To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first empirical studies to examine how different usage drivers specified by theoretical work influence consumption decisions using revealedpreferences data on product usage.
The subsequent literature that developed this theoretical work primarily used qualitative approaches to examine the different needs that are satisfied by engaging in a given activity or consumption (e g.,
which allows them to become experts earlier than most. Segments 2 and 4 have lower propensity to play
along with the number of employees. SME activity is confined not to any country to production in the strict sense;
and work place distribution. The World Competitiveness Yearbook the most famous Annual Report on the competitiveness of nations which examines 60 countries and competitive economic regions based on four competitive factors:
effectiveness and coordination mechanisms of the firm to these in addition to concerns arising from the changes occurring in companies on human resources,
the so-called gazelles that believed to be responsible for the bulk of new job creation, technology progress, and economic growth.
Long term economic difficulties are focused attention on the importance of innovation and technological progress for business competitiveness, sustainable growth and job creation.
Many work places will come by innovation, and new discoveries will give birth to some new entrepreneurial adventures.
but also bring The Impact of Innovation in Romanian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises on Economic growth Development 420 Special Issue December 2013 more economic growth, employment,
in order to impact society has significant implications for family owners and managers, the SME employees, and the economies in which the family SME operates.
which in turn can yield employment gains and contribute to the general economic health of a state, region,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is cited properly. Price et al. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2013,2: 14 http://www. innovation-entrepreneurship. com/content/2/1/14 of SMES in family firms.
such as lowering overall costs and developing and increasing employees (Skyrme and Arnindon 1997). Knowledge has been described as contextspecific,
Kirzner (1979) distinguished between entrepreneurial knowledge and the knowledge expert, suggesting that it is the entrepreneur of the firm that hires the latter.
The knowledge expert does not fully recognize the value of their knowledge or how to turn that knowledge into profit
or else the expert would be acting as an entrepreneur. In turn, the entrepreneur may not have the depth of knowledge that the specialist possesses (for example
and acquire more knowledge experts, they have the potential to Price et al. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2013,2: 14 Page 4 of 20 http://www. innovation-entrepreneurship. com/content/2/1/14 lose their‘familiness'as the advantages of knowledge
These results are shown in Table 1. Firm size The definition for an SME was discussed based on definitions regarding employment;
for Australia, this is less than 100 employees. As the USA defines an SME as a firm that has less than 500 employees,
this definition was used as a guiding principle and all respondents could be included in the sample.
The results are shown to indicate the total number of employees in 2007, the last full year prior to the survey being administered.
%of respondents with 0 employees and most firms in the family sample had between 1 and 10 employees (68.3%)as compared to the 10 to 20 category (11.6%).
%)Only 2%of firms had over 50 employees. For non-family, 40.8%of firms had employees in the 1 to 10 category and 34.3%in the 10 to 20 group.
These results are shown in Table 2. Firm age The findings regarding firm age between the two samples largely mirrored each other.
Family firms aged between 1 and 3 years totaled 19.8%and 17.5%for non-family.
4 2. 9 Total 293 100.00 137 100.00 Table 2 Firm characteristics-size (number of employees) Characteristic Range Family businesses Non-family businesses%%(n=293
)( n=137) Number of employees 0 46 4 From 1 to 10 200 56 From 10 to 20 34 47 From 21 to 50 7 20 More than 50
age (AGE) in years and size (SIZE) as number of employees. The results are shown in Tables 4 and 5. Hierarchical regression results-family firms Model 1 in the family sample was regressed on one control variable, AGE, against PERF.
The final model also leaves the same control variable (AGE) remaining significant in the model, with a negative beta of-0. 12,
which can often be achieved through employees, by encouraging them to sustain their application, distribution, and creation of knowledge (Hauschild et al. 2001).
As family firms are managed often by key family member executives, often only a few are involved in the decisionmaking process.
Managers are challenged to provide an organizational culture that encourages employees to actively participate in learning and effective knowledge sharing.
which are a dominant driver of wealth creation and employment (Lee and Peterson 2000). Similarly, many Western nations such as some European countries, Japan, Australia,
Generally,‘small'in the USA is considered to be fewer than 100 employees, and medium-sized is under 500 employees (Headd and Saade 2008).
