Innovation in Multistakeholder Settings: The Case of a Wicked Issue in Health Care

Edwin Rühli, Sybille Sachs, Ruth Schmitt, Thomas Schneider

Journal of Business Ethics · 2017 · Volume 143 · Issue 2

Abstract

In this article, we offer an approach of how participative stakeholder innovation can be evaluated in complex multistakeholder settings that address wicked issues. Based on the principle of mutual value creation, we present an evaluation framework that accounts for the social interaction process during which stakeholders integrate their resources and capabilities to develop innovative products and services. To assess this evaluation framework, we collected multiple data from the case study of the Swiss Cardiovascular Network, which represents a multistakeholder setting related to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Our findings indicate that the evaluation dimensions of the stakeholders’ mindsets, the process and context of the stakeholder interactions, as well as the outcomes are useful concepts to account for a cooperative process of innovation in a multistakeholder setting. We discuss both the theoretical and practical insights of our analysis for participative stakeholder innovation.

Keywords

Health care, Innovation, Value creation, Wicked issues, Multistakeholder setting

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