Multinational Corporations and Social Responsibility in Emerging Markets: Opportunities and Challenges for Research and Practice

Abstract

I was honored when Alex Michalos, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Business Ethics, invited me to edit a special issue. As a strategy scholar, I wondered how to make the most contribution for the journal and its readers. Amongst the various forces that have been reshaping global competitive landscape, the growing attention on the corporate social responsibility (CSR), without doubt, is one of the most note worthy. While multinational corporations (MNCs) have come to terms with CSR agenda, the concept of CSR itself remains ambiguous. Although many MNCs have attempted to integrate CSR in their strategic decisions and implementations, few seem to have found a proper balance between their aspirations in CSR and their performance in emerging markets. What is lacking is a better understanding of what exactly is required of today's MNCs to simultaneously generate profits for shareholders and make a positive contribution to the multiple stakeholders in the countries where they conduct business. For MNCs operating in emerging markets, the fast-growing wealth represents a tremendous oppor tunity. At the same time, these emerging markets also present huge challenge to the MNCs due to under developed institutional environment, weak public governance, widespread bribery and corruption, lack of regulatory legislations and rules, public transpar ency, and respect for human rights. How can MNCs better formulate CSR policies and actively imple ment them in these economies undergoing profound institutional transformation? Obviously, first, it is important to understand the environmental charac teristics and how MNCs responded to CSR pressure in these emerging markets. In the end I have decided to devote to a single topic of profound academic and practical importance, and provide a forum for in-depth knowledge consolida tion and forward thinking by scholars from around the world. I chose CSR as the theme, and I chose to focus on the issues arising from MNCs in emerging markets. As these economies gradually undergo fun damental institutional reform and become increas ingly integrated into global economy, an improved understanding of CSR issues in these markets has gained added significance for theory and practice. It is my effort and those of all the scholars who have contributed to this collection to help narrow the gap between the importance of CSR among MNCs in emerging markets and the research effort devoted to it.