Abstract
What is the relationship of global and local (country-specific) corporate social
responsibility (CSR) to international organizational strategy? Applying the
strategic logic of the Bartlett and Ghoshal typology to the realm of CSR,
multinational firms should respond to pressures for integration and responsiveness
from salient stakeholders. However, an institutional logic would
suggest that multinational firms will simply replicate the existing productmarket
organizational strategy (multidomestic, transnational, global) in their
management of CSR. These alternative approaches are tested with a survey
instrument sent to MNEs operating in Mexico. The results of this study are
consistent with the proposition that institutional pressures, rather than strategic
analysis of social issues and stakeholders, are guiding decision-making with
respect to CSR. We develop implications for MNE management and research,
as well as public policy.