Marketing

Innovation management

Process (computing)

Philosophy

Equifinality

Public relations

Qualitative comparative analysis

Work in process

Operating system

Computer science

Social innovation

Business

Process management

Innovation process

Open innovation

Political science

Epistemology

Artificial intelligence

Technology innovation

Industrial organization

Operationalization

Knowledge management

Product innovation

Machine learning

Journal of Business Research

The innovation journey is a process model distinguishing between the initiation, developmental and implementation/termination period of innovations; it looks at drivers and barriers, like innovation managers, investors, setbacks, adaptation, infrastructure. We operationalize this model to apply it to the process of social innovation. Eighty-two cases are re-analysed in a secondary analysis using qualitative comparative analysis to assess how social innovations develop and to investigate if they resemble the ‘innovation journey’ of innovations in technology/business. The results show that six combinations of seven elements of the innovation journey model have the highest chance to result in adoption of the social innovation. Yet, while differing paths lead to similar outcomes (equifinality), success is dependent on contingent factors: not ‘anything goes’. The implication for practitioners is to study the six successful combinations and steer their social innovation initiatives towards a combination that fits best with their own practice.

Understanding social innovation as an innovation process: Applying the innovation journey model