Sustainable Internationalization of Multinational Corporations: Myth or Reality?

Abstract

This paper represents an extension of the theoretical and empirical research on the strategic aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the context of multinational corporations (MNCS). In fact, the purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between social responsibility and internationalization strategies of multinational enterprises. To this end, we introduce a theoretical model, that connects social responsibility with the internationalization strategies of MNCS. This model consists of the international expansion strategies and global sustainability phases according to the ideological and operational perspectives. The theoretical model is validated through a field survey on a sample of 27 MNCS, belonging to the Sodalitas Foundation and opportunely selected by a systematic sampling procedure. Data collection technique is an semi-structured interview via e-mail to the responsible for internationalization and/or CSR in the sample MNCS. An univariate analysis of collected data is conducted using SPSS 19 software, without excluding a qualitative analysis. The findings verify the research hypotheses and they allow to identify new sustainable internationalization models of MNCS.