Providing a model for developing social entrepreneurship policies in the organization

Molaie, Mohammad Iman; Anjom Shoa, Zahra; Salajeghe, Sanjar; Kamali, Mohammad Jalal; Mohammad Bagheri, Mehdi

doi:10.22034/jnamm.2025.550542.1172

Providing a model for developing social entrepreneurship policies in the organization

Document Type : Original Article (Qualitative)

Authors

Mohammad Iman Molaie ¹

Zahra Anjom Shoa ²

sanjar salajeghe ²

Mohammad jalal kamali ²

Mehdi Mohammad Bagheri ²

¹ Public Administration, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran

² Department of Management, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/jnamm.2025.550542.1172

Abstract

Abstract
The aim of this study is to present a model for developing social entrepreneurship policies in the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee. The research method is developmental-applicable in terms of its purpose, and qualitative in terms of its implementation method. The statistical population of this study includes 17 university professors, social entrepreneurship experts, and senior managers of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee (RA), selected through purposive sampling. The data collection tool is a semi-structured interview, and the interviews continued until theoretical saturation. Data analysis was performed through coding using the content analysis method and using NVIVO version 11 software. The research findings showed that the extracted concepts related to the model for developing social entrepreneurship policies in the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee include 94 themes, 30 basic themes, and 10 organizing themes (drawing a vision supporting social entrepreneurship, improving entrepreneurial capacities in the organization, utilizing economic activity, creating an entrepreneurial organizational culture, service-oriented human resources, social responsibility of the relief committee, creating sustainable value in the organization, creating organizational interactions, promoting social justice and reducing poverty, and improving the organization's entrepreneurial performance).
Introduction
Today, a new topic that has been considered in the field of entrepreneurship, along with organizational entrepreneurship, is social entrepreneurship. This type of entrepreneurship expresses the benefit of a social institution with an image of discipline, innovation, and social dependence and is rooted in human interactions and human social relations (Gelard et al., 2022). Social entrepreneurship is recognized as the most important tool for addressing social challenges and whenever the market and the public sector cannot cope with these challenges, social entrepreneurship emerges as an agent of change and a social organization as an organizational entity that considers the separatist sector as a customer, while being guided by the philosophy of harmonizing social and economic value (Choi et al., 2024).
Entrepreneurship is a process that involves recognizing, evaluating and exploiting opportunities to introduce new products, access new markets or raw materials by organizing efforts that did not exist before (Simeone et al., 2018). Social entrepreneurship is proposed as an innovative approach to addressing social needs with an emphasis on problem solving and social innovations that eliminate traditional boundaries between the private, public and non-governmental sectors. Defining social entrepreneurship and its conceptual boundaries is not an easy task; because the concept is inherently complex and the literature in this field is very new. The term, used in both the general and academic literature, covers a wide range of activities and innovations (Seifi et al., 2024).
According to the latest estimates, there were approximately ten million NGOs in the world in 2015. There are also about fourteen thousand NGOs in Iran. Of the total number of NGOs in the country, 5,409 operate under the title of People’s Charity Centers with the license of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee. These centers consist of a number of local benefactors and trustees managed voluntarily and in a completely popular manner with a board of directors structure and usually in the manner of traditional charities. However, if we define social entrepreneurship as an effective, innovative, sustainable and voluntary response of individuals or social institutions to one or more social needs, then undoubtedly the charity centers of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, which are often providing social services in old and traditional ways, are still a long way from reaching the stage of social entrepreneurship. For this reason, one of the solutions to promote social entrepreneurship in the charity centers of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee is to develop and present a desirable model of social entrepreneurship to transform the management methods of these centers. Therefore, in this research, we seek to answer the question: what is the model for developing social entrepreneurship policies in the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee organization?
Theoretical Framework
Social Entrepreneurship
"Social entrepreneurship is the activities and processes committed to discovering, defining, and exploiting opportunities to enhance social values, which are carried out through new actions and the management of existing organizations in an innovative manner" (Shahvand et al., 2022).
Bazoukar & Bagheri (2025) examined the presentation of the Islamic jurisprudence support model of social and economic entrepreneurship. The findings were extracted based on the research approach of 6 aspects, 26 components, and 76 codes. Managers and entrepreneurs should adopt and implement effective principles and strategies to achieve positive outcomes. The results showed that the rights support model of social and economic entrepreneurship was presented in the form of 26 components. Doozandeh Ziabari et al. (2025) examined the presentation of a social entrepreneurship model in the development of rural tourism in the tourism target villages of Gilan province. The results showed that traditional tourism entrepreneurship follows a capitalist approach, is highly profit-oriented, and ignores the social aspects of doing business, which may in turn cause further harm to already disadvantaged communities. Social entrepreneurship in tourism, referred to here as tourism social entrepreneurship, is positioned as a market-oriented approach to addressing various social problems through tourism entrepreneurship.
Research Methodology
The research method is developmental-applicable in terms of its purpose, and qualitative in terms of its implementation method. The statistical population of this study includes 17 university professors, social entrepreneurship experts, and senior managers of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, selected through purposive sampling. The data collection tool is a semi-structured interview, and the interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved.
Research Findings
Data analysis was carried out through coding using the content analysis method and using NVIVO version 11 software. The research findings showed that the extracted concepts related to the model for developing social entrepreneurship policies in the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee included 94 themes, 30 basic themes, and 10 organizing themes (drawing a vision supporting social entrepreneurship, improving entrepreneurial capacities in the organization, utilizing economic activity, creating an entrepreneurial organizational culture, service-oriented human resources, social responsibility of the relief committee, creating sustainable value in the organization, creating organizational interactions, promoting social justice and reducing poverty, and improving the organization's entrepreneurial performance).
Conclusion
The present study was conducted with the aim of presenting a model for developing social entrepreneurship policies in the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee. The results of this study are consistent with the studies of Bazoukar & Bagheri (2025), Doozandeh Ziabari et al. (2025), Blanco-Jiménez et al. (2024), Abhari & Hashempour (2024), Viswanath et al. (2024), Azizi & Mohammadi (2024), Chichevaliev et al. (2023), Cortes & Lee (2022), Nourpour et al. (2023), and Gelard et al. (2022). Abhari & Hashempour (2024) showed that there is a direct and significant relationship between social entrepreneurship and its various dimensions and components based on the multidimensional model of social entrepreneurship with environmental components that affect this concept; accordingly, the environmental component corresponding to the "risk-taking" element of "innovative behavior"; the concept of "creative and innovative spaces" and the pillar of "power of wisdom"; the concept of "coherence and integrity" and the pillar of "entrepreneurial virtue"; the concept of "moral values"; and finally the pillar of "identifying social opportunities" which is one of the pillars of social entrepreneurship is the concept of "common norms".
According to the results of the research, the following suggestions were made:
Participation in social projects Cooperation with non-profit organizations and charities to improve social conditions.
Creating awareness campaigns and launching educational campaigns to make people aware of social and environmental issues.

Keywords

Policymaking

Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship

Organizational Interactions

Sustainable Value Creation

Subjects

Other topics related to business management, entrepreneurship, and marketing

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