Title: Improving local implementation of an MNC's global CSR strategy: the importance of stakeholders

Authors: Philip M. Van Woerkom; Annemarie Van Zeijl-Rozema

Addresses: Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands ' International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development (ICIS), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands

Abstract: The private sector and multinational corporations (MNCs) in particular play an important role in encouraging and ensuring global sustainable development. For an MNC, this requires a local implementation of their global approach but realising this can be challenging. This challenge motivated the current paper. We argue that stakeholder's interests and needs at various scale levels should be met. This paper demonstrates how an MNC can identify useful corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities for various stakeholders by taking into account salience, credibility and legitimacy. The paper develops a CSR self-assessment tool that allows an MNC at both local and global level to determine the usefulness of local CSR activities for stakeholders and that identifies if value is created with local activities. Based on case study research, the self-assessment tool designed for this research has proven to be useful. This paper concludes with concrete propositions on what MNCs can do to improve local implementation of their global CSR strategy.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; CSR strategy; stakeholders; salience; credibility; legitimacy; multinational corporations; MNCs; business environment; global approach; improving local implementation; value creation; self-assessment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBE.2017.087963

International Journal of Business Environment, 2017 Vol.9 No.3, pp.247 - 265

Received: 06 Oct 2016
Accepted: 29 May 2017
Published online: 13 Nov 2017 *

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