Sample The population of interest in this study was family and non-family SMES, with 430 useable surveys returned.
ROI, number of employees, and revenues. Each measure has strengths and weaknesses (Brush and Wanderwerf 1992;
Firm size was measured using the number of employees and firm age using years in business.
Academy of Management Executive, 15 (1), 64 80. Brush, CG, & Wanderwerf, PA. 1992). ) A comparison of methods and sources for obtaining estimates of new venture performance.
and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New york: Basic books. Gedajlovic, E,
the roles of economic-and relationship-based employee governance mechanisms. Strategic Management Journal, 30,1265 1285.
and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European commission. 2 1. Introduction The promotion of research
These institutional conditions may derail policy interventions such as the promotion of technological progress through expenditures in Research and development (R&d) activities, generally the traditional recipe for innovation.
aims to shed more light on these questions by investigating the role of government institutions for the promotion of innovation and smart specialisation in European regions.
The‘social filter'index is calculated as the first principal component of (1) the employed population with tertiary education in region i,(2) long-term unemployment as a percentage of total unemployment,
(3) the percentage of the regional labour force employed in the primary sector,(4) manufacturing employment in the high-tech sector().
The endowment of human capital and the share of high-tech employment contribute to increase the potential of the local industry to generate knowledge
whereas the proportion of agricultural employment and the rate of long-term unemployment are major barriers for technological progress in a region.
The Quality of Government Index is subdivided then into its four components to identify the key institutional factors affecting the successful promotion of innovation at the regional level in Europe.
Local and regional authorities become key players in the promotion of the interactive collaboration between all relevant regional stakeholders for the collective identification of key innovation assets and long-term strategic priorities.
therefore, seem to be a significant precondition for the development of the innovative potential of regions and for making innovation strategies such as RIS3 work, especially in the periphery of Europe.
0406) Long-term unemployment-0. 0774**-0. 0658*(0. 0369)( 0. 0393) Agricultural Employment-0. 0395-0. 0796**(0. 0331)( 0
. 0338) Employment in high tech industry 0. 129***0. 130***0. 0238)( 0. 0239) Time effects Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Observations 3, 047 3, 051 3
Employed people with tertiary education, Unemployment rate, Employment in high tech industry, Agricultural Employment. 14 Table 2 Robust fixed Effects estimation-Innovation and Qog components, 1995
In both Hungary and Romania, SMES indeed account for over 90%of all companies in business and around 70%of the overall employment in these countries;
and the overall management of the OI network largely determines the successful employment of OI in SMES. 5 In the existing OI literature there is a relatively thin knowledge base concerning the specific circumstances under
the primary data for our explorative research was acquired through collaboration with well-established institutions as well as individual experts and consultants in two Eastern European countries:
Year of establishment (Figure 1), numbers of employees (Figure 2), and industry breakdown (Figure 3). Figure 1 provides an overview of the sample of SMES in terms of age.
the number of employees that have helped directly these organizations gather resources, battle uncertainty (including political instability
Under 10 employees, between 11-50 employees, between 51-100 employees, and over 100 employees Approximately half of the organizations surveyed employ fewer than ten employees
while about a quarter of the SMES in our sample employ between eleven and fifty people.
The least represented category in the sample is the‘51-100 employees'bracket. Finally, over one hundred members of staff powered fewer than 10 companies'innovation engines.
In terms of number of employees, our sample is representative for the larger Hungarian and Romanian population of SMES (EC, 2014.
Figure 3 The breakdown(%)of the sample in terms of the industry sector they are active in 7 In Figure 3 we find the final descriptive,
and Cloodt's work and focus on measuring SME innovativeness by examining the number of new product/service introductions at the organizational level,
while its innovation activities are concentrated mainly around market prospecting and development work: With Ivoclair it works like this:
I make a sample, I send it, I go there, I give them the idea.
Everyone works with‘opinion leaders'.'In dental technologies, which have an amazingly fast growing market, everyone works like that.
