Social enterprises operate under persistent resource constraints while pursuing the dual objectives of generating social impact and achieving economic validity. Despite a growing body of research, existing studies provide fragmented insights into the types of resources that matter and how they collectively shape sustainability and growth. This study develops an integrative resource-based framework by synthesizing prior literature on social enterprise sustainability. The findings identify six critical resource categories: financial, human and managerial, relational, legitimacy and identity, technological, and institutional/governance resources. The study further demonstrates that resource possession alone is insufficient because sustainability outcomes depend on the organization’s resource orchestration capabilities. These capabilities include encompassing bricolage, dynamic capabilities, and business alliance formation. These capabilities mediate the relationship between resource bundles and sustainability outcomes, including social impact scaling, economic viability, and organizational resilience. The conceptual framework also highlights the moderating role of institutional environment, financial availability, and external uncertainty. By advancing a resource bundle perspective, this study contributes to social entrepreneurship theory and extends resource-based and dynamic capabilities approaches into hybrid organizational contexts. The findings offer a practical implication for social enterprise leaders and policymakers seeking to strengthen sustainability through coherent resource alignment rather than resource accumulation alone.
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