VOLUME 19 NUMBER 1 (January to June 2026)

Critical success factors influencing organizational sustainability of social enterprises in the Philippines: An ISM-MICMAC approach

Motivation to contribute to public service is a defining quality of social entrepreneurs; it is also a significant predictor of social entrepreneurship intention. This explains why social entrepreneurship focuses on imparting social impact more than on generating profit. Despite numerous opportunities to respond to social problems especially among developing countries, the social enterprise (SE) sector in the Philippines struggles with a lack of public understanding, limited support, and inadequate policy frameworks. SEs operate holistically through the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach, which demands them to strengthen organizational sustainability, which is basically determined by their economic profit, social impact, and environmental stewardship. SE’s organizational sustainability is therefore important but vulnerable due to the abovementioned struggles. This paper therefore attempts to explore critical success factors (CSFs) influencing organizational sustainability; this need stems from limited resources, whereby future possible interventions and reforms are to be decided based on priority, hierarchy, and strength of the interrelationships among success factors. This paper’s significant contribution is in advancing knowledge in social entrepreneurship in developing countries like the Philippines to further facilitate sector growth. A conceptual model of the CSFs was created using the ISM-MICMAC technique, which revealed contextual relationships, driving power, dependence power, and an eight-level hierarchy among thirteen factors. The conceptual model emphasizes the significance of foundational factors such as regulatory compliance (RC), as well as sector support (SS) in creating an enabling environment for SEs; the the external and legal environment, mainly shaped by government, social, and financial institutions, influence business decisions and operations. Moreover, in the lower-middle level of the hierarchy are the internal capabilities that SEs need to continuously develop: factors such as individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO), leadership (LD), and management (MGT) play crucial roles in shaping the vision and capabilities of social entrepreneurs. The upper-middle level of the hierarchy emphasizes the need for internal and external innovations. And lastly, the upper levels of the hierarchy recognize the importance of having actors within social marketing and business supply networks, including suppliers, intermediaries, and other stakeholders participate in sustainability efforts. The MICMAC analysis revealed every factor plays a role in influencing or being influenced by other factors in the system; particularly, the fourth cluster in the MICMAC analysis revealed these CSFs are essential whereby governance and organizational strategic direction serve as the foundation and framework for the development of SEs. In conclusion, it is essential for policymakers to prioritize strengthening the foundational factors through the implementation of laws that ease the regulatory and business environment to encourage more participation and engagement from various sector proponents. Policies and programs towards enhancing the organization’s innovative capabilities should be tailored to equip SEs with sufficient funds, skills, and knowledge; and finally, considering that all the CSFs in the model are influenced and require the support from other CSFs to function effectively, the entities in the entire value/supply chain should work together and provide solutions towards sustainable social development.