Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) of MNE subsidiaries in emerging markets has mainly been studied through aggregated CSR activities. Instead, this study disaggregates CSR engagement towards target groups into two foci – External and Internal CSR – depending on whether such engagement is outside or within the organization. We explored whether the odds of a wholly owned subsidiary matching its parent’s choice of target groups – for both External and Internal CSR – varied by which organizational cohort it belonged to, based on organizational characteristics. Results of logistic regressions indicate that age of a subsidiary, relative size of the subsidiary and region-of-origin of its parent influence the odds of the subsidiary following its parent’s External CSR focus; while age of a subsidiary, global presence of its parent, and industry type influence the odds of the subsidiary following its parent’s Internal CSR focus. Findings indicate that both through External and Internal CSR, MNE subsidiaries simultaneously pursue legitimacy and competitive advantage, through different primary stakeholder groups, to address both host country and global institutional contexts.

摘要

新兴市场跨国公司子公司的企业社会责任（CSR）主要通过汇总的CSR活动来研究。相反，本研究将针对目标群体的 CSR 参与分解为两个焦点——外部和内部 CSR——取决于这种参与是在组织外部还是在组织内部。我们探讨了一家全资子公司匹配其母公司选择的目标群体（外部和内部企业社会责任）的几率是否会因所属的组织群体而异，具体取决于组织特征。逻辑回归的结果表明，子公司的年龄、子公司的相对规模和母公司的原产地会影响子公司遵循母公司外部 CSR 重点的几率；而子公司的年龄，其母公司的全球存在，和行业类型影响子公司遵循其母公司内部 CSR 重点的几率。调查结果表明，通过外部和内部企业社会责任，跨国公司子公司同时通过不同的主要利益相关者群体寻求合法性和竞争优势，以应对东道国和全球制度环境。