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Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) continues to proliferate, but why and how multinational enterprises (MNEs) from different parts of the world engage in CSR is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there are differences in behavior based on the status of the MNE’s home country relative to the host country.

Applying a social dominance theory (SDT) framework, the authors explain variations in MNE behavior because of perceived hierarchical differences between a MNE’s home country and that of the host country. It is posited that these hierarchical differences trigger a country-of-origin bias that affects stakeholders’ expectations for the MNE, as well as that firm’s response to those expectations. In this integrative conceptual paper, we propose a testable framework derived from a deductive approach that applies the tenets of SDT to predict outcomes of CSR implementation by MNE’s subsidiaries.

MNEs from less developed countries are subject to lower expectations and engage in self-debilitating behavior, which may hinder their attempts to implement CSR initiatives in more developed countries. Paradoxically, engaging in CSR initiatives could help reduce liability of foreignness and increase chances for competitive advantage.

MNEs from developing countries should be aware of a potential country-of-origin bias affecting decisions on CSR implementation and that could also be detrimental to their competitive advantage when operating in more developed countries. Conversely, MNEs from developed countries should be ready for higher expectations of their CSR initiatives in less developed countries.

This paper strives to contribute to two extant literatures. First, it contributes to the social dominance literature by applying the perspective in the international business context, specifically research on MNE liability of origin. Second, this perspective offers testable propositions on how perceived hierarchies and liability of origin affect firm decision-making, specifically in the context of developing country MNEs. Third, this paper seeks to expand the discussion of MNE subsidiary CSR behavior to account for the relative context of the home and host country.

The purpose of this study is to better understand how firms integrate sustainable resource management dimensions into their strategy as these firms reexamine how to support sustainability in our global business environment. To that end, the authors empirically investigate the relationship between firm-level research and development (R&D) and sustainable resource management, with particular consideration of how home-country corruption impacts this relationship.

The authors use a pooled regression to test the hypotheses on an unbalanced panel data set of 307 observations across six years.

The results show a positive relationship between innovation capacity and sustainable resource management. When moderated by home-country corruption, this positive relationship weakens in countries with lower corruption levels.

Firms interested in moving towards sustainable resource management must be deliberate and strategic about its R&D investments.

This paper extends extant literature on sustainable resource management, innovation and corruption by investigating the relationships hitherto under-researched despite the abundance of studies on the overall corporate social responsibility.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how a higher status of one stakeholder group relates to the outcomes of stakeholder–organization relationship with other lower status stakeholder groups.

This conceptual paper uses insights from resource dependence theory while applying the tenets of social dominance theory (SDT) to develop a model with testable propositions explaining the variability with regard to stakeholder dominance and the resulting outcome in terms of (un)favorable organizational responsiveness to other stakeholder demands.

Firm’s behavior or decisions regarding a particular stakeholder group may be influenced by dominant hierarchical status of another stakeholder group if the latter considers that their respective interests are misaligned and is not willing to compromise. The argument build in this paper indicates that it is likely that the influence of the dominant stakeholder group will undermine stakeholders from a subordinate group.

This paper contributes to two distinct literature streams. First, this paper extends research on stakeholder responsiveness exploring the triadic relationship, particularly focusing on stakeholders’ perspective that has been given much less attention in prior literature. Second, this paper extends the application of the SDT to a stakeholder relationship context potentially allowing for a more parsimonious theory.

Family businesses have several distinct features that distinguish them from other businesses. This aspect makes it imperative that scholars investigate issues with an additional focus on the interplay of family business dynamics. In this chapter, we explore the issues of power and corruption within family business, with the understanding that prior examinations of this phenomenon were primarily restricted to large public corporations that are not family owned. The key contribution of this chapter is to shed light on the dark side of family business, namely power enabled corruption. We do so by considering three dimensions that are unique to family firms, namely, ownership and control, generations, and governance. In particular, we highlight how these dimensions can facilitate corruption. It is possible that they may also challenge family business that try to detect, deter, and control corruption within their ranks. The lack of objective external evaluation, the ineffectiveness of internal checks, generational issues, family control, and the restricted nature of governance appear to contribute to exacerbating tensions that promote corruption becoming entrenched within family businesses. Following a case method approach, several illustrative examples of cases of power and corruption within family firms are provided, representing different geographic regions of the world, to showcase the widespread nature of this phenomenon. The three family business cases we illustrate (Grupo Odebrecht in Latin America, Sahara Group in South Africa and Foremost Maritime Group in China) represent multiple countries, continents, and geo-political frontiers. Each case illustrates how both corruption and power reinforce each other in family businesses. Implications of the magnifier effect of power on corruption in family business are discussed in terms of its impact, scale, and its enabling effect by providing a road map to corruption.