Others: I don't know. Here, in one year you are already behind. Summing up, Stoby Dental illustrates how SMES can foster long-term collaboration with research institutes, peers,
the SMES in our sample have reported also a number of drawbacks to OI (see Table 2). Some of these drawbacks are typical for the employment of OI practices in an SME context:
employ fewer than ten employees, and have introduced fewer than five new products/services on the market since their establishment.
The Academy of Management Executive, 15,95-108. Pfirrmann, O. & Walter, G. H. 2002. Small Firms and Entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern europe, Springer.
as it enabled them to think more deeply about the uniqueness of their work. As one health-services company owner/manager remarked:(
European Policy Context 6 Executive summary of main outcomes of the workshop 9 1. Background to the workshop 10 2. Objectives and methodology 11 3. University
Universities are increasingly called upon to adjust their work, both in terms of research activities and human capital development,
which further economic development and job creation can be built. Advancement in science is crucial to the improvement of our quality of life as this includes matters of direct concern to Europeans such as health, air and water quality.
active promotion and publication of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) to motivate participation of key stakeholders;
R&d capacity-building in infrastructure but also crucially in human resources and multidisciplinary approaches; maximising use of generated knowledge through university-business dialogue and deployment of knowledge in both technological and social innovation;
local firms and universities to work collaboratively; and ensuring the sustainability of Smart Specialisation Strategies beyond the structural funding timeframe.
) a group of experts from regions and universities with experience of cooperation in research and innovation debated the potential roles that universities could play to enhance their contribution in developing
This first EUA-JRC workshop gathered 40 experts from 18 European countries, across both EU 15 and EU 12 member states plus Norway,
EUA nominated university experts through consultations with its collective members the national rectors'conferences, who selected experts with experience of regional cooperation to advise on good practices and guidelines for the new Smart Specialisation agenda.
JRC identified their participants through consultation with the S3 Platform comprising over 130 national and regional authorities.
and methodological advice on how to develop RIS3 in collaboration with leading experts. This includes peer review activities where regions present their RIS3 strategies
and expansion of required human capacity skills to maximise the impact of the infrastructure in the region in enhancing employment, goods and services.
the same academic staff cannot do everything and do it well (teaching, research, regional development). Academic staff needs to have a coherent set of incentives for each of the three missions.
Several reflections were offered about how universities can deal with the three missions. One option could be to organise teams following the grand challenges (for instance,
if it is to work. Universities can benefit not only from the receipt of EU Structural Funds,
and include it in their assessment exercises and in promotion criteria. c) Smart Specialisation as a new opportunity for collaboration between universities and regions The new emphasis on innovation strategies for Smart Specialisation in the EU provides a great opportunity for many universities to engage with regional
Regional Development Commission of Algarve Miguel Angel Aguirre Spain Andalusia Adviser, Andalusian Regional Government, Ministry for the Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment Annex 1:
) Cornwall Adviser to Cornwall County Council Jo Banks England (UK) Cornwall Cornwall County Council Linda Stewart Scotland (UK) Highlands and Islands Chair
and Communication Manager Per Erik Sørås Norway Sør-Trøndelag County Senior Adviser Armin Mahr Austria Federal Ministry of Science and Research Head
and Innovation Unit Alexandre Almeida Portugal Norte Head Adviser, Regional Development Unit Borut Roncevic Slovenia National government Director-General for Higher education and Science
C. EXPERTS John Goddard UK North East S3p Mirror Group Louise Kempton UK North East Author of Universities Guide Artur Rosa
Such collaboration and critical mass development of human and physical capital will be crucial for the career development of young researchers in the future in addressing national and European innovation goals.
Developing R&d human resources (e g. doctoral school programme, supporting researcher mobility top scientists, postdoctoral researches, full-and part-time studies of foreign Phd students, semester abroad
Improving and developing study programmes (new curricula and modules), teaching quality, training of teaching staff at university, e-education (e-courses, study aids etc..
The ACS Automotive Centre is a platform for development work and knowledge transfer between automotive manufacturers,
and cooperation themselves using external experts and consultancies, and cohesion funds are broadly spread and therefore not necessarily supporting the strongest strategic centres.
