A global trend is observed where NPOs are transitioning into social enterprises due
to declining levels of funding and increasing competition. The transformation process
can be complex and fraught with challenges. Based on the literature reviews, four main
dimensions and twelve factors were extracted. Then a DANP questionnaire was
conducted to develop casual-effect relationships among the dimensions and determine
the weights of different factors within each dimension. The data, using purposive
sampling technique, were collected from four senior manager respondents from two
NPOs that successfully transformed into a sheltered workshop and a registered social
enterprise respectively
Regarding the sheltered workshop case, the result showed that “management” and
“society” were the most influential dimensions, while the “task” dimension was the
most important one for the registered social enterprise. The study also found that
“professional talent”, “board support” and “mission” had the highest weight values
influenced top managers’ decision making in the sheltered workshop. As for the
registered social enterprise, “consumer attitude”, “social recognition” and “board
support” were the key factors with the highest weight values.