``It is the theory which decides what can be observed'' -- Managing the Complexity of Social Problems at the Organisational and Individual Level
Daniel Kruse
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Daniel Kruse, ``It is the theory which decides what can be observed'' -- Managing the Complexity of Social Problems at the Organisational and Individual Level (2022), Logos Verlag, Berlin, ISBN: 9783832584924
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Beschreibung / Abstract
The worldwide increase in societal challenges, such as climate change, political instability, and economic volatility, puts pressure on institutions, organisations, and individuals to develop means to address social problems. Unfortunately, many organisations fail to adequately formulate social problems and even solve the wrong ones, which is due to their inherent complexity. Consequently, this dissertation adopts a âcomplexity lensâ to interpret the intertwined forces driving social problems within organisational and environmental contexts. Problem complexity requires different governance modes, as solutions cannot be developed in the typical linear and hierarchical process that commercial products follow. To this end, this dissertation entails two studies that explore how the complexity of social problems can be managed at the organisational and individual level. In particular, study 1 employs Procedural Action Research and mixed methods together with a humanitarian organisation to qualitatively develop and quantitatively validate a theory-guided bottom-up search process for surfacing solutions to reoccurring floods in Indonesia. In a similar vein, study 2 investigates and compares the individual innovation processes of 20 social entrepreneurs from Ethiopia and Germany.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- BEGINN
- Section A Overall focus and scope
- Chapter One: Overall introduction
- 1.1 Research motivation and overall theme
- 1.2 Research problem, relevance, and objective
- Chapter Two: The two studies of this dissertation
- 2.1 Introduction to research study 1
- 2.2 Introduction to research study 2
- Chapter Three: Overall structure of this dissertation
- Section B Study 1 – Organizational search in the humanitarian sector
- Chapter One: Introduction
- Chapter Two: Theoretical background
- 2.1 Social innovation in the humanitarian sector
- 2.2 Hiddenness of knowledge advocates a bottom-up approach
- 2.3 Problem complexity advocates a theory-guided approach
- 2.4 Which theory guides the search in the humanitarian sector?
- Chapter Three: Methodology & Findings
- 3.1 PAR Planning
- 3.2 PAR Action
- 3.3 PAR Evaluation
- Chapter Four: Discussion of findings
- 4.1 Empirical support for a theory-guided bottom-up search process
- 4.2 The theory-guided bottom-up search process for the humanitarian sector
- 4.3 Identification of problem drivers became problem understanding (Phase II)
- 4.4 Identification of lead users/social innovators became solution search (Phase III)
- 4.5 Pyramiding had to be complemented by secondary search (Phases II & III)
- 4.6 Co-creation became peer-creation facilitation (Phase IV)
- Chapter Five: Implications, limitations and further research
- 5.1 Theoretical implications
- 5.2 Practical implications
- 5.3 Critical reflection and limitations
- Section C Study 2 – Sensemaking of social entrepreneurs
- Chapter One: Introduction
- Chapter Two: Theoretical background
- 2.1 Social entrepreneurship as a research field
- 2.2 A typology of social entrepreneurs
- 2.3 Social value creation
- 2.4 The social entrepreneurial innovation search process
- 2.5 Managing paradoxical tensions through different cognitive frames
- Chapter Three: Research design
- 3.1 Epistemological Framework
- 3.2 Methodology
- 3.3 Comparative analysis
- 3.4 Data collection
- 3.5 Data Analysis
- Chapter Four: Findings
- 4.1 Findings for sensemaking and sensegiving of social value
- 4.2 Findings with regard to managing paradoxical tensions
- 4.3 Integrating the research findings into a two-dimensional matrix
- 4.4 Type-breaking: Reorienting justice, action, or solution
- 4.5 Legitimizing innovativeness
- Chapter Five: Discussion
- 5.1 Ethical facet of social problem: Two understandings of social justice
- 5.2 Managing complexity: Two types of innovation search
- 5.3 Resolving paradoxical tensions: Two types of cognitive frames
- 5.4 Four different types of social entrepreneurs
- 5.5 Cognitive search, paradox frames and experience corridors
- 5.6 Social entrepreneurial motives
- 5.7 Instrumental discussion: scalability vs sustainability
- 5.8 Comparison between Ethiopia and Germany
- 5.9 Legitimacy tension regarding newness of social innovation
- Chapter Six: Implications for theory and practice
- 6.1 Theoretical contributions
- 6.2 Policy recommendations
- 6.3 Managerial recommendations and further research
- Chapter Seven: Limitations
- Section D Overall conclusion
- Chapter One: The nature of social problems
- Chapter Two: The governance of solving social problems
- References
- Appendix