An Ecological Approach to Examining ESG Integration in Social Enterprises

Authors:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To examine how social enterprises (SEs) operationalize environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks for multistakeholder impact, this study employs a realist review grounded in an ecological and purpose-driven approach in the contexts of New Zealand and the Philippines – two island nations in the disaster-prone Asia-Pacific region. By utilizing a realist review process to conduct a comprehensive database search of academic, gray, and case literature, this study selected 32 academic publications and 14 case studies published between 2014 and 2024, successfully capturing a rich depth of data on social enterprises in New Zealand and the Philippines that other research designs would have missed. Findings illustrate how the ESG reflects the external issues and the visionary beliefs/commitments of the founder. The review likewise surfaced how purposes are articulated through their narratives and framing, then formalized through embedding their dual missions reflective of the ESGs in their operations and structures. Results also point to how the SEs institutional context enables/constrains the achievement of their purpose. Interestingly, the analysis revealed how local cultural values and context served as a contributing factor to the purpose-driven approach. More so, the ESG principles were observed to be embedded not just in the SEs value creation process but in how its outcomes are appropriated and felt by its various stakeholders. Illustrating that ESG integration is a deeply localized, multistakeholder process rather than a static compliance mandate, these findings provide helpful guideposts for international SEs ecosystems seeking to authentically anchor value creation within the ESG framework.

This publication has 45 references indexed in Scilit: