Catalytic innovation as a strategy for social change and economical success. The case of Mexico.

Abstract

Poverty and unemployment are problems that affect many countries. Governments are not able to meet many social needs, creating a void into which business initiatives can enter. Social enterprises are a form of social entrepreneurship, and are initiatives that seek economic benefits as well as the alleviation of social needs. One successful strategy to meet social and economic benefits is through Christensen’s “Catalytic Innovation”. We performed 47 interviews in Mexican Social Enterprises to search for catalytic innovation, success traits and business strategies. We found that successful social enterprises meet most of Christensen catalytic innovation elements, and that they also have business strategies in place.