Small Yapping Dog: Exploring the role of the Nordics in the CSR work of MNCs

Sammanfattning: Corporate Social Responsibility is an increasingly prevalent point of discussion, and the Nordic countries are especially active and vocal on the subject. Despite representing a small part of the global market, they have established an impactful role in the conversation. While researchers have examined how Nordic public authorities perceive their ability to influence, the MNCs' perspective on the relationship is lacking. Through a qualitative case study, we shed light on the role of the Nordics in the CSR work of MNCs, with the intention of filling this research gap. An iterative approach was employed to explore the topic through interviews with CSR professionals with insight at various organizational levels. To enrich the understanding of why Nordic stakeholders have had an outsized impact on the CSR work of MNCs, we turn to stakeholder theory and neo-institutionalism. By combining the concept of stakeholder salience in the eyes of MNCs with the neo-institutional ideas of organizational legitimacy and isomorphism, we explain the impact of the Nordics as a result of raised stakeholder salience, including the Nordics' high legitimacy on the global arena, and the critical importance of establishing a CSR strategy aligned with the institutional environment for MNCs to be perceived as legitimate. Our findings confirm that Nordic stakeholders are highly engaged with MNCs concerning CSR work. Particularly, public buyers and business customers are mentioned as stakeholders that drive CSR dialogues around transparency, confirming that public authorities plays a key role in engaging with corporations through CSR. We successfully add the MNCs' perspective by providing concrete examples of how MNCs have been affected by Nordic stakeholder engagement, such as changes in organizational processes and increased transparency.