The study shows that digital technologies are increasingly being accepted as tools for sustainability and scalability of social business.
Authors
Sachin Kumar Mangla, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Business School, O.P. Jindal University, Sonipat, Haryana, India; Visiting Research Fellow, Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom.
Gunjan Soni, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Pallavi Singh, Sheffield Business School, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom.
Bidit L. Dey, Brunel Business School, Brunel University London, United Kingdom.
Manoj Dora, Brunel Business School, Brunel University London, United Kingdom.
Summary
Social businesses, despite having a huge potential to generate substantial and sustainable value, are often structurally and financially fragile. Technological interventions, such as social media analytics, big data, Internet of Things, and blockchain can help social businesses by leveraging the practices towards financial and operational sustainability.
This study is the first of its kind in that it analyses existing scholarly works on social businesses using bibliometric analysis. In so doing, this paper presents an in-depth statistical analysis of the literature on technological interventions in sustainable social business, showcasing the development of the scholarship, major themes, and possible future research trajectories.
The SCOPUS database is used to identify a large section of articles. The study shows that most of the work in social business has been done by scholars based in developed countries, with limited contributions emanating from developing countries.
The study proposes a framework for the use of technology in sustainable social businesses with focus areas of research such as social innovation, digital technology, information systems, and decision making for sustainability.
The results show that digital technologies are increasingly being accepted as tools for the sustainability and scalability of social businesses. The paper offers useful recommendations for future research in relevant fields.
Published in: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
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