BEYOND FINANCE: KEY SUSTAINABILITY DIMENSIONS FOR MALAYSIAN SOCIAL ENTERPRISES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJEMP.935018Keywords:
Social Enterprise, Sustainability, Dual Mission, Financial ConstraintAbstract
Social enterprises aim for long-term sustainability to balance their dual social and economic missions, though they risk prioritising economic goals over societal benefits due to resource constraints In Malaysia, insecure foundations of finance have severely undermined the sustainability of social enterprise. While studies have brought financial dimensions into the limelight, this study identifies three equally critical non-financial sustainability aspects, which are continuous improvement, structured operations, and leveraging mutual strengths. These insights stimulate the enrichment of existing literature by introducing a critical non-financial dimension, demonstrating that non-economic factors are equally vital to long-term organizational viability. It also offered practical guidance to stakeholders to help social enterprises navigate the intricate issues encountered.
Downloads
References
Adro, F. do, & Fernandes, C. (2022). Social entrepreneurship and social innovation: looking inside the box and moving out of it. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 35(4), 704–730. https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.2020.1870441
Akinboade, O. O. A., Taft, T., Weber, J. F., Manoko, O. B., & Molobi, V. S. (2021). How the social entrepreneurship business model designs in South Africa create value: a complex adaptive systems approach. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 13(1), 70–95. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-02-2021-0057
Anand, A., Argade, P., Barkemeyer, R., & Salignac, F. (2021). Trends and patterns in sustainable entrepreneurship research: A bibliometric review and research agenda. Journal of Business Venturing, 36(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2021.106092
André, K., & Pache, A. C. (2016). From caringe entrepreneur to caring enterprise: Addressing the ethical challenges of scaling up social enterprises. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(4), 659–675. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2445-8
Bacq, S., Hartog, C., & Hoogendoorn, B. (2016). Beyond the moral portrayal of social entrepreneurs: an empirical approach to who they are and what drives them. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(4), 703–718. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014- 2446-7
Bansal, S., Garg, I., & Vasa, L. (2023). Can social enterprises aid sustainable development? Evidence from multi-stage investigations. PLoS ONE, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281273
Battilana, J., Lee, M., Walker, J., & Dorsey, C. (2012). In Search of the Hybrid Ideal. Stanford Social Innovation Review. www.ssireview.org
Bhatt, B. (2022). Ethical complexity of social change: negotiated actions of a social enterprise. Journal of Business Ethics, 177(4), 743–762. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05100-6
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Bruder, I. M. (2025). From mission drift to practice drift: Theorizing drift processes in social enterprises and beyond. Organization Studies, 46(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840625131459
Budi Harsanto, Asep Mulyana, Yudi Ahmad Faisal, & Venny Mellandhia Shandy. (2022). Open innovation for sustainability in the social enterprises: an empirical evidence. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc8030160
Bull, M., & Ridley-Duff, R. (2019). Towards an appreciation of ethics in social enterprise business models. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(3), 619–634. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3794-5
Cagarman, K., Kratzer, J., von Arnim, L. H., Fajga, K., & Gieseke, M. J. (2020). Social entrepreneurship on its way to significance: The case of Germany. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(21), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12218954
Chang, R.-D., Zuo, J., Zhao, Z.-Y., Zillante, G., Gan, X.-L., & Soebarto, V. (2017). Evolving theories of sustainability and firms: History, future directions and implications for renewable energy research. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 72, 48–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.01.029
Chen, Q., & Tang, Z. (2026). Symbiotic hybridity: Strategic action pathways for social enterprises in institutional complexity. Social Enterprise Journal, 22(1), 87–110. https://doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-03-2025-0059
Choi, E., Kim, E., Kim, I., & Choi, I. (2020). Attitude toward social enterprises: A comparison between for-profit and social enterprise employees. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072720
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2023). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (6th ed.). SAGE Publications
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design (4th ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.
Daradkeh, M. (2023). Navigating the complexity of entrepreneurial ethics: a systematic review and future research agenda. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(14). https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411099
De Silva, M., Khan, Z., Vorley, T., & Zeng, J. (2020). Transcending the pyramid: opportunity co-creation for social innovation. Industrial Marketing Management, 89, 471–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.12.001
Demers, C., & Gond, J.-P. (2020). The moral micro foundations of institutional complexity: Sustainability implementation as compromise-making at an oil sands company. Organization Studies, 41(4), 563–586.