ESF was managed by the Department for Work and Pensions. Universities for the most part were excluded from the ESF programme
job creation, 30 REPORT ON JOINT EUA-REGIO/JRC SMART SPECIALISATION PLATFORM EXPERT WORKSHOP: THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN SMART SPECIALISATION STRATEGIES enhanced productivity, enhanced revenue generation and increased competitiveness.
The results of EUA's work are made available to members and stakeholders through conferences seminars, website and publications
the Young Foundation's work shows how digital technology is leading to increasingly creative responses to social issues. www. Maslaha. org is developed an organisation by the Young Foundation that aims to help Muslims deal with the everyday dilemmas
/2010/05/so was it an internet election. html vii http://www. citybeast. com/londoncyclists. html viii http://www. youngfoundation. org/our-work/ventures-and-investment/healthlaunchpad/portfolio
It looks at innovations in all sectors that are achieving high impact and productivity, particularly in relation to goals of better health education, employment or the environment,
it has suffered the worst financial and economic crisis in decades with unemployment set to rise to double digit figures by 2010.
The 2009 contraction ranges from roughly 2%in France to 4. 5%-5%in Germany, Italy and the UK. ii Fighting unemployment especially youth unemployment and generational worklessness.
%)In October 2009, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 20.6%in the euro area and 20.7%in the EU27.
Netherlands has the lowest rate of youth unemployment (7. 2) %and Spain (42.9) and Latvia (33.6%)have the highest.
Tackling unemployment needs to reinforce social cohesion. iii Climate change the costs and devastation of climate change are incredibly difficult to forecast accurately
This will mean a ratio of 2: 1 of workers to retirees. This will lead to an increase of costs linked to pensions, social security, health and long term care by 4-8%of GDP by 2025.
care, housing and education) and opportunities for learning and employment. 8 Public sector Innovation growing social needs,
Europe reduced unemployment from 12%to 7%in the decade to 2008. We now need new sources of growth to replace the jobs lost in the crisis. In short:
and processes needed to put the remedies to work, it will only benefit society if its results are transformed into products
environmental protection and unemployment'.'The Panel proposed broadening the concept of innovation to include social innovation as well as business innovation.
The report involved policy and business experts across the globe in exploring the changing nature of innovation within the private sector.
Challenges are also opportunities In 2006, the Independent Expert Group on R&d and Innovation chaired by Esko Aho,
Key to this argument is that renewable energy generation is more labour intensive and therefore job creating than nonrenewable investment.
Put simply, job creation and tackling social challenges must go hand in hand for sustainable economic growth in Europe.
'A slightly different definition is offered by the OECD's LEED Programme (Local Economic and Employment Development),
it focuses on labour market practices and the delivery of services. As such, it is at odds with other definitions
identifying and implementing new labour market integration processes, new competencies, new jobs, and new forms of participation,
This is done through employment, consumption or participation, with its‘expressed purpose'being to‘provide solutions for individual and community problems'.
focusing primarily on labour market changes. Instead of these we have adopted a simpler and sharper alternative. Social innovations are innovations that are social both in their ends and in their 18 means.
which provides flexibility for employers and security for employees against labour market risks and holistic early years'provision in Reggio Emilia, Italy);
while older children combined work and secondary school. In addition to schools New Lanark set up a crèche for working mothers, free medical care,
from clubs and networks to promote women in particular professions, to integrated childcare centres, abortion rights, equitable divorce laws, protections against rape and sexual harassment, maternity leave and skills programmes for mothers
returning to the labour market. In the West it had its roots in the humanism of the 18th century and the Industrial revolution,
Germany, France and the UK) and economic (helped by women's growing power in the labour market.
whose impact is still being felt on building regulation, employment practices and public policy, as well as on popular culture, where stereotypes that were once acceptable are shown to be degrading and offensive. xxxiv As recently as 1979,22 it was legal for some state governments in the USA to sterilize disabled people against their will.
Thanks to their battles, legislation conferred new rights and obligations on employers and planners; and technologists accelerated their efforts to innovate.
(which campaigns for women in informal employment), and the Forum Network in Asia for drugs projects.
just as many of the most advanced ideas about how to look after children have evolved within existing public and professional organisations in countries like Denmark.
