Factors that Influence the Development of Innovations with a Social Focus in the Firm: A Systematic Literature Review

Social, environmental, and economic problems and demands have driven firms to take a more active role concerning pollution, the fight against gender inequality, income inequality, lack of health care, and even hunger and poverty. As a result, firms developed innovations with a social focus that contributes to solving these challenges. These occur in an economy of rapid, uncertain, and unprecedented change. Therefore, flexible enterprises and a theoretical framework are required to guide managerial decision-making. The innovations with a social focus have unique and distinctive characteristics determined by a group of factors related to the firm (internal) and its context (external); the study on these factors needs to be more conclusive and is still debatable. This paper used a structured approach through a systematic literature review to examine the factors that can influence the development of this type of innovation. Findings reveal that research in this area has an upward trend and quantitative approach predominates. The theory of resources and capabilities and the institutional have highlighted as theoretical references. There is a strong orientation toward environmental issues and a notable orientation toward the analysis of developed countries. The research also revealed that internal and external factors, and the agents' motivations, simultaneously affect the development of innovations with a social focus. Finally, the study proposes lines of future research to advance in this field.