The roles of social entrepreneur competencies and social innovation in sustainable social entrepreneurship in Thailand

This research examines social entrepreneur competencies and the ability to create value through social innovation, which affect sustainability in Thai social enterprises. The study used questionnaires administered to 200 social enterprises registered with the Social Enterprise Promotion Office. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that social entrepreneur competencies had the highest overall mean among causal factors, while sustainability in social entrepreneur groups had a high mean level. The study found that visionary leadership was the strongest indicator of social entrepreneur competencies, marketing innovation was the strongest indicator of innovation capability, and environmental performance was the strongest indicator of sustainability outcomes. Social entrepreneur competencies strongly influenced the ability to create value through social innovation (β = 0.972), which in turn significantly affected sustainability outcomes (β = 0.707). The study's limitations include its cross-sectional nature and its focus solely on registered social enterprises. These findings can guide policy formulation to help enterprises create value through social innovation and achieve sustainable success.