Article
Quiet Contributors: The Role of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in Innovation
Many countries are directing their attention to the support of technological innovation with the intent to obtain economic and social benefits at home while positioning themselves for high margin, high technology export markets. The under-considered and under-exploited role of arts, humanities and social science in innovation is explored in this study. Examples of programs and activities in a variety of countries are illustrated. Insight into why the arts, humanities and social sciences are important to the generation of social and economic benefits through innovation is offered. Furthermore, recommendations are provided for better accessing the benefits that the arts, humanities and social science can provide.
Relationships between foundations and the government in the United States have long been difficult with government attitudes ranging from hostile to at best indifferent in the past. American foundations have long claimed innovation as a distinctive function to perform in society in order to preserve their legitimacy. One hundred years after the rise of the large-scale American philanthropic foundation, however, the relationships between foundations and government have come into flux. Between demands from fiscally-strapped local governments and a new openness of state and federal governments to develop collaborative relationships, a variety of public-philanthropic partnerships have emerged that question the traditional roles and distribution of labor between philanthropy and the state. This article traces the historical development of the government/foundation relationship and discusses its changing nature using recession-induced ad hoc partnerships, the emergence of foundation liaison offices, and the Obama Administration’s Social Innovation Fund and Investing in Innovation program as examples.
The e-book is on the basis of 3rd International e-Conference, organized by the COAS.
The COAS plans and organizes e-conferences, as a kind of online international sessions, in different areas of science. E-conferences will be organized with different academic partners (institutions of higher education, research institutes, governmental institutions, NGOs, scientific associations, etc.).
In this book we study innovations for the middle of the pyramid, focusing on the experience of middle income countries in Latin America. This middle income segment, which is middle by the standards of emerging markets although low by the standards of advanced economies, has grown steadily in the last few decades and has become an attractive segment for firms to serve. These middle income countries in Latin America are a laboratory for understanding this phenomenon because despite being emerging countries, they have a large middle income segment that provide attractive and different opportunities, similarly to other regions like Eastern Europe or the Middle East. Additionally, by focusing on a region that has a common political, social and economic history we are able to draw cross-country conclusions more easily, while at the same time benefit from a variety of experiences and innovations that have appeared in multiple countries.
The book is based on case studies and examples of firms that have created innovations for the middle of the pyramid. The cases are detailed analyses of exemplar firms that have introduce innovations to address some of the most intractable challenges of emerging markets and that have been successful at creating a business proposition of something that was commonly addressed by the government or by non-for-profit organizations. The examples are presented within a general framework that provides detailed statistics of the challenge to help explain how the challenge can nevertheless become a large business opportunity for some entrepreneurial managers.
The book can provide useful and new insights to managers of both emerging economies who want to serve their growing middle classes that until recently were being served in the informal economy, as well as to managers of multinationals from advanced countries who may find that the growing middle classes in emerging economies are a profitable and expanding market segment to serve.
Relationships between foundations and the government in the United States have long been difficult with government attitudes ranging from hostile to at best indifferent in the past. American foundations have long claimed innovation as a distinctive function to perform in society in order to preserve their legitimacy. One hundred years after the rise of the large-scale American philanthropic foundation, however, the relationships between foundations and government have come into flux. Between demands from fiscally-strapped local governments and a new openness of state and federal governments to develop collaborative relationships, a variety of public-philanthropic partnerships have emerged that question the traditional roles and distribution of labor between philanthropy and the state. This paper traces the historical development of the government/foundation relationship and discusses its changing nature using recession-induced ad hoc partnerships, the emergence of foundation liaison offices, and the Obama Administration’s Social Innovation Fund and Investing in Innovation program as examples.
Based on the best applied research presented at the 18th meeting of the International Association of People-Environment Studies, IAPS18 held in Vienna, this volume concentrates on theories and methods in planning and monitoring, environmental, health and social impact assessment, post-occupancy evaluations (POEs), computer modelling and various simulation tools. It is thus a fascinating and up-to-date review for researchers, professional practitioners, and policy makers.
Social innovation is the application of new solutions to social problems in areas such as welfare, health, education, youth unemployment, adaptation of migrants, and territorial integration of regions. Social innovations allow non-profits and other organizations to meet needs of society more effectively than existing options, respond to social challenges, offer new solutions to social problems, develop social interaction and create alliances. There are different types of social innovations. Most commonly the distinction is between product or service innovations and process innovations.
The article considers recruiting via the internet as an organizational innovation in Russian companies. Using data from a survey of employers and RLMS-HSE, we measured the scale of internet-use by employers for recruiting and by employees for the job search, and the factors influencing them. In general, the characteristics of employees and workplaces were in line with one another. Amid companies, internet use was more common in the retail sector, among privately owned and financially successful firms. The internet was more actively used by workers with higher or specialized education from big cities. Internet search complements other search channels and has become the second most popular channel after searching for work through relatives and friends.