∷ Beijing Yifang Foundation → Social enterprise [Research] → 2020
• Research on the Influence Mechanism of Sustainable Development of Social Enterprises in China
Partner Organization: School of Management and Economics - University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Project Duration: Mar 2020 – Mar 2023
Project Status: Going on
Social enterprises solve social problems and create social value, while being profitable, all at the same time. Promoting the development of social enterprises is an effective and innovative way of solving social problems in China. Hence a study on the sustainable development of social enterprises was important to the sector’s continued growth.
This project was conducted in collaboration with Assistant Professor Feng Tianli of the School of Management and Economics at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC). The research focused on three main areas: (1) How does the entrepreneur and organizational identity affect the institutional logic of a social enterprise; (2) How does the institutional logic of a social enterprise influence the sustainability of the social and financial impact; (3) How does the institutional, economic and technological environment impact the sustainable development of a social enterprise. Conducted using multidisciplinary theories like branding theory, organization theory and new institutional theory, comprehensive multi-domain research methods were then used to reveal the process logic and theoretical mechanism behind the actual phenomenon. The findings of this research project provided practical tips for local social enterprises and valuable insights for local governments for policy formulation. This contributed to the sustainable development of social enterprises in China. Furthermore, the research provided an Asian perspective to existing research that mostly draws on Western based theories and systems.