Antecedents of social enterprise sustainability: Evidence from accredited social enterprises in Malaysia

This study explores the key antecedents of sustainability in social enterprises by examining the experiences of accredited social enterprises in Malaysia. Using a qualitative multiple case study design, semistructured interviews were conducted with eight CEOs and founders of accredited social enterprises,  all of which had operated for at least five years and received formal recognition under the Social Enterprise Accreditation (SE.A) framework administered by the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creative Centre (MaGIC). Thematic analysis was employed to identify recurring patterns and underlying factors contributing to sustainability, with data triangulated through 12 archival records and inter-coder reliability confirmed via Cohen’s kappa (κ = 0.81). Three core themes emerged: legitimacy, commercially oriented practices, and resourcing. Legitimacy was established through strong stakeholder linkages and trust, enabling long-term credibility. Commercially oriented practices such as sustainable cash flow, scalable business models, and growth-oriented culture ensured financial viability. Resourcing highlighted the importance of access to grants, funding, and ecosystem support in sustaining operations, although notable variation existed: humanitarian and women’s empowerment SEs actively leveraged government and corporate partnerships, while environmental SEs relied more on earned income despite capital intensity. The findings offer a context-specific understanding of how social enterprises in Malaysia achieve sustainability by striking a balance between social missions and entrepreneurial resilience.  By integrating institutional theory and the resource-based view (RBV), this study advances theoretical discourse on hybrid organizing in emerging economies and offers practical insights for policymakers and practitioners aiming to strengthen the social enterprise ecosystem through targeted interventions such as sector-sensitive funding mechanisms and hybrid accreditation standards that recognize both digital and mission-based legitimacy markers.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Multidisciplinary Science Journal

• Publication date

  2026-01-09

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.31893/multiscience.2026443
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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