The role of universities’ social responsibility in enhancing business sustainability: Mediating role of entrepreneurial culture

This study aims to analyze the role of sustainable social responsibility in enhancing business sustainability, with entrepreneurial culture serving as a mediating variable. Focusing on Bisha University in Saudi Arabia, it demonstrates how the university’s socially responsible practices foster an entrepreneurial culture that, in turn, drives sustainable business outcomes within the local community. A descriptive-analytical approach was adopted, with data collected through a structured survey distributed to 200 faculty members of University of Bisha, yielding 190 valid responses. Hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression and path analysis to explore both direct and indirect relationships among the study variables.The findings reveal that sustainable social responsibility significantly impacts business sustainability, explaining 49.1% of its variability. Additionally, entrepreneurial culture mediates this relationship, contributing an indirect effect of 0.446 and amplifying the total impact of social responsibility on business sustainability to 70.1%. Sustainable social responsibility also explains 46.5% of the variability in entrepreneurial culture. Model fit indices confirm the robustness of the relationships, with strong statistical significance across all paths. These results underscore the strategic importance of universities in integrating social responsibility into their operations to foster entrepreneurial culture and achieve sustainable outcomes. This study provides valuable insights for higher education institutions aiming to align their academic and operational practices with sustainability goals, contributing to broader initiatives like Saudi Vision 2030. Acknowledgments The authors are thankful to the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at University of Bisha for supporting this work through the Fast-Track Research Support Program.