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Updated: Dec 9, 2025

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups
Published on: May 13, 2022
Editorial and research agenda: JBR special issue on business model innovation in social purpose organizations
Jay Weerawardena1, Gillian Sullivan Mort2, Sandeep Salunke3
1The University of Queensland, Australia.
Abstract:
In this introduction to the special issue on business model innovation (BMI) among social purpose organizations (SPOs), we define business models, BMI, and SPOs, and introduce the insights that papers in this special issue contribute to scholarly knowledge at the intersection of SPOs and BMI. We aggregate insights from articles in the special issue to provide insights into the major antecedents of BMI (environmental turbulence, and internal drivers), the substance of BMI (collaboration, managing tensions, and developing dynamic and learning capabilities), and the outcomes of BMI (expansion of dual social-economic goals, and organizational survival). Reflecting on this collection of papers, and the broader social sector literature, we then suggest several avenues for future research.

