Relationship between business information, business networking, access to finance and financial performance of social enterprises : perspective of resource-based view and signalling theory

The objective of this paper is to explore the relationship between business information, business networking, access to finance and financial performance of social enterprises. It broadens on theoretical threads from the perspective of resource-based view theory and signalling theory. Hypotheses are tested to assess the possible effect of business information, business networking, access to finance as well as financial performance of social enterprises. A cross-sectional survey was conducted by using the standardized questionnaire to collect primary data from a total of 384 owners/directors of social enterprises. Simple random sampling method was applied to select social enterprises functioning in the country. A Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling was applied to examine the data. This study found a positive and significant direct relationship between business information, access to finance, and business networking on financial performance of the social enterprises in Pakistan. The results supported the moderation effect of access to finance on business information and financial performance whereas, access to finance does not have a significant moderation impact between business networking and financial performance. Therefore, this study recommends that social enterprises in Pakistan should provide great emphasis on business networking and business information to introduce financially creative solutions for the societal problems, which are essential for overall wellbeing of different stakeholders of the social enterprises.