The more the system appears to work giving people security and prosperity the more its norms will become entrenched as part of peoples'very sense of 25 identity. xliii Organisations then become locked into routines
Ideas can come from many sources-citizens, service users, communities, front line staff, other sectors or other countries.
what works on a larger scale establishing working prototypes of the new system, for example the low carbon housing in Hammarby Sjöstad in Sweden and Vauban in Freiburg.
These might include employers seeking new types of skills (e g. better ability to work in teams, or software programming.‘
effective demand refers to the growth of evidence to show that the innovation really works.
and develop staff, and to access capital; too many contracts place excessive risk on providers,
because much of the work of non profit organisations and the social economy does not necessarily fall under the rubric of social innovation-many non profits
and economic terms, accounting for a significant proportion of national expenditures and employment. In the 35 countries studied as part of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project between 1995 and 1998
its expenditures would make it the seventh largest economy in the world, ahead of Italy and Spain and just behind France and the UK. lvii In these 35 countries, the sector employed 39.5 million full time equivalent workers
Data from the Johns Hopkins study also found astounding growth 35 rates within the nonprofit sector in all European countries where the sector's share of total employment could be compared for 1990 and 1995.
equivalent to about 6%of the working population of the EU. In the accession member states, 4. 2%of the wage earning population is employed in the social economy.
which focus on integrating highly excluded groups into the labour market, it is highly likely that these figures significantly underestimate the true scale of social enterprise activity in the country.
Their work is based on four main principles: Collaboration with users, front line staff and other stakeholders,
and partnerships with organisations from the private, public and third sectors. 38 User Led design processes enable both potential end users and existing front line staff, among other specialists,
to be a driving force in the design of new services. Highly Iterative ideas are tested rapidly through prototyping.
It is based on in depth user research (using ethnographic research methods such as user-observation, video diaries and group work) and‘indirect research
In 2007, Participle started working with Southwark Council, Sky and the Department for Work & Pensions,
Kafka Brigades gather together all involved front line workers, managers and policymakers around particular cases. The Kafka Brigade's unique research and intervention methods allow it to quickly diagnose
and engagement in social issues as a source of new ideas, reputation and recruitment. More broadly, business leaders are becoming aware of the growing importance of values to their business.
and community/voluntary associations to‘work insertion'organisations and companies limited by guarantee. Social enterprises also work across a range of social and environmental fields-in Poland and Finland, for example,
social enterprises are mainly nonprofit work insertion organisations; in France and Sweden, childcare services make up the bulk of social enterprise activity;
'or‘work insertion'integrating the long term unemployed or disadvantaged and marginalised groups into the labour market. lxviii A study of the WISE sector in Europe carried out by research network EMES,
found that in 12 countries, the sector consisted of 14,209 organisations employing 239,977 people. However, the authors have reason to believe that many organisations are included not in the official statistics
and as such, the figures for total employment are in all likelihood significantly higher. lxix The WISE organisations in Germany are a good example. lxx Social enterprises can also be identified by the types of relationships they have with their beneficiaries, the way in
and on the use of volunteer labour.''lxxi As a result of these relationships, social enterprises are embedded often within their local communities.
The M-PESA application is installed on SIM CARDS and works on all handsets. M-PESA has revolutionised money transfer in Kenya and significantly reduced levels of financial exclusion,
and could potentially allow public service employees, such as transport drivers, to avoid being responsible for cash amounts.
and coached by Grameen Danone staff. There are roughly 500 women selling Shokti Doi in the Bogra District.
The growth of social enterprise Work Insertion-Diakoniewerk Arbeit & Kultur, Germany Diakoniewerk Arbeit & Kultur ggmbh (or the‘deacon's activities for work and culture')in Mülheim is a fairly typical example
of a German Work Insertion Social Enterprise (WISE. It was set up in 1985 to run a small number of employment measures funded by the regional labour office
but has expanded since into a social enterprise which provides wrap around services for social welfare in the community.
