What matters in the local adaptation of Western social innovation to China: deep core beliefs, institutional boundary conditions or managerial practices?

Abstract

The article tests three contextual factors, including institutional boundary conditions, core beliefs and professional managerial practices, to analyse the local adaption of a Western social innovation to China. With a case study of 23 semi-structured interviews of stakeholders in China and the Netherlands and content analysis of these data, the article aims to examine the facilitating and hindering effects of institutional isomorphism on transnational social-innovation diffusion. The results indicate that social innovations face diverse pressures of isomorphism that necessitate their capitulation to homogeneity within the environment. Some isomorphic processes within the organization, however, may counterbalance external pressures in the long run. This article contributes to a better understanding of the transnational diffusion of social innovation between two different institutional and cultural settings.

Keywords:

• Social innovation
• transnational diffusion
• elderly care
• China
• diffusion

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the KNAW under Grant 530-5CDP11. The data collection was partly done by Bachelor students of University of Twente, incl. Pascal Alscher, Denys Frijters, Lukas Kögel and Lorina Whittaker. The authors acknowledge their help in the data collection process. The authors want also to thank Dan Xiao and dr Yangyang Cui for their help in interviewing and translating the Chinese data and Prof Yijia Jing and Fudan University for hosting the first author during the visits. Cordial thank you also for the social innovation Buurtzorg for their collaboration in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen: [Grant Number 530-5CDP11].

Notes on contributors

Minna van Gerven

Minna van Gerven is professor of social policy at Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Helsinki.

René Torenvlied

René Torenvlied is professor of public management, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences at University of Twente.