Exploring how social enterprises engaged their stakeholders during the pandemic

Lorenzo L. Tiongson will defend his MS in Sustainability Management entitled "Exploring how social enterprises engaged their stakeholders during the pandemic"

March 20, 2023 at 1:00-2:30pm

His adviser is Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng, PhD

His panelists are:

John Luis D. Lagdameo, PhD

Monique Ann A. Tiongco, M.S.

Abstract:

Social enterprises face unique challenges that were intensified further by the COVID-19 pandemic. The complexity of these challenges arises from their hybrid nature, as well as the different actors and interrelationships occurring within their ecosystems. These ecosystem actors can be viewed as stakeholders that social enterprises can engage using a variety of activities, in order to achieve sustainable and mutually beneficial goals. 
The study utilizes a multiple case study approach in order to analyze themes arising from interviews of different social enterprises in the Philippines. Preliminary results show that despite the struggle for survival during the pandemic, social enterprises consistently regarded their community beneficiaries and customers as important stakeholders. This arises from how social enterprises view their economic, social and/or environmental goals as integrated factors even while in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. 
Stakeholder engagement activities varied significantly, even for the same type of stakeholder. Such decisions were influenced by the importance placed by the social enterprise to the stakeholder within the context of the pandemic. Stakeholder engagement activities implemented were also very diverse, ranging from one-way communication initiatives to dialogues, partnerships, and collaborations. Such activities were reported to have positive outcomes to the social enterprises’ integrated goals. 
Findings arising from this study will inform other SEs on how to approach their stakeholders through various engagement activities as they navigate through similar situations and times of crises.