Social Innovation Final

social innovation

a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than existing solutions

the value created must accrue mainly to society as a whole rather than to private individuals

What is the primary requirement regarding the distribution of value?

Social entrepreneurship focuses primarily on the qualities and actions of individual actors or specific organizations. In contrast, social innovation emphasizes the solutions themselves and the mechanisms that produce social change across different actors and sectors.

What is the key analytical difference between social innovation and social entrepreneurship?

complexity, uncertainty, evaluative

Identify and briefly describe the three analytical facets of grand challenges as defined by Ferraro, Etzion, and Gehman (2015).

complexity

many interacting actors and nonlinear dynamics

uncertainty

inability to forecast future states or consequences

evaluative

stakeholders disagree on desirable outcomes and criteria of worth

Social innovations often produce effects that extend beyond their original goals, which can be either positive or negative

Why is the "law of unintended consequences" significant when evaluating social innovations?

Participatory Architecture

A structure and set of rules for engagement—such as a "hybrid forum"—that allows diverse, heterogeneous actors to interact over a long period. Its goal is to allow these actors to engage constructively without requiring immediate consensus on all issues.

multivocal inscriptions

discursive or material artifacts (like the concept of "sustainable development") that allow for different interpretations by various audiences. This interpretive flexibility enables stakeholders with different values to coordinate and cooperate without needing to reach an explicit agreement on every detail.

distributive experimentation

iterative, local actions that generate "small wins" and allow for evolutionary learning. By pursuing multiple paths simultaneously, it increases engagement and allows for the abandonment of unsuccessful efforts while building a repository of knowledge.

material sourcing (e.g., Fair Cobalt Alliance, fair trade gold), labor conditions (living wages for assembly workers), reduction of e-waste

What is Fairphone’s Systemic Impact?

exchange of ideas and values (e.g., SRI), shifts in roles and relationships (e.g., emissions trading), and the integration of private capital with public and philanthropic support (e.g., affordable housing finance)

What are the Cross-Sector Mechanisms?

novelty, improvement

What are the criterion for innovation?

novelty

the solution must be new to the user, context, or application

improvement

the solution to be more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than preexisting alternatives

grand challenges

Large-scale, unresolved social or environmental problems (like poverty or climate change) characterized by complexity, radical uncertainty, and evaluative disagreement.

robust action

Strategies that involve noncommittal actions to keep future lines of action open, allowing for flexibility and improvisation in uncertain environments.

hybrid forums

Arenas or platforms (part of participatory architecture) that facilitate the participation of heterogeneous actors with different criteria of worth.

small wins

Limited, successful steps in a larger process of change that build momentum, attract resources, and make the next solvable problem visible.

living wage/income

An income level that allows a worker to provide for a decent life in their specific area, including housing, food, and education for their children.

e-waste neutral

A commitment (such as Fairphone's) to recycle an equivalent weight of electronic waste for every new product sold.

social value

The creation of benefits or reduction of costs for society in ways that go beyond the private gains or general benefits of ordinary market activity.

Pragmatism

A philosophical tradition viewing humans as problem-solvers where thought serves as a guide to action; it emphasizes that means and ends are co-constituted through experience

Skeuomorphic Design

Designing a new technology to look like a familiar, older technology (e.g., Edison's lightbulbs resembling gas lamps) to gain public acceptance while allowing the system to evolve

Commensuration

The process of transforming different qualities into a common metric (e.g., money), which robust strategies often reject in favor of maintaining multiple "orders of worth."

society as a whole

In the context of social innovation, the value created must accrue primarily to _____ rather than private individuals.

must be more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just

What are the four criteria for improvement that a social innovation must meet relative to preexisting alternatives?

sustainability

The ability of a solution to continue working over a long period of time both environmentally and organizationally.

It transcends specific organizational forms and levels of analysis to discover the processes that produce impact.

Why is 'social innovation' considered a better lens for understanding lasting change than 'social enterprise'?

Exchange of ideas and values, shifts in roles and relationships, and the integration of private capital with public and philanthropic support.

According to the SSIR article, what are the three critical mechanisms driving modern social innovation through cross-sector fertilization?

The exchange of ideas and values (applying nonprofit ethics to financial decisions).

The phenomenon of 'Socially Responsible Investing' (SRI) is an example of which mechanism of social innovation?

Actors are limited to discerning local actions and cannot glimpse the entire system due to many interactions and nonlinear dynamics.

How does the 'Complex' facet of a grand challenge affect an actor's ability to see the system?

radical uncertainty

Actors cannot define possible future states of the world or assign probabilities to them

jurisdictional boundaries

The 'Evaluative' facet of grand challenges implies that the problems cut across _____ and involve multiple criteria of worth.

Social innovations often produce effects that extend beyond original goals, both positively and negatively.