Doherty, B., Haugh, H., & Lyon, F. (2014). Social enterprises as hybrid organizations: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 16(4), 417–436. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12028
Dwivedi, A., & Weerawardena, J. (2018). Conceptualizing and operationalizing the social entrepreneurship construct. Journal of Business Research, 86, 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.01.053
Ebrahim, A., Battilana, J., & Mair, J. (2014). The governance of social enterprises: Mission drift and accountability challenges in hybrid organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior (34), 81–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2014.09.001
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550.
Farhana Ferdousi, & Nuren Abedin. (2023). Strategic human resources management for creating shared value in social business organizations. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043703
Forner, V. W., Holtrop, D., Boezeman, E. J., Slemp, G. R., Kotek, M., Kragt, D., Askovic, M., & Johnson, A. (2023). Predictors of turnover amongst volunteers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 45, 434–458. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2729
Gali, N., Niemand, T., Shaw, E., Hughes, M., Kraus, S., & Brem, A. (2020). Social entrepreneurship orientation and company success: The mediating role of social performance. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120230
Gigliotti, M., & Runfola, A. (2022). A stakeholder perspective on managing tensions in hybrid organizations: Analyzing fair trade for a sustainable development. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(7), 3198–3215. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3071
Graikioti, S., Sdrali, D., & Klimi Kaminari, O. (2022). Factors determining the sustainability of social cooperative enterprises in the Greek context. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 13(2), 183–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2020.1758197
Guerrero, M., Santamaría-Velasco, C. A., & Mahto, R. (2021). Intermediaries and social entrepreneurship identity: implications for business model innovation. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 27(2), 520–546. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-10-2020-0679
Gupta, P., Chauhan, S., Paul, J., & Jaiswal, M. P. (2020). Social entrepreneurship research: A review and future research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 113, 209-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.03.032
Han, J., & Shah, S. (2020). The ecosystem of scaling social impact: A new theoretical framework and two case studies. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 11(2), 215–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2019.1624273
Henderson, F., Steiner, A., Mazzei, M., & Docherty, C. (2020). Social enterprises’ impact on older people’s health and wellbeing: Exploring Scottish experiences. Health Promotion International, 35(5), 1074–1084. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daz102
Hota, P. K., Bhatt, B., & Qureshi, I. (2023). Institutional work to navigate ethical dilemmas: Evidence from a social enterprise. Journal of Business Venturing, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2022.106269
Hota, P. K., Subramanian, B., & Narayanamurthy, G. (2019). Mapping the intellectual structure of social entrepreneurship research: A citation/co-citation analysis. Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04129-4
Ilyas, S., Butt, M., Ashfaq, F., & Maran, D. A. (2020). Drivers for non-profits’ success: Volunteer engagement and financial sustainability practices through the resource dependence theory. Economies, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/economies8040101
Jayawardhana, K., Fernando, I., & Siyambalapitiya, J. (2022). Sustainability in social enterprise research: A systematic literature review. SAGE Open, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221123200
Jeong, S. S., & Alhanaee, D. W. T. A. (2020). Prosocial motivation as a driver of social innovation in the uae. Social Science Quarterly, 101(7), 2450–2464. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12913
Jha, S. K., Bhawe, N., & Satish, P. (2021). Scaling Social Enterprises through Product Diversification. Sustainability, 13(21), 11660. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111660
Jones, J. A., Krasynska, S., & Donmoyer, R. (2021). Mission-first social enterprises: A case study of how three nonprofit organizations avoided mission drift when forming and operating social enterprises. Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing, 26(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.1701
Kang, M. (2016). Moderating effects of identification on volunteer engagement: An exploratory study of a faith-based charity organization. Journal of Communication Management, 20(2), 102–117. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-08-2014-0051
Khan, S. U., Shah, A., & Rizwan, M. F. (2021). Do financing constraints matter for technological and non-technological innovation? A (re)examination of developing markets. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 57(9), 2739–2766. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2019.1695593
Konys, A. (2019). Towards sustainable entrepreneurship holistic construct. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236749
Kulshrestha, R., Sahay, A., & Sengupta, S. (2022). Constituents and drivers of mission engagement for social enterprise sustainability: A systematic review. Journal of Entrepreneurship, 31(1), 90–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/09713557211069301
Leung, S., Mo, P., Ling, H., Chandra, Y., & Ho, S. S. (2019). Enhancing the competitiveness and sustainability of social enterprises in Hong Kong: A three-dimensional analysis. China Journal of Accounting Research, 12(2), 157–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjar.2019.03.002
Mas Ervina Samsuddin, Mohd Fairuz Md Salleh, & Mohd Hanafi Azman Ong. (2023). Sustainability of social enterprises: The role of sustainability accounting. Advanced International Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, 5(16), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.35631/aijbes.516005
McKenzie, D. (2017). Identifying and spurring high-growth entrepreneurship: Experimental evidence from a business plan competition. American Economic Review, 107(8), 2278–2307. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20151404
Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development. (2022). Malaysia Social Entrepreneurship Blueprint 2030. https://www.kuskop.gov.my/admin/files/med/image/portal/PDF/SEMy2030/SEMy2 030_Booklet_ENG.pdf
Mohammed Faiz Kamaludin. (2023). Social sustainability within social entrepreneurship. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122541
Mohd Ali Bahari Abdul Kadir. (2015). Social enterprise sustainability: An exploratory case of selected private islamic schools in Malaysia. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. International Islamic University of Malaysia.
