An Enquiry into MNEs’ CSR Practices: Literature Assessment, Managerial Implications, and Academic Perspectives

Abstract

As a result of growing concerns by stakeholder groups in different parts of the world for the economic, social, and environmental value created by multinational enterprises (MNEs), research has explored MNEs’ corporate social responsibility (CSR). This article extends existing knowledge by steering through extant research on MNE’s CSR activities embedded in MNEs’ international competitive behavior. The paper reviews 208 empirical studies conducted on this subject during the period 1997–2022 and offers a systematized analysis along aspects pertaining to theoretical perspectives, research design, scope, method, and thematic emphasis. It synthesizes existing knowledge in an integrative conceptual framework incorporating the key thematic priorities and the relations between them. It also provides an evaluation of the key managerial implications extracted from these studies by 114 managers of MNEs having their headquarters in the U.S.A., Germany, and China. Finally, it offers fruitful directions for future research based on the findings of a survey among 42 international business scholars with expertise in this field.