GE2247 Management Essay on LinkedIn and Hong Kong Social Innovation

This essay examines LinkedIn as a social innovation, evaluating its role in connecting professionals and facilitating job opportunities. It explores LinkedIn's core elements, differentiating it from other forms of innovation and highlighting its impact on social progress, particularly in the context of Hong Kong. The essay also analyzes the major deficiencies of Hong Kong companies in scaling their social innovation initiatives, including market gaps, lack of standardized impact data, and the importance of human-centered design. It discusses how LinkedIn aligns with the principles of social innovation, supporting the creation of networks and platforms for positive social change and addressing social needs. The analysis draws on various academic sources and considers the challenges and opportunities within the social enterprise landscape of Hong Kong, offering insights into how companies can better integrate social innovation into their business strategies. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for a more integrated approach to social innovation, focusing on the importance of data-driven impact assessment and human-centered design to address complex social problems effectively.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Question 1: Is LinkedIn a Social Innovation
The concept of social innovation refers to the process of deploying or developing
effective solutions for the challenging and the systematic form of environmental and social
issues for supporting the social progress. In other words, social innovation can improve the
capacity of the society to transform and act. Social innovation refers to the newer form of social
practices that aims at meeting the social needs through better means compared to the existing
solution. This can be related to the working conditions, education, community, health or
development. The ideas get created with the target of strengthening or extending the civil
society. Social innovation thus involves the social procedures of innovation like the open source
methods and the techniques along with the innovations that have social purpose like the online
volunteering, microcredit, activism and distance learning. Moulaert, 2013) have put across that
transformative social innovation not only involve newer approaches for intractable problem but
remains successful in the changing of the social institutions that led to the problem in first place.
That includes novelty, meeting the social needs, effectiveness, transition from the ideas towards
the implementation and enhancing the capacity of the society towards undertaking innovative
acts.
Social Innovation has certain core elements. That includes novelty, meeting the social
needs, effectiveness, transition from the ideas towards the implementation and enhancing the
capacity of the society towards undertaking innovative acts. Cajaiba-Santana (2014) put across
that the features of the social innovation includes cross-sectoral aspects, newer social
capabilities and relationship, being experimental, collaborative and open, Coproduction and
presumption, mutualism, better usage of the asset and the resources and the development of the

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assets and the capabilities. It has been found that the core elements of social innovation are a
subset of its common features. There are various types of social innovations which includes ,
new products, new practices, new services, new markets, new technology, new platform, new
organizational forms, new rules and regulations and the new business models.
However, since the year2014, the sub domain of the social innovation is defined in
connection with digital technologies. The sub domain became known as the digital social
innovation thereby referring to type of collaborative and social innovations where the innovators,
communities and the users collaborate using the digital technologies for co creation of solutions
and knowledge for the wider range of the social needs at the scale and the speed that could not be
thought of before rise of internet.
LinkedIn is considered as employment and business oriented service that undertakes
operation via the websites and the mobile apps. It was found on December 28, 2002 and
launched in the May 5, 2003 (linkedin.com 2019). The LinkedIn app is primarily used for the
professional networking including the job postings by the employers as well as the job seekers.
As per the records of 2015, the company derived most of its revenue from selling the access to
the information about the member to the sales professionals and the recruiters. By the year 2019,
LinkedIn had close to 610 million registered users across 200 countries. Linked In can thus be
considered a social innovation as it deploys effective solutions for the employers and job seekers
through suitable job postings thereby supporting social progress.
Voorberg, Bekkers & Tummers (2015) put across that social innovation have been
launched by various actors that includes the companies, research institutions and the
independent organizations that uses the respective definitions related to the social innovation.

