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Technological interventions in social business: Mapping current research and establishing future research agenda

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  • Soni, Gunjan
  • Mangla, Sachin Kumar
  • Singh, Pallavi
  • Dey, Bidit L.
  • Dora, Manoj

Abstract

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.

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  • Soni, Gunjan & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Singh, Pallavi & Dey, Bidit L. & Dora, Manoj, 2021. "Technological interventions in social business: Mapping current research and establishing future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:169:y:2021:i:c:s004016252100250x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120818
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    3. Halberstadt, Jantje & Kollhoff, Sophia & Kraus, Sascha & Dhir, Amandeep, 2022. "Early bird or early worm? First-mover (dis)advantages and the success of web-based social enterprises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
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    5. Nisreen Ameen & Jyoti Choudrie & Paul Jones & Amitabh Anand, 2022. "Innovative Technologies and Small-Medium Sized Enterprises in Times of Crisis," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1055-1060, August.
    6. Ávila-Robinson, Alfonso & Islam, Nazrul & Sengoku, Shintaro, 2022. "Exploring the knowledge base of innovation research: Towards an emerging innovation model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    7. Chen, Ting & Xiong, Yu, 2024. "Product positioning of low-carbon products based on blockchain-enabled product communities," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    8. Piccarozzi, Michela & Silvestri, Cecilia & Aquilani, Barbara & Silvestri, Luca, 2022. "Is this a new story of the ‘Two Giants’? A systematic literature review of the relationship between industry 4.0, sustainability and its pillars," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    9. Hassani, Abdeslam & Mosconi, Elaine, 2022. "Social media analytics, competitive intelligence, and dynamic capabilities in manufacturing SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
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    12. Calabrese, Armando & Costa, Roberta & Tiburzi, Luigi & Brem, Alexander, 2023. "Merging two revolutions: A human-artificial intelligence method to study how sustainability and Industry 4.0 are intertwined," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).

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