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Examining The Social Processes Of 'Innovation' To Inform The Development Of A New Framework For Making Sense Of ''Social Innovation", Patrick M. Dawson, Lisa Daniel

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In the face of increasing pressure to change and adapt to the needs of highly competitive business markets, it is not unusual for management to focus on the commercial payback on technical innovations and to downplay social processes. Typically, company survival is explained in terms of an 'innovation imperative' where new products and services are part of the dynamic business environment for securing and maintaining competitive advantage. Historically, the focus has been on how to translate innovations in science and technology into commercial applications. We contend that whilst largely downplayed, social processes have always been essential tounderstanding innovation and that …