The roles of multinational enterprises in implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the local level

Abstract

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) play a fundamental role in advancing the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), as they enable cities and communities to reach large-scale solutions. In this article, we analyze 348 MNEs’ sustainability reports with explicit reference to the SDGs to identify the different roles that MNEs play in advancing the SDGs at the local level. Through qualitative content analysis, the literature on MNEs’ roles was validated, extended, and two new roles were found. The five roles of MNEs in local sustainable development that were validated are financer, community capacity builder, product and service provider, partner, and innovator. The three that were extended are employee developer, supply chains and procurement developer, and program deliver, while the two new additions are consultant and awareness raiser. The results of bivariate analyses show that some MNE roles are correlated to headquarter region and the industry sector. The 10 roles are also relevant for implementing all 17 SDGs and 102 of the 169 SDG targets. JEL CLASSIFICATION: M14

The Practice Of “Sustainable Development Goals Washing” In Developing Countries

“…This research aims for transferability rather than generalizability, as it seeks to gain a deeper understanding of a relatively unknown phenomenon through Sustainable Development Goal initiatives of participant companies (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The findings are relevant to the study by Eang et al (2022) demonstrating that although global companies' executives highlight the importance of Sustainable Development Goals, companies have yet to adopt very few. Thus, the study found a significant gap between what is declared and what is implemented, suggesting Sustainable Development Goal washing.…”

“…The United Nations (UN) (2015a; 2015b) recognizes global companies' critical role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, a recent survey indicates that most global companies support the Sustainable Development Goals (Eang et al, 2022;United Nations Global Compact, 2017;. Nevertheless, studies suggest that companies implement the Sustainable Development Goals more for risk reduction than well-being maximization ( van Zanten & van Tulder, 2018).…”

MNEs’ Contribution to Sustainable Development: Examining the Mediating Role of Environmental, Social Performance, and SDGs’ Alignment.

“…The rapid evolvement of international businesses (IB) in the arena of sustainable development has posed a challenge for international business and management research, especially in adapting to their speed. This has been much pronounced since the announcement of the sustainable development goals by the United Nations (UN, 2015), which are termed as a package of opportunities (Eang et al, 2023;Montiel et al, 2021;(Cambridge, 2016), challenges (Tsalis et al, 2020), and 'gift' (Pedersen, 2018), for businesses, especially the Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) (Van Tulder et al, 2021). Although the majority of studies have analyzed the relevance of MNEs from the angle of macro level (Ghauri, 2022;van Zanten & van Tulder, 2018).…”