Modern organizations seek to ensure their collaborative capacity for taking the needs of society into account and making a social impact (see Kork et al. 2022; Pulkkinen et al. 2023). Deliberate and systematic efforts such as the improvement of intellectual capital or knowledge management practices are examples of strategic actions to support value creation in organizations (see Hussinki et al. 2017). However, the intra-organizational focus is not enough to solve wicked societal problems. Indeed, solutions and social impact are co-created through collective knowledge formation processes between various organizations, public institutions, and actors (Laihonen et al. 2023). Moreover, the social nature of knowing is a dynamic process including the multiplicity of knowledge that is enacted through the interactions of people and their environment, and thus cannot be separated from practice (Orlikowski 2002).
In this track, we wish to explore various knowledge formation processes and the ways organizations maintain and develop their capacity to create value and social impact. Social impact refers here to the positive impact or change that organizations seek in addressing social challenges, such as improving citizen well-being, promoting sustainable economic growth, reducing inequality, or solving environmental problems. Knowledge formation is the social process of collecting, interpreting, and sharing knowledge within and across organizations. As different actors have different interests, values, and perspectives on social problems and their potential solutions, the construction of collective understanding is not only a technical or instrumental issue but also a political and normative one. At the same time, it is a process that supports innovation and value creation by enabling learning across boundaries.
Our track invites papers that shed light on or propose solutions to the following research problems:

• How do organizations define and measure social impact in response to changing circumstances and demands? How does this knowledge turn into knowing and doing in practice and what kind of renewal of capabilities it requires?
• What are the potential elements needed in social knowledge formation within and among various organizations? How to study knowledge formation processes or their relation to value creation, organizational performance, innovation, and learning?
• How do organizations manage and balance different knowledge bases and knowing in practice? Tensions between types of knowledge (e.g., tacit, explicit, local, global) or sources of knowledge (e.g., internal, external, formal, informal) in their knowledge formation processes?
• How to design and foster a culture of learning and innovation that supports organizational value creation and collective knowledge formation processes?

Papers may contribute to the literature including but not limited to knowledge management, organizational learning, value co-creation, or public value. In a spirit of social knowledge formation, we invite researchers and developers across disciplinary boundaries, who are broadly interested in dynamics related to organizational performance and performance management, public sector management, or data-driven management to join our discussions.

Anna-Aurora Kork, University of Vaasa, Finland
Lotta-Maria Sinervo, Tampere University, Finland
Harri Laihonen, University of Eastern Finland, Finland
Henri Hussinki, LUT University, Finland