Designing an Innovative Social Entrepreneurship Model in Knowledge-Based Companies

Elahe Sadat  Ziaeian Aghabozorgi; Mansour Sharifi; Zahra Sadat  Moshir Estekhareh

Authors

Elahe Sadat Ziaeian Aghabozorgi Ph.D. Student, Department of Sociology, NT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0133-5931
Mansour Sharifi Department of Social Sciences, Ga.C., Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran Corresponding author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4946-4936
Zahra Sadat Moshir Estekhareh Department of Sociology, NT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3427-0677

Keywords:

innovative social entrepreneurship, knowledge-based companies, exploratory mixed-methods approach

Abstract

This study aimed to design an innovative social entrepreneurship model for knowledge-based companies in Iran. From a paradigmatic perspective, the study adopted an interpretivist approach during the model exploration stage and a positivist approach during the model testing stage; overall, it was grounded in pragmatism with an applied orientation. The research employed an exploratory mixed-methods approach. Accordingly, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 experts, and grounded theory, supported by MAXQDA software, was employed as the strategy for exploring the model. The validity and reliability of the qualitative phase were confirmed through coding–recoding, yielding an agreement coefficient of 86.5%. For quantitative data collection, a questionnaire was developed based on the themes extracted from the qualitative phase. Using G*Power software, with an error level of 0.15 and statistical power of 0.95, the final sample size was determined as 216 managers and experts from knowledge-based companies. The structural relationships of the explored model were tested using the variance-based structural equation modeling algorithm with SPSS and SmartPLS software. The findings indicated that the final model consisted of six principal categories: causal factors, including social entrepreneurial intention, social entrepreneurial self-efficacy, social entrepreneurial human capital, and social entrepreneurial support; the core phenomenon, including social value creation and entrepreneurial innovation; contextual conditions, including entrepreneurial maturity, social market dynamism, and innovative entrepreneurial opportunities; intervening conditions, including social institutional entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial infrastructure, and innovative entrepreneurial culture; strategies, including entrepreneurial resilience and social entrepreneurial interaction; and consequences, including entrepreneurial sustainability and enhancement of social well-being. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that all hypothesized relationships were statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

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