Abstract
Recent literature on social entrepreneurship has recognised the need to study the impact of contextual factors on the emergence, survival, and growth of social enterprises. However, only some of these studies are from the developing country contexts. Even fewer have examined organisations in the waste management sector with the dual goals of creating a positive environmental impact and maintaining financial viability and growth. There has been significant progress in regulating waste management in India, yet waste remains a complex issue. This paper aims to examine the contextual factors affecting waste management SEs in India and understand their strategic responses to these factors. Results show that significant institutional and cultural challenges exist. However, the SEs have used innovative methods to overcome these.