Its three main activities are to get marginalised job seekers back into work; to buy, restore and sell low-priced 46 second hand recycled products (including clothes and furniture) to those on low incomes;
and a social work unit that cares for the personal needs of the employees who frequently have addiction or debt difficulties.
and a small number of employment programmes were run by the regional labour office. It is now an independent nonprofit company limited by guarantee employing approximately 250 people on mainly fixed term contracts
and reintegrate them into the labour market. The Koispe is a relatively unique organisational form in that it is both an independent trading enterprise and an official mental health unit,
which means that it has access to national health services staff and premises. One of the other innovative aspects is that those who work for a Koispe may earn a wage without losing their benefit payments.
Koispes are exempt from corporate taxes, except VAT and fall under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and the Department for Mental health.
The law of 1999 also stipulated the make up of any Koispe at least 35%of the employees must be those with mental health problems;
which play a key role in integration various marginalised groups into the labour market 47 including adults with learning difficulties,
There are plans to set up another 50 social cooperatives across Greece. lxxvi The largest Koispe is on the island of Leros, with 457 members and 54 employees.
which are responsible for exploitative labour practices, cause harm to people and planet and so on. Instead, their portfolio of investment funds will cover a range of more than profit companies that have primarily social or environmental goals.
voluntary and community based civil society organisations across the globe which are dedicated to serving their communities by tackling issues such as social exclusion, homelessness, addictions, illiteracy and unemployment.
and employment needs after the collapse of the communism. Using its philosophy of encouraging mutual self-help,
education and vocational training programmes has assisted over 50, 000 people in the last ten years. Barka works to assist the socially vulnerable including the long-term unemployed, homeless persons and those suffering from substance abuse,
as well as migrant workers who come back home to Poland and find themselves without anywhere to live. There are currently 30 Barka communities established throughout southwest Poland and 14 vocational workshops
which provide general education as well as skills training. Some of the residents spend only a year or so with Barka to get back on their feet,
The combination of hard work and human interaction has proved for many individuals to be a miraculous recovery from addictions
which help disadvantaged people create their own employment by setting up social cooperatives. Other organisations are now also founding such centres.
Partnership working with local municipalities and businesses has created sustainable employment opportunities and the various activities undertaken by Barka over the last 20 years have had a major influence in facilitating the emergence of civil society and social enterprise in post communist Poland.
Since 2002 Barka has worked with the European Network of Migrants Integration Programme, helping destitute East European migrant workers,
which values education and rehabilitation into society highly, The Halfway Foundation works with those who are willing to recover providing daily clinical care assistance and education,
Portugal Projecto Geracão (The Generation Project) works to combat truancy and school dropout by providing education, training,
and employment paths in Urbanização Casal da Boba, in Amadora in Lisbon. The community of Urbanização Casal da Boba in the suburbs of Lisbon was created to rehouse families who were previously living in shanty towns.
The programmes run by the Projecto Geracão range from work and play provision for the very young
enabling parents to stay in full time employment (60 pre school children are currently on this programme),
all of the 22 pupils who took part are in full time employment. This 53 project has become sustainable through the support of the municipality, and L'oreal.
marketing and business experts as well as those who have knowledge of specific areas of social need-to a two-and-a-half day weekend event.
web and tech support, policy work, media and PR and internal/external evaluations. While the franchisees are responsible for fundraising,
Diagram 6. Housework, paid work and leisure (Minutes per day and person, latest year available) The household plays a critical role in developing social innovations especially in fields
time credits and vouchers have been one attempt at including elements of the household economy into the mainstream economy by valorising voluntary labour.
The second element is based a time credit which aims to make voluntary work visible and accountable.
which can play an important role in promoting personalized care, independent living and sustainable ways of work (example:
The practical work of supporting innovation is undertaken often best by bodies that are both inside
and work towards policy reform in line with Estonia's developmental vision based on innovative thinking. xcix Social Innovation Fund,
A programme of actions to improve the prospects of a group (for example 14-16 year olds in a particular area at risk of crime or unemployment;
For example, a London borough would borrow £5m for an intensive programme of work with young offenders,
Another potential field for action is in employment creation during the downturn. In principle the model is likely to work best in the short to medium term where there is a reasonably short gap between interventions and measurable results;
Some of these innovation units work within organisations, either within or across departments, some have been established to encourage collaboration across departments
and the Ministry of Employment to bring together government, private enterprises and the research community under one roof to promote user-centred innovation.
whether the solutions developed will work for citizens in practice. Mindlab's mission is to involve citizens and businesses in developing new public solutions.
and sharing of experience and new knowledge that encourage innovation in both the public and the private sector. 5. Visibility-Communicating Mindlab's work and how our parent ministries experiment with new methodologies and forms
Mindlab's work is also based on design methodologies and approaches and builds on principles such as visualizations, prototyping, iteration and co-creation.
