Practicing Social Innovation in the Social Entrepreneurial Initiatives: Triggering Transition towards Sustainable Social Development

Sustainable Social Development via Social Innovation

Abstract

Pakistan being a developing country is facing numerous social challenges and the
public sector has remained unsuccessful in satisfying the basic needs of the
marginalized group of society. Despite having numerous social challenges, few
organizations are making efforts to resolve these issues by using traditional
approaches. While this great social imbalance creates a demand for effective social
approaches to handle the pressure and respond efficiently to cater to the needs of
society on a priority basis. In this regard, scholars have found social
entrepreneurship to be a useful tool for overcoming social challenges by using
business models for generating money and meeting unfulfilled needs of the
marginalized. Therefore, the primary focus of this study was to highlight the role
of social innovation in socially-oriented entrepreneurial initiatives to achieve
sustainable social development. In order to investigate the hypothesized
relationships, quantitative research was conducted through an online survey in
Pakistan. Data was collected from social enterprises and Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs), engaged in social entrepreneurial initiatives across
Pakistan. Research results show that there is a significant mediating role of social
innovation in the relationship between social entrepreneurship and sustainable social
development. It indicates that practice of social innovation in social
entrepreneurial ventures contribute significantly towards sustainable social
development. These findings are useful for government sector, policymakers,
entrepreneurial educators, social entrepreneurs, donors, and NGOs.