Advancing behavioural economics through positive deviance: Attending to the microworld of second-track processes

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54337/ojs.bess.v5i1.8136

Abstract

Behavioral economists interested in solving wicked problems can benefit from a deeper understanding of positive deviance (PD), an approach for spreading innovations by identifying the novel and effective practices of positive outliers—those who have solved the problem against all odds.   In this article, we contend that the PD approach (1) represents a vital condition of problem-solving using Second Track Processes, emphasizing conversation, coordination, and collaboration among multiple stakeholders, each accompanied by their lived realities, agendas and constraints; and (2) allows us to focus our attention on the microworld of human interaction—the local context where life is authentically thrashed out by partners and participants amidst complexity. 

Author Biographies

Prof Arvind Singhal, The University of Texas

Prof Arvind Singhal is the Samuel Shirley and Edna Holt Marston Endowed Professor of Communication and Director of the Social Justice Initiative at The University of Texas at El Paso. He is also appointed Professor 2, Inland School of Business and Social Sciences, Inland University of Applied Sciences, Norway; the William J. Clinton Distinguished Fellow at the Clinton School of Public Service, Little Rock, Arkansas; and Chancellor’s Honorary Professor, Amity University, India.  Singhal teaches and conducts research on the diffusion of innovations, the positive deviance approach, organizing for social change, the entertainment-education strategy, and liberating interactional structures. His outreach spans public health, human rights, sustainable development, civic participation, democracy and governance, and corporate citizenship.  Three of Singhal’s 14 books have won awards for distinguished applied scholarship, and he is author of 220 peer-reviewed essays in journals such as Journal of Communication, Communication Theory, Communication Monographs, Health Communication, Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Health Communication, PlosOne, and Journal of Medical Internet Research. 

Dr Erik Bjurström, Mälardalen University

Dr Erik Bjurström is Head of Division, Innovation Management at Mälardalen University in Sweden. He holds a PhD in business studies from Uppsala University. Dr Bjurström’s research has focused on intellectual capital and management control in conditions of uncertainty. He has also explored the diverse cultural contexts of measurement and ontological assumptions. His interest in control and collaboration across organisational borders includes civil-military relations, university-industry collaboration and alternative notions of command and control.

Cover image of Prof Singhal & Dr Bjurström article

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Published

24-11-2023

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2023): Journal of Behavioural Economics and Social Systems

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2023 Prof Arvind Singhal, Dr Erik Bjurström

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