Exploring Service Innovation through Social Entrepreneurship

This study examines key issues and trends in service innovation through social entrepreneurship in order to propose effective strategies for creating social value. This study used the SCOPUS database to collect published papers on “social entrepreneurship” and “service innovation.” A keyword network analysis was conducted to identify relationships between key concepts, employing centrality, clustering, and ego network analysis to assess the relative importance and associations among keywords. The results suggest that service innovation through social entrepreneurship has been focused on addressing a range of social issues, including environmental sustainability, social value enhancement, and economic value. In addition, applications of advanced technologies, coordination with public policy, and support for vulnerable groups were identified as key elements involved in service innovation. These elements were found to interact in ways that contribute to the advancement of social entrepreneurship. The implications of the study can be considered from two perspectives: firstly, the study results make academic contributions to unraveling the relationship between service innovation and social entrepreneurship; and secondly, the study provides new insights that can help develop effective practical strategies for creating social value.