Resources

In China, NGOs often collaborate with multinational companies to promote sustainability among their suppliers. This “two-step influence model” allows NGOs to indirectly influence local firms. The success of these collaborations depends on alignment with government priorities, with stronger impacts where the environment is a lower priority. Multinationals benefit from local knowledge and networks through these partnerships but must carefully manage trust and expectations. Moreover, collaboration with NGOs can help achieve sustainability goals but also invites scrutiny.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) often have less power over their emerging market suppliers than is commonly believed. New research suggests that MNCs can use various strategies to influence their suppliers' behavior, but these strategies have complex and paradoxical effects on their performance and reputation. MNCs should consider the goals and interests of their suppliers when creating sustainability strategies for their global value chains.

Sand is a vital material for construction, but it is being depleted faster than nature can replenish it. This poses serious environmental and social problems, such as habitat loss, water pollution, and conflicts over resources. To address this issue, researchers have explored sustainable alternatives to sand, but there are no easy solutions because of availability, performance, price, and demand-related considerations, particularly in emerging markets where population growth and economic priorities will place increasing pressure on this limited resource.

How do leaders of global companies face Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) challenges in their supply chains? Recent research by Sheila Puffer and colleagues at Northeastern University presents a typology of four archetypes of CSR responses and analyzes the benefits and drawbacks of each archetype using real-world examples.

Managers operating in emerging markets face a delicate balance between risks and opportunities. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) holds the key to navigating these complexities, and recent research shows its significance in securing competitiveness and credibility. Managers are advised to embrace global CSR standards, engage with local stakeholders, adapt flexible strategies, monitor suppliers, and seek collective action to leverage the opportunities of these fast-growing markets.

Multinational companies often misbehave, deviating from the expected rules of conduct in different countries. Some exploit the gaps and inconsistencies in regulations, laws, and customs, causing harm to various parties. This misbehavior requires more attention and responsibility from multinational companies to reduce the negative consequences of their actions, especially in emerging markets.

Read the third issue of Insights @ Center for Emerging Markets, bringing together researchers from across Northeastern University to examine topics such as innovation in Chinese management, cultural agility, the challenges of informal entrepreneurship, shifts in global supply chain management, the future of healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa, reverse innovation, and the locational effects of the United Nations Environment Programme in Kenya.

Research by Juan Bu and Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra shows that new ventures in emerging markets, initially created informally, suffer from costs that persist and constrain a firm's ability to innovate even after they formalize their status. As a result of these informality costs, informally created new ventures are more likely to develop imitative rather than innovative new products. However, being acquired by other firms and improvements in the national innovation system can weaken the persistence of these informality costs, resulting in more innovation. To explain these findings, Bu and Cuervo-Cazurra develop the concept of internal imprinting, which captures how the internal characteristics of a company result in the establishment of practices that persist over time, affecting behavior and innovation. Managers in emerging markets should consider formalizing their firms from the beginning or joining a private business group to mitigate the negative impact of informality on their firms' innovativeness.

In 1972, Nairobi, Kenya became the first developing country to host the headquarters of a UN organization, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). UNEP's presence in Nairobi has increased Kenya's global governance stature. However, it has not fulfilled the promise of promoting greater input from developing countries. The location has posed challenges to UNEP, including security concerns, recruitment and retention of staff, communication and infrastructure difficulties, and the need for resources. Professor Ivanova's recent book about UNEP's first 50 years identifies practical ways for improving its effectiveness as a premier multilateral institution for addressing the grand environmental challenges of our time.

Chinese companies are reinventing management through an approach called “digitally enhanced directed autonomy” (DEDA). DEDA uses digital platforms to give frontline employees direct access to corporate resources and capabilities, allowing them to organize themselves around business opportunities without managerial intervention. Autonomy is directed where it is needed and tracked. By giving teams the freedom to design, produce, and sell their products, companies can foster innovation, increase employee engagement, and improve customer satisfaction. The authors use case studies to examine how Chinese companies utilize DEDA and how Western companies might learn from it.