Why is the 'Law of Unintended Consequences' particularly relevant when studying social innovations in complex systems?

robust action

Noncommittal actions that keep future lines of action open in strategic contexts where outcomes are uncertain.

Participatory architecture, multivocal inscriptions, and distributed experimentation

What are the three 'Robust Strategies' for navigating grand challenges proposed by Ferraro et al. (2015)?

participatory architecture

A structure and rules of engagement that allow diverse, heterogeneous actors to interact constructively over long periods.

To promote coordination among diverse audiences without requiring explicit consensus.

What is the primary purpose of 'multivocal inscriptions' in a robust action strategy?

It involves iterative actions that generate 'small wins' and promote evolutionary learning.

How does 'distributed experimentation' contribute to solving grand challenges?

A platform that facilitates participation from a variety of heterogeneous actors with different evaluative criteria.

What is a 'hybrid forum' in the context of participatory architecture?

product

The Fairphone initiative is primarily understood as an example of a social innovation as a _____ embedded in a broader system.

To lower $CO_{2}$ emissions related to the production of new phones by increasing the years a device is used.

What is the primary environmental goal of Fairphone’s repairability and 10-year support model?

Paying a living wage (topping up the pay of contract manufacturing workers).

What ethical manufacturing practice does Fairphone use to support the people assembling their devices?

Gold.

Which specific mineral did Fairphone first integrate using Fairtrade standards in their devices?

It demonstrates maximum repairability, allowing users to dismantle and fix the phone themselves easily.

What is the significance of the Fairphone 5 receiving a 10/10 score from iFixit?

Nonprofits adopt business tools like management techniques, performance metrics, and revenue generation strategies.

How does the 'exchange of ideas' mechanism manifest in modern nonprofits?

Government has moved from being purely a regulator/taxer toward being a partner and supporter.

In the mechanism 'Shifting Roles and Relationships,' how has the role of government changed regarding social problems?

Multivocal inscription (linking environmental and economic logics to allow coordination).

The use of 'Emissions Trading' (cap and trade) is an example of which robust strategy component?

Small wins favor subsequent wins by attracting allies, revealing new solvable problems, and building resources.

What is the role of 'small wins' in the process of distributed experimentation?

It must be new to the user, context, or application, even if not entirely original.

Why does a social innovation require 'novelty'?

Traditional market mechanisms produce and allocate it efficiently; social innovation is needed primarily where markets fail.

According to Phills et al. (2008), why is a purely commercial drug for a common disease usually NOT a social innovation?

The creation of benefits or reduction of costs for society in ways that go beyond market activity.

What defines 'Social Value' as distinct from private gain?

value chain

The 'Fair Trade' movement is considered a social innovation because it works at multiple links in the _____.

Distributed experimentation.

In the Ferraro et al. (2015) model, what is the 'practice' dimension of robust action?

Multivocal inscription.

In the Ferraro et al. (2015) model, what is the 'interpretive' dimension of robust action?

Participatory architecture.

In the Ferraro et al. (2015) model, what is the 'structural' dimension of robust action?

It allows different stakeholders to declare success based on their own criteria, reducing the risk of disengagement.

How does 'multivocality' help sustain engagement in a participatory architecture?

Process focuses on how innovations are produced (creativity, structure), while outcome focuses on the final product or method.

What is the analytical difference between 'innovation as a process' and 'innovation as an outcome'?

The public (government) sector.

The New Deal is an example of social innovation driven primarily by which sector?

Social innovation becomes important specifically when markets fail to meet needs for public goods.

What distinguishes 'Ordinary Innovation' from 'Social Innovation' regarding market failure?

It uses familiar templates to gain public acceptance while allowing the technology to evolve beyond that initial understanding.

How does 'skeuomorphic design' (as seen in Edison's lightbulb) function as a robust action?

A process where plausible explanations or interventions are inferred from specific observations and general principles.

What is 'abduction' in the context of a pragmatist approach to grand challenges?

Requiring consensus can lead to paralysis in evaluative contexts; multivocality allows action despite differing values.

Why is 'explicit consensus' often avoided in multivocal inscriptions for grand challenges?

E-waste neutral

Recycling an equivalent weight of electronics for every new device sold (a practice used by Fairphone).

To provide an elaborate, formalized structure that ensures continuous engagement between corporations, NGOs, and labor organizations.

What is the primary function of the 'Global Reporting Initiative' (GRI) as a participatory architecture?

The process, the product (innovation proper), the diffusion/adoption, and the ultimate value created.

What are the four distinct elements of innovation that Phills et al. (2008) argue should not be conflated?

It promoted deregulation and the devolution of public services to the private and nonprofit sectors.

How did the 1980s Reagan administration change the landscape of social innovation?

Integrating private capital with philanthropic support (blending Ford Foundation grants with Fannie Mae repurchases).

