Abstract
While innovation is recognised as a key driver of economic growth and competitiveness, less attention has been given to the study of the underpinning capability to be innovative, which is here taken to be the ability to successfully exploit new external knowledge. This conceptual paper examines the parallels between innovation theory in the administrative context and Amartya Sen’s capability approach, a wide vision of human potential and development. It is argued that applying Sen’s approach in this fashion enables a novel perspective on the link between the innovation potential that the individual may have and the constraints that social arrangements impose. This new insight can assist the formulation, management and acceptance of organisational change processes that aim to enhance the ability to see, assimilate and apply new knowledge. These processes are especially challenging in non-western contexts. This paper begins by introducing Sen’s approach, proceeds to establish a link with concepts of public sector administrative innovation, then examines some particular aspects of the relationship between the two, and concludes with some suggestions for further research.
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It should be noted that we are not dealing with a full theory of justice, even though the approach strongly advocates the equality or sufficiency in the capability space; considerations would need to be made also in the areas of, inter alia, human rights, processes, corollary effects and processes. That being said, through the history of its development the capability approach has made significant considerations for issues related to gender, class, ethnicity and capability disparities that are origin-dependent.
In this context, well-being could be interpreted as either implying good life — in terms of present good living, or alternatively flourishing, implying a degree of positive development over time. 79
Mainly through the work of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, who based themselves on the ideas of Locke, Kant, and Constant and von Humboldt, in the classical phase, with continued later development by Green, Hobhouse, and still later (in the postwar era) Berlin, Hart, Rawls and Dworkin.
Some present day liberals, such as Rawls or Dworkin appear to favor some degree of institutional intervention, in contrast to the classical libertarians, such as Frances Hayek or Robert Nozick, who have continued to defend free markets per se.
This is diametrically opposed to non-consequentialism, which stipulates that actions should be valued irrespective of their consequences (as in absolutely condemning, say, murder, without considering the consequences per se).
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According to Saith, R (‘Capabilities: the Concept and its Operationalisation’ Queen Elizabeth House, Working Paper Series, QEHWPS58, Oxford 2001, many of the issues that Sen takes up in regard to the Rawlsian theory of justice are also pertinent as critiques to the Basic Needs approach to human development, as proposed by Streeten et al (Streetan, P First Things First: Meeting Basic Human Needs in The Developing Countries, World Bank Publication: Oxford University Press 1981, and Stewart (Stewart, F ‘Basic Needs, Capabilities and Human Development’, Greek Economic Review, 17(2) 1995 pp 83–96), in which the aim is to achieve a decent life, defined through levels of health, nutrition and education.
Respectively dealing with the ethical appropriateness of the distribution of benefits and burdens, the penalisation of wrongdoing, or the compensatory process of adjusting loss or gain.
Since the days of Aristotle, philosophers and thinkers have been concerned with the idea of justice. The political connotations of distribution have been of interest to thinkers with egalitarian worldviews.
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As put forward by Pierce and Delbecq (Pierce, J and Delbecq, A ‘Organization structure, individual attitudes and innovation’ Academy of Management Review 2 (1), 1977 pp 27–37); and Van de Ven 1986, joining the individualist (individuals cause innovation, as framed by, say, Rogers (Rogers, E Diffusion of Innovations, The Free Press, New York (3rd Edition 1983, 1st edition 1962)) and structuralist perspectives (innovation is determined by structural characteristics, as developed by March and Simon (March, J and Simon, H Organizations, Wiley, New York 1958) and Zaltman et al (Zaltman, G, Duncan, R and Holbek,J Innovations and Organizations, Wiley, New York 1973), where innovation is produced by the interaction of structural influences and the actions of individuals, through a complex process, subject to reinvention and reconfiguration (Pierce and Delbecq 1977, Slappendal (Slappendal, C 1996 ‘Perspectives in Innovation in Organisations’ Organization Studies, 17/1).
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Systematic, continuous innovation appears to be very much a management issue (eg Van de Ven 1986). On the level of individual organisations Bessant and Caffyn, among others, make the case for continuous innovation as the only means of realising sustainable competitive advantage. See Bessant, J and Caffyn, S High-involvement innovation through continuous improvement, International Journal of Technology Management 14 (1) 1997 pp 7–28.
