0000000000175118
AUTHOR
Aleksandar Bozic
Social Services, Social Innovation and Multi-Actor Collaboration: A Civil Society Organisation Perspective
A central focus of this PhD dissertation is to advance an understanding of how social innovation is generated through the perspective of civil society organisations (CSOs) that provide social services to vulnerable groups through collaboration with multiple actors in the fragile context, with a legacy of war. An “agency-structure” approach has been applied as an overarching perspective throughout this dissertation. Theories such as institutional theory (new institutionalism and institutional networking), resource-dependency theory as well as the concepts of social innovation, collaboration, non-state service provision, NGO-isation and the third sector-public services provision present the m…
Global trends in a fragile context : public–nonpublic collaboration, service delivery and social innovation
PurposeThis study aims to enhance the understanding of the nature of collaboration between public and nonpublic actors in delivering social services and achieving social innovation in a fragile context, with an emphasis on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs). The paper focuses on Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Southeastern European country which has faced a turbulent post-conflict transition and experienced challenges in its social welfare policy and practice.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses institutional theory, particularly new institutionalism and institutional networking, as a lens through which to understand public and nonpublic collaboration and social innovation withi…
Unpacking social innovation by nonstate service providers in the challenging social work practice
Nonstate service providers in the form of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play an important role in the delivery of social services and the development of social work practice, in particular in fragile and conflict-affected countries. In such challenging settings, NGOs also mobilize various resources, implement novel activities or service delivery models that may induce the development of social innovation; however, such perspectives have been overlooked in the social work literature. This study outlines a framework for understanding how social innovation generates by nonstate service providers in a challenging social work context. By analyzing 15 interviews from Bosnia and Herzegovina…
Social innovation in a post-conflict setting : examining external factors affecting social service NGOs
While the study of the influence of external environmental factors on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is well explored in the international development literature, the importance of these factors on NGOs’ transformative roles in a post-conflict development setting remains less understood. Nevertheless, external environmental factors could have a crucial impact on NGOs in such a context, especially when NGOs want to integrate a socially innovative approach into the social services they provide. Using survey data of staff members of social service NGOs from post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina (N = 120) and applying resource dependence theory, this study identifies three environmental f…