Making a Difference: Strategies for Scaling Innovation for Greater Impact
Frances Westley & Nino Antadze
March, 2009
This paper explores the strategies and dynamics of scaling up of social innovations for greater social impact. Included is a definition of social innovation and its relationship to complex environments and systems, as well as an exploration of the related concepts of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship. The model of scaling up as simply requiring ‘more’ (or the market model), is questioned and deemed unreliable in understanding the complex nature of social innovation. Rather, readers are offered a distinctive model of systems transformation for consideration; and introduced to a variety of key roles within these transformative environments, including that of the institutional entrepreneur, individuals whose perspectives, skills and relationships are critical elements for significant and durable social change.