This idea is paralleled by the consideration that innovation theory has for the utility of inventions. Inventions become innovations only through utility.
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Example from Saith, op cit 2001
The diffusion of new technologies and products can be a lengthy one: in some cases decades pass before products are widely accepted and diffused.
As an example, in the South Pacific, large, ocean going canoes were replaced by motorised shipping in a short period of time.
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In this context it is enough to reflect on the changes brought about by the introduction of the bicycle. While it has evident utility as a vehicle of transport, it is also the source of new business, new services and new products, not to mention the symbolic value that the ownership of such machinery ascribes to its possessor. The knowledge embedded in the bicycle also helps to pave the way for the understanding of related technologies, as the motorcycle conceptually is not alien to someone who has used a bicycle. One of the interesting issues in this regard is related to the stepwise path that technology assimilation takes: is it absolutely necessary that one understands the bicycle before one can comprehend the motorcycle? The diffusion of mobile telephones in developing countries a perhaps an interesting parallel: often they exist where no cable connection telephones ever did, and while people may have never used a normal phone, they are perfectly familiar with the use of a mobile one.
This is closely related to the balance between the genetic and environmental conditioners in terms of human abilities.
Lundvall op cit 1992 makes the point that innovation requires equity and returns for all members of the society.
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Perhaps the most advanced operationalisation to date, in practical terms and in practical worldwide coverage, is the measurement developed by the Human Development Report of UNDP for the Human Development Index (HDI) is an example of a second and third level operationalisation of the CA, as its presents a practical method for evaluating well-being in a form that makes international comparisons of welfare and well-being. The HDI combines the purchase power parity (PPP which measures access to weighed financial resources for a decent living), with indicators of life expectancy at birth (measuring health through longevity), literacy, and school enrolments (measuring the educational opportunities for self-improvement) to achieve a more complete picture of human well-being that would be available from the PPP indicators. The UNDP approach is pragmatic, and does not attempt to encompass the whole of human diversity into a single set of indicators and or measurement. More conceptual operationalisation have been proposed by Balestrino and Petretto‘’, who incorporate non- welfare concerns of basic functionings within a welfarist framework, through developing pricing strategies (evaluating taxes, subsidies, free issues) for key commodities that act as inputs for health and education functionings. See (Balestrino, A and Petretto, A ‘Optimal Taxation Rules for ‘Functioning’-Inputs’ Economic-Notes 23(2), 1994 pp 216–32) Sen has suggested that adjusted incomes may be needed for individuals in different socio-economics situations (say, income capability achievement adjusted for literacy). Sen op cit 1993.
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Commodities, conversion factors and constraints
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As an example, in one African country an information management system was put in place in a province to provide the knowledge of the facilities related to the health delivery service. While much effort was made to link the initiative to individual ability (by training staff ) and national policy (by developing a national maintenance policy), less consideration was given to the constraints that were imposed on the system by the working culture of the line ministry in question. As a result the system never became sustainable and failed in due course.
In the case of an educational project in the South Pacific, the original focus was on improving the across-the-board access to school through improved facilities; later it was realised that in some schools empty study places existed, while other schools were overloaded. This was traced to major problems in staff turnover, which was addressed through additional training. While this was partly successful, it became clear that it was the lack of commodities on the outer islands, together with the nepotism originating from organisational constraints of the central authority, which effectively inhibited effective staff deployment. As the students tended to enrol in schools on the basis of the individual teaching staff, rather than the location, stabilising staff turnover would have resulted in stable student populations. A case for a holistic approach from the start.
See, for example, Alkire, S Operationalizing Amartya Sen’s Capability approach to Human Development: A Framework for Identifying ‘Valuable’ Capabilities DPhil thesis, Oxford University 1998,, Balestrino, A ‘Poverty and Functionings: Issues in Measurement and Public Action’, Giornale-degli-Economisti-e-Annali-di-Economia; 53(7–9), 1994 pp 389–406.
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Koria, M. On Innovation and Capability: A Holistic View. Philos. of Manag. 7, 77–87 (2009). https://doi.org/10.5840/pom20097230
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/pom20097230