The purpose of this paper is to review the innovation research literature which has made an explicit use of social network analysis methodology in order to provide empirical support to innovation theories or conceptual frameworks. The review introduces social network analysis then discusses why and how it has been used in innovation research so far. This paper argues that studies using social network analysis tend to focus too much
on change in the relationships between interacting units or nodes of the network to the detriment of change within units/nodes. Therefore, a combination of case study and social network analysis can offer a solution to that problem by providing the best of both methodologies.
Within the agricultural development sector, innovation has been identified as a primary pathway to achieve economic, social and environmental goals. Innovation is traditionally defined as a linear and relatively homogenous process involving the invention of a “new” technology that is...
The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) has a high potential to raise smallholder income and improve food security in Eastern Africa. Improving the quality of seed potatoes can contribute to increasing its productivity. Few seed potatoes are currently sourced from specialized...
World Bank Institute (WBI) works to improve the understanding, practice and results of capacity development, an important way to support development goals and priorities for aid effectiveness. WBI developed the Capacity Development and Results Framework (CDRF), as a strategic and...
There is increasing policy, practice and academic interest in “inclusive innovation”. In simple terms, this is the means by which new goods and services are developed for and/or by those who have been excluded from the development mainstream; particularly the...
This book is about the challenges and practical realities of building the capacity to innovate. It describes the experiences of the Research Into Use (RIU) programme, a fi ve-year, multi-country investment by DFID that aimed to extract development impact from...
