What matters for the local adaptation of Western social innovation to China: deep core beliefs, institutional boundary conditions or managerial practices?

This paper argues that innovations should be understood in flux and more specific attention should be given to the transferability of innovations. To this vein, this article poses the question: under what conditions can social... [ view full abstract ]

This paper argues that innovations should be understood in flux and more specific attention should be given to the transferability of innovations. To this vein, this article poses the question: under what conditions can social innovations be successfully transferred to another context? The study will connect different theoretical thoughts to study which factors affect the transferability of social innovations to a new environment. We draw on classical work on organizational sociology and bind this seminal work on role of core belief systems and advocacy coalitions (Sabatier, 1987; Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith, 1993) and policy entrepreneurs and  (public) transformation management literature to establish the institutional,  cultural,  and behavioral boundary conditions to study local adoption and adjustment of social innovations. The empirical study comprises of a case study of  adoption of western social innovation (home care organization Buurtzorg) to China