MNE Subsidiaries CSR through Institutional Lens; A Review, Conceptual Mapping and Response Strategies

Abstract

Design/Methodology/Approach - After reviewing the literature on MNE subsidiaries' CSR through institutional lens, we conceived a three-dimensional matrix of institutional force fields and mapped the quadrants with meta-level strategies that subsidiaries can assume. We further conceptualize a linear flow model of subsidiary CSR. Purpose - The CSR premise is complicated for an MNE subsidiary operating across a geographically dispersed heterogeneous environment and conceptual literature on MNE subsidiaries' CSR, a function that makes-or-break legitimacy in the home and host environment, is at best scattered. We bridge that gap by reviewing the literature on three levels and plotting all those idiosyncratic counter-institutional forces into a single framework. Findings - An MNE subsidiary's CSR premise could be plotted into a matrix structure of institutional force fields, with subsidiaries assuming strategies to balance these forces. We postulate that institutional complexities influence the CSR strategy of a subsidiary, subjected to firm-specific logic. We propose that for an MNC subsidiaries CSR, there is a systematic deviation path from Carroll's hierarchical pyramid model to a need-based pyramidal model. Originality/Value - The three-dimensional force field matrix model with respective strategies that subsidiary could assume is proposed for the first time. The linear flow model of a subsidiary CSR is also new to literature.