Sustainability of Social Enterprises

Abstract

Evidence supporting the budding role of social enterprises in fostering sustained socio-economic development of regions and communities across the globe are evolving continuously. Hence, the global upsurge in the social enterprise research and practice is appreciated, considering social enterprise primarily is presumed to have great potential in solving a range of social problems. Even though social entrepreneurship and social enterprise have remained central and thought-provoking in the realm of scholarly investigation for the past few decades, the emerging literature on social enterprise and their role in economic development is riddled with theoretical inconsistencies and definitional controversies. Thus, little or no rational knowledge about their functioning and management is available. Further, factors influencing the sustainability of social enterprises have rarely been explored and deliberated. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to identify and analyze the factors which influence the sustainability of social enterprises with focus on India.