Purpose The Aakash tablet was developed as a social innovation (SI) to transform India’s higher e... more Purpose The Aakash tablet was developed as a social innovation (SI) to transform India’s higher education sector. This paper aims to explain the failure of the Aakash tablet beyond the typical explanations of deficiencies in the device’s technical capabilities. This paper argues that an SI lens provides a stronger explanation for its failure than the standard analyses built primarily on the technological viability of the device. Design/methodology/approach The Aakash project ran from 2010 to 2015. During this period, a number of government and policy reports as well as mainstream media articles were published on the device. Since 2015, a number of academic articles have been published on the Aakash emphasizing its failure as a technological solution. The authors draw on these sources to frame an understanding of the Aakash’s failure informed by SI theory. Findings Through a complexity-informed analysis, the authors show that the failure of the Aakash stemmed from flawed assumptions and a failure of the initiative to engage with both the particular and constantly changing features of the broader landscape of needs and opportunities. Originality/value This study draws attention to failure as a legitimate aspect of the study of SI. In presenting a “counter-case” to the usual success stories, it shows that the SI lens can also explain why an SI does not take off. It thereby adds to the literature on SI and complexity theory through an exploration of the complex interactions among public policy goals, technological advancements and entrepreneurship.
The growth of the international market in financial derivatives over the past 40 years has radica... more The growth of the international market in financial derivatives over the past 40 years has radically changed the governance of the global economy, and this growth can be drawn directly from the development of the Black–Scholes options pricing model. The global derivatives market is an example of a social innovation with a global impact, raising a number of conceptual issues for theories of cross-scale interaction and elective affinity. The derivatives market demonstrated an ideological elective affinity with the deregulatory movement as it grew, was enabled by and provided funding to advances in computing, and was reinforced by the profitability of derivative trading. Governments shifted from being the key players in domestic financial regulation to competing with each other to attract actors in the derivatives industry, a change that raises questions about the nature of cross-scale interactions.
A common topic of debate in academic scholarship on impact, ethical, and responsible investing is... more A common topic of debate in academic scholarship on impact, ethical, and responsible investing is definitional clarity around the motivations and applications of each form of investment strategy. We ask, how does the subfield of impact investing differentiate itself from more established ethical and responsible investing – and do these differences necessitate yet another field of study? Adopting a combination of bibliometric and content analyses, we identify four distinct features of impact investing – positive impact targeting, novelty of governance structures, long time horizons, and the importance of philanthropy.
Through interviews with 25 school board trustees in Ontario, this article contributes to the grow... more Through interviews with 25 school board trustees in Ontario, this article contributes to the growing literature that explores the politics‐administration dichotomy at the local government level in Canada. While existing literature is oriented from the perspective of the local government administrator, we examine the relations between local government politicians and administrators from the orientation of the former to determine how they navigate the dichotomy, particularly in a context where it is arguably more contested. We identify six informal practices trustees adopt in representing constituents and confronting tensions inherent in their role, namely: navigating, influencing, listening, translating, informing, and uploading.
Purpose When complex social-ecological systems collapse and transform, the possible outcomes of t... more Purpose When complex social-ecological systems collapse and transform, the possible outcomes of this transformation are not set in stone. This paper aims to explore the role of social imagination in determining possible futures for a reformed system. The authors use a historical study of the Luddite response to the Industrial Revolution centred in the UK in the early-19th century to explore the concepts of path dependency, agency and the distributional impacts of systems change. Design/methodology/approach In this historical study, the authors used the Luddites’ own words and those of their supporters, captured in archival sources (n = 43 unique Luddite statements), to develop hypotheses around the effects on political, social and judicial consequences of a significant systems transformation. The authors then scaffolded these statements using the heuristics of panarchy and basins of attraction to conceptualize this contentious moment of British history. Findings Rather than a strict...
Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, 2020
The current ethos of most nonprofit boards of directors focuses on role clarity between board dir... more The current ethos of most nonprofit boards of directors focuses on role clarity between board directors and the executive director. The board’s role is to collectively set strategic direction and provide oversight while leaving day-to-day operations to staff. Yet, many individual directors join a board to make an impact on the organization by addressing very specific operational concerns and/or to represent a stakeholder group, and this creates tension at the board table. This article explores whether there is necessarily a trade-off between the representative and good governance roles of a nonprofit board director. It will demonstrate that the tension between representing member interests and governing nonprofits is a false dichotomy. Reconciling these two interests offers some potential avenues for improved organizational accountability.
