Systems design thinking for social innovation: a learning perspective

• Published date: 01 June 2023
• Author: Bowon Kim
• Date: 01 June 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12317

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Systems design thinking for social innovation: a

learning perspective

Bowon Kim

KAIST College of Business, Seoul,

South Korea

Correspondence

Bowon Kim, KAIST College of Business,

Seoul 02455, South Korea.

Email: bwkim@kaist.ac.kr

Abstract

We define social innovation as strategic decision mak-

ing to improve social conditions and facilitate social

changes in a desirable direction by dealing with crucial

issues and solving fundamental societal problems. This

paper proposes a framework that enables the decision

maker to implement social innovation effectively. The

framework consists of three influential theories or ways

of thinking, that is, design thinking, systems thinking,

and learning organization. This paper shows how these

three approaches can be integrated to tackle a critical

social problem and develop a sustainable solution. We

present a case study on an actual social issue to demon-

strate its practical application.

KEYWORDS

design thinking, learning organization, social innovation,

system dynamics, systems thinking

1|INTRODUCTION

Innovation is the key driver not only for economic but also for social development for human-

ity. Mulgan (2006) defined social innovation as innovative activities and services that are moti-

vated by the goal of meeting a social need (Cornelius et al., 2008). But his definition of social

innovation is rather strictly focused on social enterprises, whose mission is tightly connected

with social causes in a narrowly defined sense. Herrera (2015) postulated that a firm can create

shared value and enhance competitive advantage by integrating social innovation into its busi-

ness strategy and operations. In fact, social innovation can create social value and competitive

advantage simultaneously.

Received: 6 March 2022 Accepted: 8 February 2023

DOI: 10.1111/basr.12317

© 2023 W. Michael Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University.

Bus Soc Rev. 2023;128:217–250. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/basr 217

Note that in this paper, we use the term ‘social’or ‘society’very comprehensively to refer to

any human organization, that is, regardless of whether it is profit or non-profit, public or pri-

vate, governmental or non-governmental, informal, cultural entity, or even a human society as

a whole, for example, community and country. In general, there are three perspectives or levels

of analysis from which one can study social innovation, that is, individuals, movements, and

organizations (Mulgan et al., 2007). Since in this paper, however, we encompass both profit and

non-profit aspects of social innovation, our main level of analysis is organization. As such, the

focal decision maker in this paper is either an individual decision maker or a group of decision

makers (like top management) of an organization.

We define social innovation as a human organization's decision making intended to achieve

social development through carrying out innovative activities. More specifically, in order to

achieve social innovation, the organization should make strategic decisions to improve social

conditions and/or to facilitate social changes in a desirable direction by dealing with critical

issues and solving fundamental problems in society. The outputs of such decision making might

include new products or services, rules or regulations, policies, and laws, all of which are

intended to enhance the satisfaction or happiness of the people in society. In essence, all human

organizations, that is, man-made systems, aim to achieve some form of social development or

improvement.

But, it cannot be an easy task. First of all, any human society is an inherently complex sys-

tem. There are an infinite number of players, factors, and variables in the social system, each of

which contributes to the short-term or long-term working of the system in quite complex and

unpredictable ways, that is, uncertainties. As such, it is a daunting task to find an answer to

such a question as how one can design a strategy for social innovation that can be effective and

efficient at the same time. The starting point is the premise that in order to innovate, the deci-

sion maker must be able to identify and solve fundamental problems in the social system.

In this paper, our goal is to propose a framework for developing effective social innovation.

We put forth that the framework should be based on principles of three approaches or ways of

thinking, that is, design thinking, systems thinking, and learning organization. Design thinking

focuses on the human-centered approach, emphasizing empathy, brainstorming, informal cul-

ture, and visualization, for example, a prototype-driven process. On the other hand, some of the

main principles of systems thinking include the reinforcing or balancing loop, delay, and lever-

age, all of which create dynamics in cause-and-effect relationships. Despite that these two ways

of ‘thinking’seem to have little in common, a clear goal is pursued by both approaches, that is,

to solve a problem. That is, the decision maker approaches a social or physical problem from

the human-centric perspective through design thinking and tries to ‘design’creative solutions.

Similarly, through systems thinking, the decision maker wants to understand the systemic

relationship underlying a particular social or physical problem and find a solution. The organi-

zational learning theory offers the decision maker tools and methodologies with which she can

find appropriate solutions to a problem. Therefore, the organizational learning theory links the

two ways of thinking by enabling the decision maker to tackle and solve the problem more

effectively. For example, the organizational learning theory suggests that the decision maker

should focus on finding root causes for longer term ‘total solutions’while dealing with symp-

toms for ‘temporary relief of pain’caused by the problem at the same time.

The paper is structured as follows. In the next section, we review relevant works of literature

on social innovation, design thinking, systems thinking, and learning organization. In Section 3,

after defining the framework formally, we show how the principles from each approach com-

plement others and also how the learning theory fully integrates design thinking and systems

218 KIM

thinking in developing a sustainable strategy to tackle critical issues in society. Section 4

elaborates on the application process of the framework. In the following section, we present a

real-world case study, to demonstrate how to apply the framework to solving an actual social

problem. Finally, in the last section, we recapitulate the findings and suggest key conclusions

along with managerial implications.

2|LITERATURE

As stated earlier, our research objective is to build a framework that enables the decision maker

to design an effective strategy for social innovation. In this paper, we specifically define social

innovation as a strategic decision making to improve social conditions, solve social problems,

and facilitate social changes in a desirable direction. That is, social innovation is concerned with

the decision making aimed at improving the social conditions, that is, the current state of

human organization (e.g., economic prosperity, social justice, public health, environmental sus-

tainability, and political stability). These social issues are extremely complex, for example, their

causal relationships are quite complicated, intertwined, and multidimensional.

Any framework for social innovation should enable the decision maker to understand the

social issues or problems thoroughly via analyzing the ‘complicated, intertwined, and multi-

dimensional’causal relationships embedded in the society and derive solutions, which are not

only efficient but also human-centered, that is, based on the empathy for the people in the soci-

ety in point. In addition, the solution must be sustainable so that it can tackle the root causes of

the problem and be self-adapting to the changing environment. Finally, once the social issue or

problem is solved, the decision maker should get relevant knowledge and experience, and share

them with others in the society. Then, the learning process can continue.

Considering these criteria for an ideal framework, we suggest focusing on three distinctive

approaches or theories, all of which are concerned with fundamental problem solving for

human society. These are design thinking, systems thinking, and learning organization. As we

derive the framework from these three powerful approaches or ways of thinking, we review lit-

erature on them in relation to social innovation and try to make a case for how these constructs

are linked and can be integrated to form a robust framework.

2.1 |Social innovation

In this paper, we define social innovation as the strategic decision making to improve social

conditions or to facilitate social changes in a desirable direction by solving fundamental social

problems. Although the term ‘social’has been used in many different ways in the literature, we

use it in a generic way, comprehensive enough to refer to any human organization.

That is, there are numerous cases, where it is neither necessary nor reasonable to equal

‘social’with ‘nonprofit’. One such case is concerned with ‘social enterprises’, which are ‘not-

for-profit private organizations providing goods or services directly related to their explicit aim

to benefit the community’(Defourny & Nyssens, 2008). It is a business to promote a social pur-

pose in a financially sustainable way, for example, earned income from sales is reinvested in its

mission to accomplish social causes.

Dart (2004) legitimized the business side of social enterprise, suggesting ‘As business

becomes a more preeminent organizational model and as increasingly wide swaths of human

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