Social innovation: the process development of knowledge-intensive companies

The new service development of knowledge-intensive companies in emerging economies is changing from processes with only economic goals to processes that combine economic and social needs. In this approach, processes are socially constructed through society, aiming at achieving innovation success. The main research goal is to explore how companies organise the development process of new services in order to achieve the economic and social needs. More specifically, how do companies develop social processes that enable innovation supported by relevant social groups, in order to cope with latent social needs in emerging economies, and keep the competitive advantage under turbulent conditions? The main finding is the presentation of a model for process development of new services of knowledge-intensive companies in emerging economies. The integration of lead-users and relevant social groups in the innovation process can support companies in organising innovation processes for the achievement of economic and social challenges.