Social Innovation and Innovation Champions: An analysis of public and private processes

This research intends to gain deeper insight into the social innovation processes within public and private organizations. The purpose of the study will be to determine if public and private organizations are influenced more by internal organizational factors or external organizational factors. Using Roger’s diffusion theory, Mohr’s internal determinants and Berry and Berry’s unified theory as a foundation, this research will endeavor to prove hypotheses which suggest that private organizations are influenced more by internal organizational factors and public organizations are influenced more by external organizational factors although not exclusively. The research method for this study will involve a mixed methods approach. A survey of innovation champions will be implemented online followed by a qualitative interview of a subset of those respondents. In addition to the research specific to internal and external organizational factors, this study will also seek to assess the importance of the use of innovation champions during the social innovation process. Social innovation is a new concept in the realm of innovation. This research will offer much needed insight into a process that is new and evolving