Organisational Institutionalisation of Responsible Innovation

Richard Owen*, Mario Pansera, Phil Macnaghten, Sally Randles

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

97 Citations (Scopus)
764 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We describe the institutionalisation of responsible innovation (RI) over the last decade at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and universities funded by it as a focal point for RI in the UK. Drawing on organisational theory we identify factors influencing the dynamics of RI institutionalisation, including forces of legitimation, entrepreneurship and decoupling. We report significant institutionalisation at the EPSRC prior to 2013, when it published its RI policy. Notwithstanding instances of experimentation and assimilation since, we report limited institutionalisation within research communities in universities as RI has encountered competing institutional logics, responsibility norms and epistemic practices. Our findings suggest an ongoing and dynamic process of translation that reflects RI’s status as a performative and contested discourse ‘in the making’.
Original languageEnglish
Article number104132
Number of pages13
JournalResearch Policy
Volume50
Issue number1
Early online date1 Oct 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant no. ES-077-26-0001) and the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, (Grant no. 709637. We thank staff at the EPSRC for access. We also thank comments made by two anonymous reviewers which greatly strengthened our manuscript.

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant no. ES-077-26-0001 ) and the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme , (Grant no. 709637 . We thank staff at the EPSRC for access. We also thank comments made by two anonymous reviewers which greatly strengthened our manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)

Keywords

  • Responsible Innovation
  • organisational institutionalism
  • practice
  • policy

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