Sustaining the Impacts of University Social Responsibility

Abstract

The research that led to this article examines a case study of a social enterprise ( SE ) that utilized the support of university social responsibility ( USR ) to save a rural community, reviving that community’s ability to empower itself. A qualitative approach was adopted to describe the SE development process. Observations and interviews with key participants and beneficiaries were also conducted. The findings were analyzed based on the value–process–impact framework to show comprehensively how the SE identified problems, defined its mission, and designed its business model and activities. The study shows the positive impacts that the organization had on the community as well as on the university students. The article highlights USR ’s significant role and strong potential for solving social problems when incorporating the SE model, emphasizing the importance of SE  s adopting a self-sustainable approach to combining resources and designing business models.