The purpose of this study is to systematically review the body of knowledge on corporate diplomacy (CD) and political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) in journals from the fields of public relations, public diplomacy, general management and business ethics. By applying an interdisciplinary approach our study aims to (1) examine what definitions of CD and PCSR exist,(2) explore what theories have been applied to CD and PCSR and, (3) find differences and commonalities between the underlying concepts of CD and PCSR. Building on the results of our review, we redefine each construct and develop a theoretical framework of CD, which integrates PCSR, international public relations and public diplomacy. Our results serve as a foundation for an operationalization of the constructs in order to conduct empirical analyses and contribute to current research on the political role of multinational corporations.

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Drawing from neo-institutionalism and public relations theory, this study examined to what extent corporate diplomacy builds on public relations to identify and respond to societal expectations emerging from a company's host country environment, which can result in organizational legitimacy. Based on in-depth interviews (N = 25) with public relations executives in the United Arab Emirates, our findings imply that companies engage in corporate diplomacy to align with governmental demands while simultaneously attempting to meet internal expectations originating from employees and corporate values. The interviews resulted in the identification and description of five corporate diplomacy modes and a model describing corporate diplomacy-legitimacy, highlighting the role played by relationship cultivation and culture in gaining organizational legitimacy through corporate diplomacy. Consequently, our study provides a framework to explain the societal role of public relations in building organizational legitimacy through relationship cultivation.