Social Impact in Social Innovations: Definition, Design, and Evaluation

Abstract

Social innovations seek the transformation of society through innovative solutions. These solutions not only pursue the generation of social value but also operate under criteria of economic sustainability, making a tension in their management models and resulting in the creation of social enterprises, hybrid organizations, Social Purpose Business Models, among others. One of the main challenges facing a social innovation is to show the impact it is having and how it is positively transforming society. Despite its relevance, the impact is an issue rarely addressed in the study of social innovations and social entrepreneurship. The present chapter has the interest to expose what is the social impact, what are the different levels of impact that exist, the relevance that it has for social innovations and as far as possible design evaluations that allow them to increase their legitimacy and demonstrate the value that they are generating in society.