In search of competitiveness through innovation-driven CSR initiatives in Multinational Enterprise subsidiaries in developing countries
In search of competitiveness through innovation-driven CSR initiatives in Multinational Enterprise subsidiaries in developing countries
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Date
2017
Authors
Amos, Gideon Jojo
Awuah, Gabriel Baffour
Journal Title
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Publisher
Developing Country Studies
Abstract
Purpose – The objective of the present study is to investigate opportunities for integrating innovation and CSR in
the context of firms’ activities. This is explored by investigating the extent to which innovation may complement
CSR activities of MNE subsidiaries in developing-countries.
Method/approach – This paper employs literature study to describe how innovation complements CSR in the
search for competitiveness at the level of the firm. In doing so, the competitiveness of firms, which is often driven
by the demands for responsible behaviour and innovativeness, is derived from studying the extant literature. By
drawing from multiple theoretical lenses (i.e., legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory, CSR literature, firms’
reputation, and innovativeness), we aim at evaluating their collective impact on firms’ competitiveness.
Findings - The model suggests that firm’s contextual capabilities (e.g. legitimacy, innovation, and stakeholders)
can define its CSR activities (e.g. CSR ethical, CSR social, and CSR environmental). The cumulative effects of
these, define firm’s reputation, which eventually, produces firm’s own competitiveness. The study has argued
that there is more to firms’ stakeholders than ordinary resources required in furtherance of firms’ economic
objectives. It therefore follows that stakeholders’ potential to constitute a pool of resources and capabilities that
the firm can blend with to realize its strategic objectives ought to be stressed. Consequently, markets and for that
matter firms, are subject to CSR and innovation demands through, for example, more socially responsible
productive behaviour. This requires that MNE subsidiaries in developing-countries connect different strategies
towards improving their own competitiveness. This may be accomplished through, re-packaging CSR into
bundles of interrelated activities, collaborating with stakeholders to jointly create and deliver social and
economic values, and integrating CSR into productive activities that may lead to bundles of products to suit local
market conditions.
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Citation
Amos, G. J., & Baffour Awuah, G. (2017). In search of competitiveness through innovation-driven CSR initiatives in Multinational Enterprise subsidiaries in developing countries. Journal of Developing Country Studies, 7(2), 161-173.