Social innovation in non-profit organizations: a measurement scale

Abstract

Social innovation has emerged as an outstanding topic in a situation in which industrial economies are translating into knowledge and service-based societies. Research efforts have been focused on identifying the different theoretical approaches of this fragmented concept, but comprehensive instruments for measuring it are noticeably lacking. Combining a literature review and a quantitative-based research with 201 non-profit organizations (NPO), this study develops and tests a measurement scale for assessing the extent to which a particular initiative undertaken by the NPO (a project, program, process, product or any other activity) is a social innovation. A thorough revision of the diverse streams that have approached this construct allowed us to define the domain specification, as well as to generate a pool of items and assure the content validity of the scale. Different statistical analyses were used to assess its dimensionality, reliability and validity. This scale can be employed by practitioners and policymakers to verify the extent to which NPO initiatives satisfy a social problem, in a new and sustainable way, and with the improvement of social behaviors or relationships, as well as to identify relevant gaps that need to be addressed to effectively set priorities and implement SI strategies and policies.

Keywords:

• Social innovation
• non-profit organizations
• measurement scale
• social goals
• social processes
• sustainability
• transformational impact

JEL codes:

• 55
• L31
• L33
• O35

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge funding provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the project ‘Marketing and Social Innovation. Consequences of Business-Nonprofit Partnerships on Social Well-Being’ (ECO2013-46391-R) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the project ‘Value Co-creation in Social Enterprises. Effects of the Omnichanel Strategy’ (PID2019-109580RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades de España: [Grant Number PID2019-109580RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033]; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España: [Grant Number ECO2013-46391-R].

Notes on contributors

María José Sanzo-Pérez

María José Sanzo-Pérez is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Oviedo (Spain), whose research works, related to relationship marketing and nonprofit management, have been published in (JCR) journals. She has participated in international research projects, as in The ITTSSOIN Project (Impact of the Third Sector as SOcial INnovation – http://itssoin.eu/).

Luis Ignacio Álvarez-González

Luis Ignacio Álvarez-González is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Oviedo (Spain). He has published papers related with nonprofit management in relevant (JCR) journals. He has participated in national and international research projects related with these topics, as in The ITTSSOIN Project (Impact of the Third Sector as SOcial INnovation – http://itssoin.eu/).

Nuria García-Rodríguez

Nuria García-Rodríguez is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Oviedo (Spain). Her research includes relationship marketing, internal marketing, innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility, with several papers published in prestigious (JCR) journals.

Marta Rey-García

Marta Rey-García is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Universidade da Coruña (Spain) and has an extensive experience in nonprofit management. She has participated in the European ITSSOIN Project (Impact of the Third Sector as SOcial INnovation – http://itssoin.eu/). Her studies have been published in international (JCR) Journals.