Employees as social intrapreneurs: Active employee participation in social innovation

Employees form an important but less explored and utilized resource in social innovation in social welfare organisations it the third and public sectors. The employees have important knowledge of the everyday challenges of the organisations, the wishes and needs of their users and customers, and of the local communities which can inspire and refine innovations. They are active, albeit not always consciously so and potential social intrapreneurs. Although wider international research exists the Nordic research seems to dominate the field. The aim of this chapter is to contribute to the existing research on employees as social intrapreneurs (the fields of employee-driven innovation and social intrapreneurship) by conceptualizing active employee participation in social innovation and elucidate the potential and multiplicity of the phenomenon. The chapter is theoretical explorative.