The 'Self-Help' mortgage program for low-income families is an example of which cross-sector mechanism?

They are subject to continuous investigation and change as actors hypothesize and observe outcomes.

In pragmatism, what is the relationship between 'means' and 'ends' during problem-solving?

The process where actors learn by scrutinizing and potentially changing their own habits and actions.

What is 'reflexivity' in the context of evolutionary learning?

It can highlight the incompatibility of competing metrics of worth, leading to conflict rather than coordination.

According to Ferraro et al. (2015), why is 'commensuration' (reducing everything to a single metric) often ineffective for grand challenges?

interpretively flexible (or multivocal)

The concept of 'Sustainable Development' is considered _____ because it allows different groups to interpret it in ways that serve their own interests.

Accountability between diverse peers rather than a top-down hierarchy.

What is 'lateral accountability' in a hybrid forum?

By creating nested and overlapping arrangements that allow for redundancy.

How does 'distributed experimentation' provide resilience against catastrophic failure?

A critical threshold where a minor change can shift a complex system into an alternative stable state.

In the study of 'Grand Challenges', what is a 'tipping point'?

To recognize solutions that improve the fairness or equity of social arrangements, regardless of efficiency.

Why did Phills et al. (2008) include 'just' in their criteria for social innovation?

The principle that small variations in initial conditions can result in vast differences in long-term outcomes.

What is the 'butterfly effect' in the context of climate change complexity?

Their representation combines objective facts with subjective, value-laden interpretations.

The Ferraro et al. (2015) article suggests that grand challenges are 'constructed'. What does this mean?

Distributed Experimentation

Iterative action that allows unsuccessful efforts to be abandoned while scaling small wins.

By incorporating non-functional features of the old technology to make the new technology appear familiar.

How does 'skeuomorphism' help bridge the gap between old and new technologies?

Coordination achieved through symbols or artifacts that appeal to diverse institutional perspectives simultaneously.

What is 'multivocal coordination'?

events or interconnected parts

In social innovation, the focus on 'mechanisms' refers to an ordered sequence of _____ that result in social change.

It provides financial services to the poor more effectively/justly than conventional systems, with value accruing to the public.

Why is 'Microfinance' considered a quintessential social innovation?

False (The magnitude of improvement can be incremental or radical).

True or False: According to Phills et al. (2008), an innovation must be 'radical' to be considered social.

Motivations cannot be directly observed and are often mixed.

What is the limitation of defining 'social' based solely on the innovator's motivation?

It arbitrarily excludes institutional forms (like for-profits) that can generate social value.

Why is 'sector' a limited proxy for determining if an innovation is social?

To create a coalition of players (like Tesla) to improve conditions at cobalt mine sites on the ground.

What is the primary goal of the 'Fair Cobalt Alliance' founded by Fairphone?

Idealism and a campaign around conflict minerals.

According to the Fairphone origin story, what drove the initial crowdfunding campaign?

An income that allows a person to afford food, housing, education for children, and savings for old age in their local area.

What is a 'living income' in the context of ethical sourcing?

They compare it to 'less than a cup of coffee' to show it is a small trade-off for significant social impact.

How does Fairphone justify the extra $\$2$ cost per device for living wages?

It offers longer-term commercial support, enabling up to 10 years of software and security updates.

Why does the Fairphone 5 use the Qualcomm QCM6490 chip instead of a standard phone chip?

Because the physical device is a vehicle for systemic changes in minerals, labor, and e-waste cycles.

In the MC questions, why is Fairphone best understood as a 'product embedded in a broader system'?

Who are you in all of this?

What is the 'meta-level' question in the Social Innovation course?

action

According to the course slides, 'Understanding precedes _____'.

social innovation (specifically, government creating jobs to solve social needs)

The 'Works Progress Administration' (WPA) during the New Deal is a historical example of _____.

It can lead to exploitative features (like subprime loan abuses) that undermine the original social goal.

What is the risk of 'over-commercialization' in social innovation, according to the Self-Help example?

D

According to Phills, Deiglmeier, and Miller (2008), what is the primary factor that distinguishes a 'social' innovation from an 'ordinary' innovation?

A. The innovation results in a measurable increase in a company's market share.

B. The innovation focuses solely on environmental sustainability rather than economic growth.

C. The innovation is developed exclusively within the nonprofit or government sectors.

D. The distribution of value tilts toward society as a whole rather than private individuals.

D

In the context of grand challenges, what does it mean for a problem to be 'evaluative'?

A. The problem's impact is limited to a specific local community or organization.

B. The problem is characterized solely by scientific data that is undisputed by all actors.

C. The problem can be solved through a single, universally accepted metric of success.

D. Different stakeholders apply multiple, often conflicting, criteria of worth to judge the problem.