Antecedents of Cybersecurity Implementation: A Study of the Cyber-Preparedness of U.K. Social Enterprises

Abstract

The cyber-security of organisations is a subject of perennial concern as they are subject to mounting threats in an increasingly digitalised world. While commercial and charitable organizations have been the objects of cyber security research, Social Enterprises have remained unexplored. As Social Enterprises have become increasingly important features of social and economic development, so their prominence as potential targets of cybercrime also increases. In order to address this knowledge gap, this study examines the factors that influence the cyberpreparedness of Social Enterprises in the UK. Through the use of semi-structured interviews with Social Enterprise, these factors are found to comprise the characteristics of the enterprise, the characteristics of the enterprise management, resource constraints, experience of cyber attacks, usage of IT, and awareness of cybersecurity schemes and resources. These insights provide valuable guidance for SE owner-managers, SE support agencies and policy-makers when considering the cyber security of SEs. These findings are of immediate concern to social enterprises but also to other organizations that are engaged in partnerships with them as social enterprises may afford 'gateway' opportunities to those with malicious intent. Managerial Relevance Social Enterprises are institutions that balance the competing needs of commercial success and the primary objective of delivering social value. The management of cyber security places a further demand upon these resource-constrained organizations, and upon the capacity of individual owner-managers. However, the nature of these enterprises suggests that they present unique opportunities to cyber criminals: their association with vulnerable individuals, use of volunteer resources and links with government systems, and rising visibility among the

Reconciling social enterprise: beyond the paradox perspective

“…Tension 6: MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES Doherty, et al (2014) present several pertinent tensions that SEs face when dealing with human resources and suggest that these can play a significant role in stifling their ability to operate and grow. They include challenges in recruiting and managing volunteers' performance (Richards and Reed, 2015), identifying and leveraging sources of expertise (Allen, 2020), technical competency (Manea, Istudor, Dinu, Paraschiv, 2021;Allen, Samuel, Abdullah and Thomas, 2020), staff retention, preserving staff motivation and dealing with the conflict that often occurs between volunteers and paid staff. Doherty, et al (2014) also state that SEs will often be in a position where clients that use their services will also be employees of the SE.…”

“…SEs tend to be formed from some amalgamation of private, public and non-profit organizations, meaning that they are frequently understood and conceptualized as "hybrid organizations" (Doherty et al, 2014). It is this hybridity, combining the need to be commercially astute, profitable and ethical, while delivering a social service to society in the face of constrained resources that frequently results in SEs having to grapple with difficult, competing and contradictory tensions (Ebrahim et al, 2014;Hai and Daft, 2016;Smith and Beshkarov, 2017;Samuel et al, 2021;White et al, 2020). Dealing with these tensions can result in SEs experiencing mission drift (Cornforth, 2014;Ebrahim et al, 2014;Santos et al, 2015;Young and Kim, 2015;Siebold et al, 2016) potentially leading to either financial difficulty or a decline in either or both their ethical ethos and the quality and desirability of their social provision (Cornforth, 2014;Stevens et al, 2014).…”

The Ecosystem of UK Social Entrepreneurship: A Meta-Analysis of Contemporary Studies

“…These studies, being uniformly interpretivist in nature, utilised Grounded Theory approaches (Saldana, 2010), and semi-structured interviews (Fox, 2009;Denscombe, 2010), coupled with analytical techniques that broadly conform to methods of thematic analysis (Guest, MacQueen & Namey, 2012). The five studies comprise examinations of the UK's Social Enterprises Places (SEP) initiative (Samuel, 2018;, the expert resources that are utilised by SEnts (Allen, 2020), the internalisation of strategic intent of a community mutual housing association (CMHA) (Taylor, 2020), the cyber-security preparations of SEs (White, Allen, Samuel, Abdullah and Thomas, 2020), and the influence of football clubs' social programmes upon children (Thomas, 2020): see Table 1. (Samuel, 2018; In 2014, Social Enterprise UK rolled out a Social Enterprise Places Programme (SEP), describe as geographical areas (quarters, towns, cities and zones, areas around the UK) where social enterprise activity and investment in the sector is thriving.…”

“…CYBER SECURITY (White, Allen, Samuel, Abdullah and Thomas (2020) Many organisations are poorly equipped with regards to managing their cyber security (Adu, 2018;Amir, Levi & Livne, 2018;Meisner, 2018;Alrimawi, Pasquale, Mehta & Nuseibeh, 2018). Around one third of UK organisations have installed effective cyber security CSBS (2018); this study, however, suggests the figure to be even lower within SEs.…”

“…Among these issues, our examination of the cyber-preparedness of SEs (White et al, 2020) highlights the sector's poor appreciation of, and preparation for, cyber attacks. While this may seem a remote issue at present, as SEs become more 'mainstream', and an accepted and appreciated form of enterprise, so they may also become higher profile targets for nefarious online activities.…”