed that an innovation search process for this context must differ significantly concerning
its objectives and the steps to be taken from the lead user method, which was used as a starting point. Further, a
comparison of the technical quality and the social impacts of the identified social innovations with social innovations
identified through a non-theory-guided bottom-up search process (i.e., an innovation contest) suggests the superiority
of this theory-guided search process. With this conclusion and the insights derived throughout the development of
the search process, this study makes important contributions to theory development in the social and open innovation
literatures and delivers important recommendations for social innovation practice in the humanitarian sector.
approaches to leverage social innovations in the humanitarian sector. Since humanitarian problems are complex
problems, with the relevant knowledge being hidden, organizational search theory advocates the application
of bottom-up and theory-guided search processes to identify the social innovations that solve these. Unfortunately,
there has been no theoretical attention to understanding which approaches apply in this context. Further, established
theory-guided bottom-up search processes, such as the lead user method, are unsuitable to the humanitarian sector,
and we lack practice examples of adequate search processes. To start addressing this gap in theory and practice,
procedural action research was done with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to
develop a theory-guided bottom-up innovation search process for the real-life humanitarian problem of recurring
floods in Indonesia. It revealed that an innovation search process for this context must differ significantly concerning
its objectives and the steps to be taken from the lead user method, which was used as a starting point. Further, a
comparison of the technical quality and the social impacts of the identified social innovations with social innovations
identified through a non-theory-guided bottom-up search process (i.e., an innovation contest) suggests the superiority
of this theory-guided search process. With this conclusion and the insights derived throughout the development of
the search process, this study makes important contributions to theory development in the social and open innovation
literatures and delivers important recommendations for social innovation practice in the humanitarian sector.
DDC Class
300: Social Sciences
360: Social Problems, Social Services
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J of Product Innov Manag - 2019 - Kruse - Looking for a Needle in a Haystack How to Search for Bottom%E2%80%90Up Social.pdf
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