While most innovations are developed in organizations, there is a wide-spread consensus that the organizational institutionalization of Responsible (Research and) Innovation is limited. This may partly be the case because we lack an understanding of what factors drive or impede the institutionalization of such responsibility-related changes and how they interact. In this paper, we draw from various institutional entrepreneurs’ experiences, who worked within eight organizational change labs, to explore the dynamic institutionalization of Responsible (Research and) Innovation. Our study identifies 29 factors highlighting some of the intricate, dynamic, and ‘messy’ complexities found in organizations. We conclude by offering some reflections on the role of institutional entrepreneurship for Responsible (Research and) Innovation.

In this paper, we introduce the Societal Readiness (SR) Thinking Tool to aid researchers and innovators in developing research projects with greater responsiveness to societal values, needs, and expectations. The need for societally-focused approaches to research and innovation—complementary to Technology Readiness (TR) frameworks—is presented. Insights from responsible research and innovation (RRI) concepts and practice, organized across critical stages of project-life cycles are discussed with reference to the development of the SR Thinking Tool. The tool is designed to complement not only shortfalls in TR approaches, but also improve upon other efforts to integrate RRI, sustainability, and design thinking in research and innovation cycles. Operationalization and early-stage user tests of the Tool are reported, along with discussion of potential future iterations and applications.