The Origination And Control Of Global Csr Initiatives: A Transaction Cost And Institutional Perspective

The question of how multinational corporations pursue and organize corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives is one that has received comparatively little attention in the literature of business and society or organization theory. This article seeks to develop a framework to understand the dynamics associated with global CSR. Using institutional theory and transaction cost economics as relevant theoretical determinants, the framework presented here posits that the point of origin, whether the home country headquarters or foreign business units, is dependent upon the nature of normative pressure faced by the company and its ability to resist or shape those pressures. Management and structure of the initiative, in turn, is seen as a function of its origin and the nature of the transaction costs experienced by the home country HQ or foreign business unit. Implications of the framework and directions for future research conclude the discussion