Purpose: – Respecting the growing importance of interdependence of knowledge, values and social responsibility, the purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of knowledge-cum-values management and to show how some soft systems approaches can support interdependence of knowledge and human values resulting in socially responsible innovative behavior, hence in success.Design/methodology/approach: – The selected soft systems approaches are used to double-check the usefulness of the requisitely holistic approach to knowledge-cum-values management and innovation. The applied methodology for qualitative analysis is the Dialectical Systems Theory.Findings: – One-sidedness, unlike the requisite holism, causes oversights and hence disables innovations as a new users’ benefit. Requisitely holistic knowledge-cum-values management prevents one-sidedness and therefore many oversights; hence it is a valuable driver of innovation. It is supported by social responsibility (exposing the systemic behavior by suggesting interdependence and holistic approach to one’s responsibility for one’s influences on society). By including values and by enabling consideration of interdependence of human values and knowledge, some soft systems approaches support innovative behavior with social responsibility.Research limitations/implications: – Research is limited to theoretical findings resulting from authors’ previous empirical studies. The novel concept “knowledge-cum-values” erases the human dangerous one-sidedness resulting from the irrational rationalistic division of the two. Social responsibility supports informal use of some soft systems theories and diminishes this danger.Practical implications: – The practical application of the selected soft systems approaches and social responsibility offers great possibilities for managers to improve the holism of their innovation processes, driven by knowledge-cum-values management. Fewer oversights are possible and lead to fewer mistakes and more success in the invention-innovation-diffusion processes. No human is rational or emotional only, either as a creator or as a consumer, but this fact is disregarded in the management literature.Social implications: – Social responsibility shall be considered as an important novel soft-system approach and part of organizational innovative behavior aimed to replace the one-sided approaches prevailing so far and causing crises: the overseen attributes do not cease, but they still impact life and are out of control.Originality/value: – The contribution introduces the new, still insufficiently researched concept of knowledge-cum-values management; it highlights new ways of attaining the requisitely holistic knowledge-cum-values management that enhances enterprise’s innovation capacity by requisite holism, supported by social responsibility.

Growing importance of sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and business ethics requires various types of contemporary organisations innovation. This research assesses the problem related to business policy innovation (BPI), which represents organisational governance determination. The main purpose of the paper is to qualitatively and quantitatively present a new, requisitely holistic strategic model of the soft factors influencing BPI, which interdependently incorporates changes in organisational values, culture and business ethics, as well as stakeholders’ interests reconciliation, thus determine soft possibilities for more sustainable business policy, management and practice. While the relevance of these factors for business policy is in the literature widely recognized, there is a small amount of empirical research on their influence on BPI. To mitigate this research gap, advanced structural equation modelling (SEM) based partial least squares (PLS) method was used for analysing data of 734 organisations in Slovenia, the EU state. The research results show that researched soft factors organisational values, culture and stakeholders’ interests reconciliation statistically confirmed influence BPI. Thus, these recognitions can be used as the basis for strategic managerial decision making towards social responsibility and sustainability of an organisation. Reasons why it has not been statistically confirmed that business ethics influence BPI needs to be investigated in future research.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to prove that it is possible and necessary that higher education institutions develop appropriate competencies of students during the learning process as required by the practice if teachers use the systemic approach and cybernetics knowledge. The authors especially research the importance of competence entrepreneurship and how to stimulate entrepreneurship by developing competencies of creativity, teamwork and communication.Design/methodology/approach: Based on systems theory, transversal competencies entrepreneurship, creativity, teamwork and communication, as well as their interdependence, were requisitely holistic selected. In the selection of diverse contemporary learning methods, the authors started from an action research approach that implies learning by doing, i.e. participation of students. With the use of statistical methods, the authors showed that a cyber-systemic requisite holistic learning action approach based on interdependence of teacher and students learning process results in innovation of researched transversal competencies.Findings: Based on two quantitative and qualitative researches of 96 students’ competencies, the authors found out that when using contemporary learning methods, the desired results can be achieved. In described learning process everyone involved gained: both the teacher and the students.Research limitations/implications: The survey does not include verifying the usefulness of developed competencies in practice. Also, the study only covers the findings of the research study of one academic year.Practical implications: The research is important for the practice of higher education, as it demonstrates that the teacher is with a targeted focus on the selected viewpoints able to effectively improve students’ competencies.Social implications: If higher education’s institutions take a strategic decision to target improvement of the transversal competencies of students, they will be easier and faster to employ, and practice will get more relevant employees. The economy will be more efficient and effective.Originality/value: According to the authors’ knowledge, no research measures the development of selected transversal competencies using the contemporary learning methods, based on cyber-systemic learning action approach. The authors found out that the methods used have influenced the final results, which show that all measured students’ transversal competencies have improved.

Respecting the importance of corporate governance (CG), particularly various corporate governance mechanisms for improving corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, the paper highlights relevant CG–CSR synergies from the perspective of systems thinking. The paper further aims to demonstrate the ways in which selected systems methodologies can support CG–CSR synergies. Accordingly, we selected appropriate systems methodologies, such as dialectical systems theory, soft systems methodology, and system dynamics. We defined the dialectical system, consisting of essential corporate governance mechanisms, which contribute to CSR; we also identified the key stakeholders and their perceptions of CG–CSR relations through CATWOE analysis; thus, the appropriate root definition and conceptual model, including the activities that are relevant for CG–CSR relations, were developed. Developed systemic framework provided a relevant methodological support to highlight the various issues of corporate governance, such as institutional framework, market for corporate control, ownership structure, board structure, and their contribution to CSR.

The growing importance of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility (CSR) for contemporary organizations demands appropriate holistic tools. The paper highlights how Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), a relevant holistic, i.e., soft systems approach, supports the conceptualization and management of the complex issues of CSR and sustainable development. The SSM’s key methodological tools are used: rich picture, root definitions, and conceptual models. Empirical research compares a selected sample of enterprises in the automotive industry in the Republic of Serbia, to identify possible systemically desirable and culturally feasible changes to improve their CSR behaviour through promoting their sustainable development. Some limitations of this research and of SSM application are discussed. Combining SSM with some other systems approaches, such as System Dynamics or Critical Systems Heuristics, is recommended for future research.

In line with the open innovation paradigm, technology acquisitions which seek to gain access to new technologies and knowledge are becoming an important strategic tool for enhancing the innovative potential of companies. This research study is aimed at showing how technology acquisitions can help companies be more successful in making an innovation a reality. In that sense, various possibilities of improving companies' innovative potential after the implementation of technology acquisitions are analyzed in the paper. The challenges that companies are faced with in a period after technology acquisitions are explained and possible ways to overcome those challenges are indicated as well. The results of the conducted empirical research in the impact of technology acquisitions on a company's innovation are presented. The paper confirms the fact that the process of acquiring technology and knowledge from external sources and the harmonization of external knowledge with the internally developed knowledge base improve a company's innovative potential. Additionally, the research results show that acquisitions increase the likelihood of innovation in integration companies. Innovations are also made a reality much faster than they would be without the cooperation of companies.