The Social Innovations and the Place of the Empirical Sociological Investigations in their Information Supply
The Social Innovations and the Place of the Empirical Sociological Investigations in their Information Supply

Summary/Abstract: The article poses questions, which concern the role and the place of the empirical sociological investigations (ESI) in the management needs for information regarding the social innovations. The author supports the idea that the new information technologies have truly revolutionized the operational activity, but they have not substantially altered the process of making strategic management decisions. In order to realize successful social innovations, the managers need specific information, which they often lack. In this respect, empirical sociology is still in debt to the senior management. To meet these particular needs, it is not necessary to have more information available, or more technology, or faster data collection and analyzing, but rather new concepts of information are called for. The author discusses problems concerning the content of the information, which is needed for justifying new strategies, policies and other managerial decisions, the need for broadening the tasks of ESI and the adoption of new research technologies in: the formulation, the choice of approaches, methods and specific research tools. The author also advocates the small samples (representative and non-representative) as an appropriate research tool for identifying problems and inconsistencies, hidden reserves, unexplored opportunities, ideas and variants for more effective managerial decisions.

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