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Thus, it is worth undertaking a discussion about what distinguishes the aspects of the social
innovation from the other forms of the innovation or the social work. Social innovation focuses
on the innovation process and the manner in which change and innovation takes shape by
prioritizing the internal organizations of firms as well as productivity. The concept centers on the
new work and the newer means of cooperation specifically towards those that works towards
attainment of the sustainable society.
According to the Bureau of the European Policy Advisers, social innovation remains
characterized by the capacity of addressing the social needs that the traditional policy seems
incapable of tackling. It also ensures empowerment of the individuals and the groups and
willingness of changing the social relations. Therefore, social innovation has often been
presented in the manner in which that increases quality of the social services and the cost
effectiveness thereby offering superior, equivalent outcomes in spite of the constraints in budget
(Manzini, 2014). Social innovation might either take place within the government and for profit
sector or the spaces in between them.
Research has been focuses on types of the platforms that enabled this kind of cross-
sectoral and collaborative social innovation. There have been historical studies that suggest that
the transformation of a system might take years and hence not only requires the capacity of the
multiple partnerships but for the engaging policy, economic and legal institutions.
In this context it can be said that LinkedIn allowed the members in creating connections
and profiles to one another through an online social network that might represent real life
professional relationships. Here, the members could invite any individual in becoming a
connection. LinkedIn has been a completely owned subsidiary of Microsoft. Besides, LinkedIn

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supported the creation of Social Innovation Forum (SIF) that brings about a positive social
change by the engaging leaders, the building networks and the strengthening organizations.
Social Innovation Forum was a program of the Root Cause Consulting in the year 2003 which
later operated independently since the year 2015 (Phillips et l. 2015). SIF led to the creation of
the positive social change by educating and supporting the leaders of the social impact business
and the nonprofit organization so that they are able to deliver effective solutions to the social
issues thereby informing and engaging the investors and the funders in effectively directing
resources. It also helps in making connections and building of relationships across the diverse
communities such that the people can extend help to one another for generating important social
change.
Nicholls et al. (2015) however puts it differently saying that social innovation represent
an effort of the mental creativity that involves flexibility and fluency from wider range of
disciplines. The social innovation represents a sector that remains connected with the diverse
kind of disciplines within society. Nevertheless, the theory of social innovation on the connected
difference emphasizes on three dimensions of the social innovation (van der Have & Rubalcaba,
(2016). Firstly, the innovations represent newer combinations or the hybrids of the existing
elements instead of the new one. Secondly, the practice involves the cutting disciplinary or the
organizational boundaries. Thirdly, social innovation leaves behind the compelling newer
relationships between the previously separate groups or individuals. The concept of social
innovation is grabbing eyeballs within the academia.

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Question 2: The Major Deficiencies of Hong Kong (HK) Companies in Scaling their Social
Innovation (SI) Initiative
There are some people who like to believe that HongKong (HK) is an apathetic and
hardnosed place on its surface. However by undertaking an in depth study one is able to find that
there exist many people who possess generous capacity of designing and caring creative
solutions to the complex problems which becomes clear from the day to day conversations
with the NGOs, social innovators and business(Goodstadt, 2014 ). However there exist major
deficiencies in scaling the social innovation (SI) initiative in the country. Some of them are
mentioned below(2):
1. Presence of Market Gap with Available Value in spite of increasing interaction
and maturity of the social enterprise community: The social enterprise (SE) scene of Hong
Kong is developed compared to its Shared Value circle and hence there is a need of working
with the ecosystem under the social innovation umbrella. There has been a growth in the SE
community in eleven years(Chu & So, 2013). The social enterprise is home grown with a deeper
understanding of the frontline realities. They however lack reliable funding, lack of scaling of
resources and the clarity required for the business for the investors. Most of the companies
partners with the social enterprise and they seem to incline towards the CSR approaches instead
of the integration with the business expertise or the detailed analysis of the business impact. It is
however necessary for the social enterprises in realizing that the companies look beyond offering
volunteers, equipment or dollars and hence more integrated partnership like leveraging the
distribution networks would help in generating longer term value. In Hong Kong, the social
enterprise lacks building reputation. There lies another mismatch which lies in the speed of
taking action. Although resourced moderately, the social enterprises possess the mission of

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delivering and relying on the profitable value proposition for survival. It is to be noted that in
Hong Kong there are various young entrepreneurs who possess the fierce bias and passion
towards the action over the deliberation. Therefore, it is necessary for the companies in
reinventing the wheel for addressing the social issues in economic viable manner. Social
enterprises have however proven the models on the small scale thereby presenting opportunity
for the companies in partnering with and learning from them in adapting the products and the
services for the underserved segments of the market while raising bar for the business
discipline(Bethke & Gorski, 2014).
2. Lack of Standardized Impact Data and Social Welfare in Hong Kong:
There are many countries that put a full stop at reporting the outputs and the inputs of the
corporate citizenship program and failed in measuring the impact and the outcome implying the
non clarity of the cost effectiveness of the business. This has been the case for various CSR
partnerships and the well being program where it becomes harder in assessing the difference
made. It is to be noted that for upholding business case for SharedValue Program, measurement
should start from the beginning (Awale & Rowlinson, 2015).
Besides, data also acts as challenge in social sector and there is a lack of the standardized
impact and welfare data in Hong Kong that makes it more difficult in evaluating the
effectiveness. Although, there has been usage of various social impact modes by the SEs but
Hong Kong has a lack of the comparable data inputs (Dong & Ng, 2015). There have been
various players in working towards filling the gap but definitely it acts as opportunities for the
organizations having necessary expertise.

