Social enterprise sustainability : the perspective of the owners’ of private Islamic schools

Abdul Kadir, Mohd Bahari Ali and Sarif, Suhaimi Mhd (2012) Social enterprise sustainability : the perspective of the owners’ of private Islamic schools. In: ASEAN Entrepreneurship Conference (AEC 2012), 5-6 November 2012, Kuala Lumpur.

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate the meaning of sustainability from the perspective of the owners/founders of private Islamic schools to acquire better understanding of sustainability with regards to social enterprises that are operating on a platform of fee-for-service model (Alter, 2007). It will act as a starting point for further research on sustainability of private Islamic schools in Malaysia. This qualitative study involved a total of six participants, in particular, the owners and/or founders of private Islamic schools who were purposely selected from different types of private Islamic schools. Exploratory interviews were conducted with respondents to obtain their viewpoints on sustainability of the schools. Procedures applied in data collections including interview guide, audio recording, notes and transcriptions. The study reveals the most perceived meanings of sustainability in the context of private Islamic schools as derived from content analysis are; (1) ability to stay in operation over a period of time, (2) capability to provide a reasonably good physical facilities, (3) capability to maintain sufficient qualified teacher and an acceptable teacher-tostudent ratio (4) ability to offer a subsidized or reduced or below-the-market school fee, and (5) ability to offer a reasonably good curriculum. Regardless of its small number of merely six respondents, this study provides a glance of the meaning of social enterprise sustainability. Future studies will definitely involve more respondents from various types of private Islamic schools that scattered all over the country in order to obtain meaningful data. Nonetheless, the implication of this paper is that it offers preliminary insights/ideas to the researcher of the possible factors that could influence the sustainability of private Islamic schools as social enterprises. Whilst social enterprise is not a new topic, the literature suggests the scarcity of information pertaining to the religious/faith-based schools, in particular, private Islamic schools. Therefore, this paper fulfils a need to look at the perceived meaning(s) of sustainability from the perspectives of faith-based social entrepreneurs.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Full Paper)
Additional Information:	3328/26505
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Religious schools, social enterprises
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business. Business Administration > HF5549 Personnel management
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences > Department of Business Administration
Depositing User:	Dr Suhaimi Mhd Sarif
Date Deposited:	17 Dec 2012 14:30
Last Modified:	03 Jan 2013 07:07
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/26505

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