T-AP SI: Social Innovation Processes in and around Multinational Companies: The Role of Social Activists and their Transnational Networks

This project is about social innovation carried out by multinational companies to address inequality. With their cross-border mobilisation of technologies and relentless search for skills, markets and cost savings, multinationals can be drivers of inequality. Yet, some countervailing evidence points to some multinationals engaging in initiatives to address economic and social issues. These initiatives may concern healthcare, educational and skill ecosystems, core labour rights, discrimination based on gender, race, sexual orientation and disability, or the marginalisation of migrants and indigenous peoples.

This project looks at social innovation initiatives on inequality carried out by actors within multinational companies in interaction with civil society and government stakeholders in different industry, community and national contexts. It focuses on three developed economies (Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom) and two emerging economies (Brazil, Mexico). The multidisciplinary research team in these countries will look at the nature of these innovations and whether, and how they are scaled-up and diffused beyond the boundaries of national institutional systems to address broader concerns.

The project aims to understand the different types of social activists who instigate, spread and sustain such social innovations, the resources and social skills they deploy, and the level of social reach and impact they attain.

In adopting a lens to look at social innovation initiatives as bottom-up and co-constructed by a variety of private-firm and community actors, with a focus on the conditions under which such innovations might be scaled up to provide broader solutions to problems of inequality and inclusive growth, this project will enable policymakers, multinational managers and community activists to develop policy recommendations to promote diversity and social inclusion and will highlight the conditions and practises conducive to the scaling-up and dissemination of social innovation initiatives on inequality.

This project asks not just "what" but "how" social innovations are brought about. It is fundamentally concerned with providing social actors the capabilities and tools to participate in the transformation of a central aspect of their societies. Inequality constitutes one of the greatest social challenges currently generating political and social tensions across the globe and tackling it is a central concern for most societies, in both developed and emerging economies. Through its unique architecture and focus, this project is poised to make a significant contribution to that conversation and the ability of a variety of stakeholders to contribute to more equal and inclusive societies.

It will do so primarily through its novel focus on the interaction between a range of actors in and around the multinational firm, including those in public policy and civil society organizations, concerning social innovation on issues of inequality. Our scientific and normative goals converge in an effort to understand the processes of social innovation as observed through actor strategies and skills. Our ongoing engagement with the participants in our research will entail dialogue over the strategies that are more or less effective in bringing about social innovations that have reach and impact as well as the skills that are necessary in this respect. Our ability to do this stems from our innovative model for knowledge aggregation through comparative qualitative research across different national teams and industry sectors. Drawing on a history of research collaboration and ground-breaking technological infrastructure to break down barriers for international collaboration (see above), it proposes a way of better aggregating social science research that can have impact beyond academia. The iterative interrogation of comparative cases through structured deliberation will produce a nuanced and detailed picture of social innovation and demonstrate new ways of advancing knowledge, thus promising a unique impact on models of knowledge production that integrate fundamental scientific inquiry, training, and stakeholder and community outreach. It is intended that the findings of the proposed research will guide the development of social policy-making on scaling-up and restructuring, and sustainable urbanisation, potentially boosting inclusive growth, supporting the provision of healthcare, promoting core rights at work and safeguarding the rights of vulnerable groups, as well as satisfying the rising public expectation that MNCs will engage in such initiatives.