Their work was published in the Journal of International Business Studies.

The article was written by Kayleigh Bruijn, Arno Kourula, and Panikos Georgallis (all with the Strategy and International Business section). Other contributors to the article were João Albino-Pimentel and Hildy Teegan, both from the University of South Carolina

Multinational enterprises and civil society interact in many ways across countries. Often they interact as adversaries, but there is evidence that they increasingly collaborate with each other. This has a significant impact on these actors and society in general. In their review, the researchers explored a number of aspects, including:

• What causes conflict or cooperation between MNEs & civil society? And what are the outcomes of these interactions?
• Researchers often study MNE-related outcomes, but why is there so little literature about the impact these interactions have on society? This is surprising given that interactions between MNEs & civil society are often linked to crucial societal problems such as the environment, labour relations, and globalisation.

Addressing gaps in the research

The Discussion section of their publication summarises gaps in the studies and provides examples of research questions to address them. The authors hope their review will advance research on MNE-Civil society interactions. This could in turn help contribute to resolving urgent social challenges.

An overview of the authors’ findings can be found on LinkedIn.