Volume 22, 2011
Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Meeting
Anne Barraquier
Pages 176-188
The Influence of Social and Ethical Issues on Innovation
An Exploration of the Innovation “Black Box” Processes
Previous research has been looking for evidence of a correlation between social performance and financial performance. This paper suggests that social issues bring new knowledge within the processes of the organization, a knowledge that is integrated in the innovation process. An empirical study conducted in the flavor and fragrance industry demonstrates that social and ethical issues translate into data and knowledge through four processes: knowledge flows, social exchange, experiential learning and collaborative dynamics. These results are analyzed and briefly discussed.