Moizer, J., & Tracey, P. (2010). Strategy making in social enterprise: The role of resource allocation and its effects on organizational sustainability. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 27(3), 252–266. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.1006
Morgan, H. (2022). Conducting a qualitative document analysis. Qualitative Report, 27(1), 64–77. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5044
Park, J. H., & Kim, C. Y. (2020). Social enterprises, job creation, and social open innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(4), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc6040120
Putri Mega Desiana, Mohamad Syamsul Ma’arif, Puspitawati, H., Rachmawati, R., Prijadi, R., & Najib, M. (2022). Strategy for sustainability of social enterprise in indonesia: A structural equation modelling approach. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031383
Quaye, J. N. A., Halsall, J. P., Winful, E. C., Snowden, M., Opuni, F. F., Hyams-Ssekasi, D., Afriyie, E. O., Opoku-Asante, K., Ocloo, E. C., & Fairhurst, B. (2024). Social enterprises and the sustainable development Goals (SDGs): A Means to an End. Environment, Development and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-05359-x
Rahdari, A., Sepasi, S., & Moradi, M. (2016). Achieving sustainability through Schumpeterian social entrepreneurship: The role of social enterprises. Journal of Cleaner Production, 137, 347–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.06.159
Rahman, A., & Rabi, J. (2016). How social enterprises manage mission drift: A systematic review. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Örebro University.
Raimi, L., Dodo, F., & Sule, R. (2022). Comparative discourse of social enterprises in the developed and developing countries using theory of change framework: A qualitative analysis (pp. 29–54). https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-052320220000018003
Ranville, A., & Barros, M. (2022). Towards normative theories of social entrepreneurship. a review of the top publications of the field. Journal of Business Ethics, 180(2), 407–438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04867-4
Sabella, A. R., & Eid, N. L. (2016). A strategic perspective of social enterprise sustainability. Journal of General Management, 41(4), 71–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/030630701604100405
Saebi, T., Foss, N. J., & Linder, S. (2019). Social entrepreneurship research: Past achievements and future promises. Journal of Management, 45(1), 70–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318793196
Saldaña, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE Publications.
Sauermann, M. P. (2023). social entrepreneurship as a tool to promoting sustainable development in low-income communities: An empirical analysis. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/117053/
Singh, S., Dhir, S., Das, V. M., & Sharma, A. (2020). Bibliometric overview of the technological forecasting and social change journal: Analysis from 1970 to 2018. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 154, 119963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.119963
Sinthupundaja, J., Kohda, Y., & Chiadamrong, N. (2020). Examining capabilities of social entrepreneurship for shared value creation. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 11(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2018.1543726
Turyakira, P., Sendawula, K., Nanyanzi, M., Nantale, H., & Tamale, J. N. (2025). Social entrepreneurship: empirical evidence on its contribution to the realization of the sustainable development goals in Uganda. Journal of Work-Applied Management, 17(1), 160–172. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-02-2023-0011
Wang, W. (2022). Toward Economic growth and value creation through social entrepreneurship: Modelling the mediating role of innovation. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.914700
Weerawardena, J., McDonald, R. E., & Mort, G. S. (2010). Sustainability of nonprofit organizations: An empirical investigation. Journal of World Business, 45(4), 346–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2009.08.004
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications (6th ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.
Yu, X. M., Xia, H. Y., He, Y. J., & Chen, H. Y. (2025). The sustainability performance of social enterprises in China: The configurational impacts of ecosystems and revenue structures. Sustainability (Switzerland), 17(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020793
Zainon, S., Ahmad, S. A., Atan, R., Wah, Y. B., Bakar, Z. A., & Sarman, S. R. (2014). Legitimacy and sustainability of social enterprise: Governance and accountability. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 145, 152–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.06.022
