Exploring a pre-theoretical management phenomenon: promising ways forward for researching social innovation in organisations

This paper provides a synthesis of empirical studies, published between 1998 and 2015, on the emerging management phenomenon of social innovation within organisations. Social innovation has recently garnered immense attention in academic and management discussions, yet remains in a nascent stage of knowledge development. Outlining several problem-based observations, a future research agenda is put forward that builds synergies between theory, method and practice. It proposes that the way forward lies in using abduction as the logic of discovery, adopting complexity theory, and using set-theoretic methods to reflect multiple realities. The application of these methods will ensure the phenomenon of social innovation is empirically grounded, with the aim of advancing the management discipline’s knowledge base while also contributing positively to practice.