Purpose The Aakash tablet was developed as a social innovation (SI) to transform India’s higher e... more Purpose The Aakash tablet was developed as a social innovation (SI) to transform India’s higher education sector. This paper aims to explain the failure of the Aakash tablet beyond the typical explanations of deficiencies in the device’s technical capabilities. This paper argues that an SI lens provides a stronger explanation for its failure than the standard analyses built primarily on the technological viability of the device. Design/methodology/approach The Aakash project ran from 2010 to 2015. During this period, a number of government and policy reports as well as mainstream media articles were published on the device. Since 2015, a number of academic articles have been published on the Aakash emphasizing its failure as a technological solution. The authors draw on these sources to frame an understanding of the Aakash’s failure informed by SI theory. Findings Through a complexity-informed analysis, the authors show that the failure of the Aakash stemmed from flawed assumptions and a failure of the initiative to engage with both the particular and constantly changing features of the broader landscape of needs and opportunities. Originality/value This study draws attention to failure as a legitimate aspect of the study of SI. In presenting a “counter-case” to the usual success stories, it shows that the SI lens can also explain why an SI does not take off. It thereby adds to the literature on SI and complexity theory through an exploration of the complex interactions among public policy goals, technological advancements and entrepreneurship.
The growth of the international market in financial derivatives over the past 40 years has radica... more The growth of the international market in financial derivatives over the past 40 years has radically changed the governance of the global economy, and this growth can be drawn directly from the development of the Black–Scholes options pricing model. The global derivatives market is an example of a social innovation with a global impact, raising a number of conceptual issues for theories of cross-scale interaction and elective affinity. The derivatives market demonstrated an ideological elective affinity with the deregulatory movement as it grew, was enabled by and provided funding to advances in computing, and was reinforced by the profitability of derivative trading. Governments shifted from being the key players in domestic financial regulation to competing with each other to attract actors in the derivatives industry, a change that raises questions about the nature of cross-scale interactions.
A common topic of debate in academic scholarship on impact, ethical, and responsible investing is... more A common topic of debate in academic scholarship on impact, ethical, and responsible investing is definitional clarity around the motivations and applications of each form of investment strategy. We ask, how does the subfield of impact investing differentiate itself from more established ethical and responsible investing – and do these differences necessitate yet another field of study? Adopting a combination of bibliometric and content analyses, we identify four distinct features of impact investing – positive impact targeting, novelty of governance structures, long time horizons, and the importance of philanthropy.
Through interviews with 25 school board trustees in Ontario, this article contributes to the grow... more Through interviews with 25 school board trustees in Ontario, this article contributes to the growing literature that explores the politics‐administration dichotomy at the local government level in Canada. While existing literature is oriented from the perspective of the local government administrator, we examine the relations between local government politicians and administrators from the orientation of the former to determine how they navigate the dichotomy, particularly in a context where it is arguably more contested. We identify six informal practices trustees adopt in representing constituents and confronting tensions inherent in their role, namely: navigating, influencing, listening, translating, informing, and uploading.
Purpose When complex social-ecological systems collapse and transform, the possible outcomes of t... more Purpose When complex social-ecological systems collapse and transform, the possible outcomes of this transformation are not set in stone. This paper aims to explore the role of social imagination in determining possible futures for a reformed system. The authors use a historical study of the Luddite response to the Industrial Revolution centred in the UK in the early-19th century to explore the concepts of path dependency, agency and the distributional impacts of systems change. Design/methodology/approach In this historical study, the authors used the Luddites’ own words and those of their supporters, captured in archival sources (n = 43 unique Luddite statements), to develop hypotheses around the effects on political, social and judicial consequences of a significant systems transformation. The authors then scaffolded these statements using the heuristics of panarchy and basins of attraction to conceptualize this contentious moment of British history. Findings Rather than a strict...
Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, 2020
The current ethos of most nonprofit boards of directors focuses on role clarity between board dir... more The current ethos of most nonprofit boards of directors focuses on role clarity between board directors and the executive director. The board’s role is to collectively set strategic direction and provide oversight while leaving day-to-day operations to staff. Yet, many individual directors join a board to make an impact on the organization by addressing very specific operational concerns and/or to represent a stakeholder group, and this creates tension at the board table. This article explores whether there is necessarily a trade-off between the representative and good governance roles of a nonprofit board director. It will demonstrate that the tension between representing member interests and governing nonprofits is a false dichotomy. Reconciling these two interests offers some potential avenues for improved organizational accountability.
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