The paper explicates the concept of innovation through the lens of social action. It is argued that the term ‘innovation’ carries within it certain semantic contradictions that cannot be resolved without recourse to the theory of social action underlying the process of innovation. By revisiting a number extant concepts and applications within innovation studies and unpacking these in the light of functionalist and conflict theoretical notions of social action, paradoxes as well as fruitful paths for empirical and analytical exploration are identified. A synthesis of how innovation may be interpreted in the language of social action is suggested, which builds on the dialectics between action as mental activity and physical work.
Acs, Z. J. and Audretsch, D. B. (1990) Innovation and Small Firms. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
2.
Barnes, B. (1995) The Elements of Social Theory. London: UCL Press .
3.
Beniger, J. R. (1986) The Control Revolution. Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
4.
Clark, P. and Staunton, N. (1994) Innovation in Technology and Organization. New York: Routledge .
5.
Dodgson, M. (1993) Technological Collaboration in Industry: Strategy, Policy and Internationalisation in Innovation. London: Routledge .
6.
Dosi, G. (1988) ‘Sources, Procedures and Micro-economic Effects of Innovation’ , Journal of Economic Literature26: 1120-1171 .
7.
Downs, G. W. and Mohr, L. B. (1976) ‘Conceptual Issues in the Study of Innovation’ , Administrative Science Quarterly21: 700-714 .
8.
Drucker, P. (1993) Post-capitalist Society. New York: HarperBusiness .
9.
Dubini, P. and Aldrich, H. (1991) ‘Personal and Extended Networks Are Central to the Entrepreneurial Process’ , Journal of Business Venturing6: 305-313 .
10.
Etzioni, A. (1970) Modern Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall .
11.
Freeman, C. (1982) Unemployment and Technical Innovation. London: Frances Pinter .
12.
Fuller, S. (1998) ‘Society’s Shifting Human-Computer Interface: A Sociology of Knowledge for the Information Age’ , Information, Communication and Society1: 182-198 .
13.
Fuller, S. (2002) Knowledge Management Foundations. Woburn: Butterworth Heinemann .
14.
Giddens, A. (1979) Central Problems in Social Theory: Action, Structure and Contradiction in Social Analysis. London: Macmillan Press .
15.
Gopalakrishnan, S. (2000) ‘Unraveling the Links between Dimensions of Innovation and Organizational Performance’ , Journal of High Technology Management Research11: 137-153 .
16.
Granovetter, M. (1985) ‘Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness’ , American Journal of Sociology91(3): 481-510 .
17.
Habermas, J. (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action. Vol. 1, Reason and the Rationalization of Society. London: Heinemann .
18.
Hegel, G. W. F. ([1830] 1993) The Science of Logic. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press .
19.
Hellstr ®om, T. and Raman, S. (2001) ‘The Commodification of “Knowledge-aboutknowledge”: Knowledge Management and the Reification of Epistemology’ , Social Epistemology15(3): 139-154 .
20.
Houlgate, S. (1991) Freedom, Truth and History: An Introduction to Hegel’s Philosophy. London and New York: Routledge .
21.
Kessler, E. H. and Chakrabarti, A. K. (1996) ‘Innovation Speed: A Conceptual Model of Context, Antecedents, and Outcomes’ , Academy of Management Review21: 1143-1191 .
22.
Kimberly, J. R and Evanisko, M. (1981) ‘Organizational Innovation: The Influence of Individual, Organizational and Contextual Factors’ , Academy of Management Journal24: 689-713 .
23.
Koestler, A. (1964) The Act of Creation. London: Hutchinson .
24.
Layton, E. T. (1974) ‘Technology as Knowledge’ , Technology and Culture15: 31-41 .
25.
Lockwood, D. (1964) ‘Social Integration and System Integration’, in G. K. Zollschan and W. Hirsh (eds) Explorations in Social Change. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul .
26.
Lowe, A. (1995) ‘The Basic Social Processes of Entrepreneurial Innovation’ , International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research1(2): 54-76 .
27.
Lowe, J. (2001) Bill Gates Speaks: Insight from the World’s Greatest Entrepreneur. New York: John Wiley .
28.
Luk¥acs, G. (1980) The Ontology of Social Being (Vol. 3, Labour). London: Merlin .
29.
Marx, K. (1956) Capital, Vol. 2. London: Lawrence & Wishart .
30.
Marx, K. ([1847] 1961) The Poverty of Philosophy, ed. C. J. Arthur . London: Lawrence & Wishart .
31.
Myers, S. and Marquis, D. G. (1969) Successful Industrial Innovations. Washington DC: National Science Foundation .
32.
Nightingale, P. (1998) ‘A Cognitive Model of Innovation’ , Research Policy27: 689-709 .
33.
Nordstr ®om, K. A. and RidderstrÂle, J. (1999) Funky Business: Talent Makes Capital Dance. Stockholm: Bookhouse .
34.
Parsons, T. (1937) The Structure of Social Action. New York: Free Press .
35.
Perez, C. (1983) ‘Structural Change and Assimilation of New Technologies in the Economic and Social Systems’, Futures, October: 357-375.
36.
Rogers, E. (1983) Diffusion of Innovations, 3rd edn.New York: Free Press .
37.
Rosenberg, N. (1994) Exploring the Black Box: Technology, Economics and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
38.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1934) The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
39.
Slappendel, C. (1996) ‘Perspectives on Innovation in Organizations’ , Organization Studies17(1): 107-129 .
40.
Subramanian, A. and Nilakanta, S. (1996) ‘Organizational Innovativeness: Exploring the Relationship Between Organizational Determinants of Innovation, Types of Innovations, and Measures of Organizational Performance’ , Omega24(6): 631-647 .
41.
Swedberg, R. (2000) ‘The Social Science View of Entrepreneurship: Introduction and Practical Applications’, in R. Swedberg (ed.) Entrepreneurship: The Social Science View, pp. 7-44. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
42.
Tidd, J. , Bessant, J. and Pavitt, K. (2001) Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change, 2nd edn.Chicester: Wiley .
43.
Weber, M. (1947) The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. London: Free Press .
44.
Weber, M. (1978) Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretative Sociology, ed. G. Roth and C. Wittich . Berkeley: University of California Press .
45.
Zaltman, G. , Duncan, R. and Holbeck, J. (1973) Innovations and Organizations. New York: Wiley .