Mindlab are also carrying out work on climate change, gender divisions in the labour market, breaking down barriers to employment faced by young immigrants. c SILK,
UK Another kind of innovation unit is SILK-the Social Innovation Lab Kent. The lab was set up in 2007 by Kent County Council as a hub for social innovation within the local authority.
It was established to provide a creative environment for a wide range of staff to work together on some of the most pressing social challenges facing the local authority.
(or redesign if they are amending an existing service) involves users, front-line staff, and stakeholders such as senior managers or elected councillors, in setting out what is required from a service
The 27th Region works as a laboratory for the 26 French Regional Councils and its goal is to foster creativity, social innovation and sustainability in public institutions, through community projects, prototyping and design thinking.
The other 78 residencies will be dedicated to employment, health, democracy, social networks, universities, transport and food systems. cii Another project run by the 27th Region is Atelier 27,
politicians, experts and citizens. Participants raise their own questions, and by the end of the day, participants are expected to produce visualized scenarios and proposals.
providing new and useful lessons about what works and what does not in the social sphere.
Its work is based on the belief that the third sector is teeming with good ideas but too few of them change the world because of the lack of connection between the third sector and the bodies that could commission and fund an innovation.
In its work to 31 march 2010, the Exchange is aspiring to demonstrate the effectiveness of brokerage in supporting third sector innovation.
'enabling those in receipt of employment and social security benefits to work for the park's enterprises without losing their benefits and;
VINNOVA's programmes include Information and Communications technology, Services and IT Implementation, Biotechnology, Working life, Materials, Transportation, Cross-Sectoral Issues, Knowledge of Innovation Systems,
Helix a programme invested in establishing healthier work environments and ways of working, and Gigahertz Centrum a centre developing energy-efficient electronics and mobile communications. cvi Recently, VINNOVA, together with five other leading European innovation agencies-Enterprise Ireland (IE), FFG (AT), Senternovem
identifying entrepreneurial talent, scouting for good ideas, engaging with staff in the National Health Service (NHS) and local authority as well as the third sector to support social innovation and nurture a pro-innovation culture.
Too often, the talent, experience and appetite for working better amongst staff is mined not sufficiently, valued or developed.
skills and values of NHS staff and local enterprises are harnessed and channelled towards delivering sustainable solutions to address health and social care needs.
works to change the culture of an organisation so that innovation becomes a natural part of its ethos not a barrier to success. Innovations in American Government Awards Innovation awards play a critical role in highlighting innovative programmes and projects within government.
and the idea that the expert knows best. Many of these methods have been helped greatly by the ability of the web to draw in a far wider range of people
South korea Idea banks have been used for some time within organisations as a place for employees to make suggestions about working conditions and practices.
The kinds of suggestions elicited may include, for example, the introduction of flexitime, better parking facilities, recycling and so on.
Open source technology, such as wikis,‘can make government decision-making more expert and more democratic'.'cx Examples from the US and New zealand show how open
employees, service users and so on. This knowledge is crucial in improving services and making government more accountable.
and develop staff, and to access capital; too many contracts place excessive risk on providers,
few resources are being devoted to labour market development and there is a dearth of skills, across sectors and relating to all stages of the innovation lifecycle.
although there are some modest funding sources available for individuals, small groups (for example of public sector front line workers).
high costs associated with securing funds as senior management's energies are focussed often on obtaining funds rather than managing their organisations;
and develop staff, and to access capital; too many contracts place excessive risk on providers,
as yet, been devoted to labour market development. Our analysis suggests that this is as important an issue as finance.
and shortages in paid employees within the voluntary sector in England found that skills gaps are apparent across the 98 sector.
