Community disagreement and social enterprise performance in Pakistan: An exploratory configurational analysis

Pakistan-based social enterprises depend on communities for information, legitimacy, and implementation support, yet disagreement may either reveal useful feedback or create pressure. This study examines how community disagreement, community value-obligation, and community conflict pressure relate to social service expansion and commercial performance. Survey data from 400 chief executive officers and social entrepreneurs were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), and complementary ordinary least squares regression. The fsQCA results were assessed across seven calibrations and alternative analytical thresholds. No condition was necessary for either outcome. High disagreement combined with high conflict pressure appeared as a post hoc, calibration-sensitive pathway to social service expansion. Disagreement alone was the most recurrent condition associated with commercial performance and was positively associated with both outcomes in the regression models. Community disagreement should be treated as stakeholder evidence rather than automatically suppressed or obeyed. Its implications vary across social and commercial outcomes, supporting separate performance monitoring and a structured response process for Pakistani social enterprises and support agencies.