Organizational Sustainability of Social Startups across Different Contextual Factors

Social enterprises (SEs) face a dual challenge of achieving social impact without sacrificing financial sustainability. The project seeks to address two significant gaps in existing literature by researching into how SEs can create and capture value towards organizational sustainability. The research focuses on (1) a comparative study of early-stage SEs across industries in developed and developing economies and (2) an analysis of the macro-, meso- and micro-level interplay amongst external and internal contextual factors that impact on strategic choices made by SEs towards organizational sustainability across such economies. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with a target of 80 early-stage SEs, discontinued SEs and key stakeholders in the United Kingdom, Singapore, India and Indonesia will be conducted. Based on the findings, a conceptual framework, supported by a typology of strategies, will be developed, thereby (a) serving as a foundational building block for further development, application and validation of strategic and organizational sustainability constructs in SE research, (b) providing a comprehensive tool to inform the development of policies, interventions and support programs by policymakers and support organizations that address SEs’ specific needs at different levels, and (c) providing strategic pathways for social entrepreneurs to enhance their strategic planning, decision-making and operational practices.