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It is however not possible for a company in credibly claiming that an improved health
related program contributes in creating Shared Values without business es tracking the changes
in the presenteeism, absenteeism, usage of resources , insurance cost and changes in the mental
well being of the employees.
5. Everything Begins and Ends with the Human Centered Design:
It is to be noted that if the bigger problems of the society was easier to be solved then it
would not have existed. The difficulty however lies in improving the hygiene of the
underdeveloped areas not just lies in the lack of the toilets but the introduction of effective and
feasible toilets in the context. One stage of difficulty in applying design thinking in the
companies of Hong Kong lies in its applying it in the context of the social issues that leads to
prototyping (Mosely, Wright & Wrigley, 2018).
Experimentation with the new model for the vulnerable population might have risk even
when the traditional products underwent beta testing. Thus, through partnering with the NGOs
and social enterprise through specific platform, companies will be able to mitigate the risk
through creation of opportunities and the feedback loop. As per the thinking experts of local
design, Hong Kong suffers broadly from the institutionalized means of thinking. For instance,
even when a school or government agency wanted improvement of the delivery service it might
remain limited by constraints of the system that requires a change in the first place. In a similar
fashion, the companies struggles in adopting Shared Value that most often requires a
transformation in the process, culture and the structure (Chan, 2015). Therefore, it is not
sufficient in coming up with creative design until and unless the organization encourages
experimentation. In addition it is also important to note whether there exists freedom in testing

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iterations. Hence, there is no need to change packaging if the problem gets sorted through
recycling.

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References:
Awale, R., & Rowlinson, S. (2015, September). A CSV concept to address health and safety
issues and achieve firm competitiveness in the Hong Kong construction industry. In CIB
W099-International Health and Safety Conference on Benefitting Workers and Society
through Inherently Safe (r) Construction. Downpatrick, EEI Publishing (pp. 240-249).
Bethke, D. A., & Gorski, J. (2014). Rethinking Social Ventures in Hong Kong. Rich. J. Global L.
& Bus., 13, 1.
Cajaiba-Santana, G. (2014). Social innovation: Moving the field forward. A conceptual
framework. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 82, 42-51.
Chan, S. C. K. (2015). Delay no more: struggles to re-imagine Hong Kong (for the next 30
years). Inter-Asia cultural studies, 16(3), 327-347.
Chu, Y. W., & So, A. (2013). Can Hong Kong design a new growth engine? A study of the
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Dong, Y. H., & Ng, S. T. (2015). A life cycle assessment model for evaluating the environmental
impacts of building construction in Hong Kong. Building and Environment, 89, 183-191.
Goodstadt, L. F. (2014). Poverty in the midst of affluence: How Hong Kong mismanaged its
prosperity. Hong Kong University Press.
linkedin.com. (2019). Retrieved from https://in.linkedin.com/company/social-innovation-forum

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Manzini, E. (2014). Making things happen: Social innovation and design. Design Issues, 30(1),
57-66.
Mosely, G., Wright, N., & Wrigley, C. (2018). Facilitating design thinking: A comparison of
design expertise. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 27, 177-189.
Moulaert, F. (Ed.). (2013). The international handbook on social innovation: collective action,
social learning and transdisciplinary research. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Nicholls, A., Simon, J., Gabriel, M., & Whelan, C. (Eds.). (2015). New frontiers in social
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Phillips, W., Lee, H., Ghobadian, A., O’Regan, N., & James, P. (2015). Social innovation and
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van der Have, R. P., & Rubalcaba, L. (2016). Social innovation research: An emerging area of
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and co-production: Embarking on the social innovation journey. Public Management
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