Virtual social enterprise: modeling sustainability of an enterprise by digital intervention

Purpose Social enterprises (SEs) have emerged as a tool to sustainable development. SEs create a social value along with an economic value. However, the aspect of SEs still missing from literature is the process of virtualization. The purpose of this paper is to introduce international social entrepreneurship as an emerging form of social entrepreneurship that is using information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled innovation and networking with international partners as virtual enterprise network, to create social and economic values across the borders. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, qualitative research paradigm is adopted to study the internationalization of SEs. To identify the drivers of internationalization, in-depth literature review was conducted. Articles from six databases and Google Scholar were searched to propose a comprehensive model for internationalization of SEs. Findings There is limited academic work on the use and impact of digital intervention (ICTs) on SEs and, especially, on the virtualization of SEs as there is no paper explaining virtualization of SEs. This paper proposes a model for the internationalization of SEs, named virtual social enterprise. Research limitations/implications The conceptual models and discussions on the virtualization of SEs are very limited in the extant literature. Very few articles could be found that studied the process of internationalization of SEs. Thus, the paper would have far-reaching implications for social enterprise theory and practice. Originality/value This is first study of its kind proposing a comprehensive theoretical model for internationalization of SEs. This model could be used by SEs for networking across international boundaries to control the flow of information and to market their products.