| Summary: | Thesis (M.M. (Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015. === The research was prepared based on a study of South African non-profit organisations that are engaging in the journey of applying a social business model to their operation, to deliver social innovation in a dynamic and unstable environment. Therefore, the study investigates the internal factors enhancing the potential of non-profit organisations to be innovative and deliver entrepreneurial social solutions. According to previous studies in the context of small and medium enterprises, those factors define the learning capability of an organisation, exerting a positive effect on its competitiveness and success. This research aimed to explore whether the same factors have a positive effect on the capability of non-profit organisations to deliver increased social innovation successfully.
The descriptive quantitative study was conducted among managers and staff of South African non-profit organisations delivering their programs across the country. The data were collected through a survey distributed virtually, thereafter analysed via multiple regression. New measurement scales for organisational learning capability and social innovation were empirically developed for the analysis of the data.
The results of the analysis provided support for only two of the five hypotheses theoretically developed, whereby the organisational dialogue and participative decision-making practices would enhance the capability of the organisation to deliver social innovation. On the contrary, the findings suggested that non-profit organisations in South Africa generate increased social innovation when they manage risk, instead of taking risk. Furthermore, the proposition for a positive relationship between knowledge conversion and social innovation was confirmed.
The findings highlighted the importance for non-profit organisations to evolve their learning capability to enhance social innovation; the results obtained pave the way for future research to further investigate the factors unfolding social innovation.
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