Management International Review

Call for Papers for a Focused Issue

 

THE CORPORATE POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF MNCs

 

Guest Editors

Jonas Puck, WU Vienna (Austria)

Thomas Lawton, The Open University (UK)

Alexander Mohr, WU Vienna (Austria)

 

Submission deadline: 30.10.2016

 

For the last 40 years, both management and political science scholars have been assessing multinational corporations’ (MNCs) ties with political and regulatory actors and agents, particularly governments, political institutions, and regulators. However, analyzing research in the context of the MNC, we argue that our knowledge of many dimensions of MNC non-market, political strategies is still rather limited, specifically when compared to research on the market side of strategy. This focused issue therefore intends to venture deeper into this research realm, both theoretically and empirically. We propose the following four areas for particular focus:

 

·       Drivers of MNC corporate political activity (CPA). Research shows that firms apply different political strategies in different environments. However, we see substantial room for contributions expanding our knowledge on the antecedents and drivers of CPA in specific markets.

·       When and how MNCs integrate different types of non-market strategies across global markets. Just recently scholars have started addressing interdependence between firms’ CSR and CPA; however, we know little about when and how firms do so in an international context. Addressing such questions will help to develop a better understanding of the overlap between and integration of the two key pillars of non-market strategy in a cross national and international setting.

·       Despite some recent advancement, still little is known about the management and organization of corporate political activity within the MNC. Therefore, submissions addressing CPA management, organization, and structure within MNCs will be welcome as promising avenues for theory development in the field.

·       Lastly, research on the effectiveness of non-market strategy across borders still remains scarce. Therefore, we see room for theoretical and empirical contributions with regard to the effectiveness of corporate political activity in and across different international environments.

 

Papers may address one of the areas highlighted above, or other relevant areas related to CPA in MNCs’. Papers focusing on market-based responses to political uncertainty or addressing solely CSR-related activities will not be considered. We specifically welcome interdisciplinary submissions that complement business perspectives with approaches from other disciplines, particularly political science. Furthermore, both conceptual and empirical (quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods) papers are welcome. Papers that are accepted or invited to be revised and resubmitted for the special issue will be invited to take part in a paper development workshop at WU Vienna.

 

Submission Information

·       All papers will be subject to double-blind peer review

·       Authors should follow MIR guidelines: http://www.springer.com/business+%26+management/journal/11575

·       Contributions should be submitted in English, in a Microsoft Word or compatible format via e-mail attachment to Jonas Puck ([log in to unmask])

·       Questions can be addressed to any of the co-editors: Jonas Puck ([log in to unmask]), Thomas Lawton ([log in to unmask]), or Alexander Mohr ([log in to unmask])