Small organisations are more likely to experience skills gaps within their employees, likely because staff have to be skilled multi to perform a variety of functions.
Skills gaps within specialist skill sets-strategic use of IT, legal knowledge, marketing and fundraising are particularly apparent,
Having under-skilled staff has a detrimental impact on organisations-often leading to an increase in the workload of other employees-and many employers,
particularly smaller ones, resort to volunteers to cover the work. While a majority of employers formally assess
whether individuals have gaps in their skills and/or hold a training and development policy,
means that strategic intentions cannot be realised fully. cxxxiii A survey of countries in the Western Balkans reports that finding well-qualified staff for long-term employment poses a key challenge in the NGO sector.
the tendency for professionally trained employees to see an NGO as a springboard to more prestigious posts outside of the NGO sector-move on to the public
a scenario where many NGOS cannot afford to pay their staff regularly and do not register them to avoid paying taxes,
resulting in little chance to develop staff capacity and skills for sustainability; a tendency to hire staff on an ad hoc project basis,
resulting in high turnover rates. All of these factors are compounded by a weak culture of volunteering, which makes long term sustainability a challenge for the sector,
and support within businesses and NGOS to help workers to adapt to change. Whilst ESF programmes will continue to support those who have difficulties in finding work, this focussed support for innovation within the work place, for life long learning and adaptability,
and the facilitation of mobility within sectors (particularly NGOS), not only benefits the employees, but also contributes to a better relationship between the organisation and the national government,
and in turn, their access to finance. Moreover, the collaboration between organisations and governments (both regional and national) that is necessary in the allocation and regulation of ESF programmes
Australia's statistics office for example estimates unpaid work at around 48%of GDP. Canada's statistical office suggests that time use,
and economists to develop better indicators of social progress and well-being, bearing fruit in the Stiglitz Commission's work for President Sarkozy in France
The Young Foundation‘Evaluation Tool'can be used to generate metrics including a framework to assess‘what works'
risks, management risks, staff benefits) 4. Cost effectiveness (cost savings, scalability, wider economic gains) The tool also makes explicit the strength of the knowledge base underpinning the assessments.
It provides a framework for learning about what works over time. Conclusion Our specific recommendation is for the European commission to move forward on two fronts:
and take-up of innovations, drawing on the work underway in the OECD and elsewhere on service
Much of this work needs to be done at national, regional and local levels. However the European commission has a central role to play in enabling new capacities to be developed.
or focused on transitions into the labour market. -Coordination, design, and implementation of different projects. This should include setting stricter protocols for evaluation
one which specifically focuses on social innovation both for front line staff and practitioners, and those involved in social innovation from businesses, the public sector and the grant economy.
Work should also be supported to deepen some of the underpinnings of the field, including more sophisticated and useable measures of social value (moving beyond current SROI and other models);
Report of the Independent Expert Group on R&d and Innovation Appointed Following The Hampton Court Summit, Available at:
there are no good reasons for believing that a single theory could explain phenomena as diverse as family life, urban communities, the evolution of workplaces, identity and conflict, crime and violence, exploitation and cooperation.
and growth have not fared well compared to more modest theories focused on such things as the dynamics of labour markets or monetary policy.
com/xl This section draws on very useful work by Timo Hämäläinen (2007),‘Social Innovation, Structural Adjustment and Economic Performance'in Timo J. Hämäläinen and Risto
2001) The Emergence of Social Enterprise, London and New york, Routledge. lxix Spear, R. & Bidet, E. 2003)‘ The Role of Social Enterprise in European Labour markets',Working papers Series
I. Bode, A Evers and A. Schulz,(2002)‘ Work Integration Social Enterprises in Germany',Working papers Series, no. 02/04 Liège, EMES European Research Network. lxxi A. Bacchiega & C. Borzaga
‘Nonprofit organisations tackling unemployment in Germany and the UK: Vigorous independent enterprises meeting social needs or the emergence of‘entrepreneurial not-for profits with limited social liability'?
how open-source democracy can make government decision-making more expert and more democratic'Democracy Journal 7 Available at:
J. 2009) Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. cliii Key dimensions including material living standards, health education, personal activities such as work
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