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BRINGING SOCIAL INNOVATION TO SCALE: LEVERAGING RELATIONAL CAPITAL AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIORS OF ACTORS IN COMPLEX ECOSYSTEMS

Holloway, Jimeka J
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1487252947628322

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Management.
Social entrepreneurs are change agents that seek to maximize their use of limited financial resources to create long-term, lasting solutions to complex issues such as youth unemployment, recidivism, lack of home ownership, and a high rate of health disparities. Philanthropists, impact investors, and intermediaries play an imperative role in creating systems and influencing the strategies, choices, and intentions of these social entrepreneurs. The impact investing industry experiences inadequacies that limit its impact. These inadequacies include the lack of efficient intermediation, which indicates high search and transaction expenses, fragmented demand and supply, multifaceted deals, and underdeveloped networks (Kickul & Lyons, 2012). There is a need to study the interpersonal relationships among all of the key stakeholders in the ecosystem. This dissertation implements an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach in a 3-strand study to reveal the perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders in the social innovation ecosystem, such as social and commercial entrepreneurs, social enterprise staff and management, beneficiary groups, philanthropic and investment intermediaries, and funding bodies. The behaviors and practices of actors within the social impact investment ecosystem range from simple, informal responses for use in “everyday interactions” to more complex, formal structures. In the first qualitative study, I focus on the individual and organizational processes used to spark social enterprise in communities of economic distress. In the second quantitative study, I analyze the role of social enterprise financing and their social mission, geographic proximity, and risk absorption. Based on findings from the initial qualitative study and the quantitative study, I articulate a research model to study the tensions, issues, and challenges of philanthropic dyads in the social innovation ecosystem. The final strand of the three-part study examines the impact of investor relationships with intermediaries and investees. This research uses a qualitative, multi-case comparative research design. Examining stakeholder relationships in multiple social impact investments enables the identification of patterned behaviors that have endured across investments, across different settings, and diffused beyond the initial occurrence, indicating the emergence of new logics, structures, and processes. I develop a theoretical model that offers testable propositions for further exploration. Key findings include the following leverage points for practitioners and academics alike: social entrepreneurs engaging in continuous, experiential learning to point out barriers in the system; philanthropic intermediaries and impact investors explicitly addressing the challenge of mission drift when expanding the resource pool; and social entrepreneurs using co-creative strategies based on localized knowledge to scale best practices. Specifically, our findings highlight the journey of impact investors to be more strategic in using impact investments in scaling social innovation and making a better social impact. This dissertation posits a deep consideration of the relational context in which key actors in the social sector operate to influence both unexpected and expected consequences that will shape the vitality of the U.S.
Richard Boland , Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Paul Salipante, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
David Hammack , Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Roman Sheremeta, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
210 p.
Entrepreneurship; Social Research; Systems Design
social innovation ecosystem; impact investment; social enterprise financing; program related investments; collective impact; complex adaptive systems; social capital; coopetition

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Holloway, J. J. (2017). BRINGING SOCIAL INNOVATION TO SCALE: LEVERAGING RELATIONAL CAPITAL AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIORS OF ACTORS IN COMPLEX ECOSYSTEMS [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1487252947628322

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Holloway, Jimeka. BRINGING SOCIAL INNOVATION TO SCALE: LEVERAGING RELATIONAL CAPITAL AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIORS OF ACTORS IN COMPLEX ECOSYSTEMS. 2017. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1487252947628322.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Holloway, Jimeka. "BRINGING SOCIAL INNOVATION TO SCALE: LEVERAGING RELATIONAL CAPITAL AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIORS OF ACTORS IN COMPLEX ECOSYSTEMS." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1487252947628322

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.