Global Business in Local Culture The Impact of Embedded Multinational Enterprises

This book examines the impact of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on local economies, and presents selected case studies of MNEs operating in low income countries. By balancing external social and environmental costs against its corresponding benefits, the book demonstrates that MNEs can have a positive net-impact on local development if they build up social capital by embedding themselves in local economies and engaging responsibly with local stakeholders. By doing so MNEs contribute to inclusive growth, a central pillar of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, the book challenges popular narratives in civil society and academia that frame foreign direct investment (FDI) merely as a threat to human rights and sustainable development. Moreover, it offers practical guidance for globally operating businesses seeking to establish progressive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies of their own.

Introduction.- Societal foundations of economic development.- Neoliberalism: a mythical and meaningful term devoid of any deep thought.- The impact of popular stereotypes in academic research and public policy.- New Economic Sociology and re-definition of the term ‘embeddedness’.- Economic globalization as a “disembedding” force?.- Embedded MNEs and their contribution to sustainable change.- Development cooperation as a catalyst for sustainable long- term FDI.- Concluding remarks.

Philipp Aerni is Director of the Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS) and also Professor for Sustainability and Impact Entrepreneurship at the School of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR). He received his Masters Degree in Geography (with Minors in Environmental Science and Economics) from the University of Zurich and his PhD in Agricultural Economics from ETH Zürich. Prior to his position at CCRS, Dr. Aerni worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Institute for Environmental Decisions at ETH Zurich, the World Trade Institute at the University of Berne as well as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Philipp Aerni is also a senior lecturer at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. Among numerous other engagements, he is a member of the Jury of the Swiss Family Business Award, the Forum Genetic Research (SCNAT), and Liberethica (a Platform on ethics, business and religion). As an interdisciplinary social scientist he is interested in the role entrepreneurship and innovation as potential driving forces for inclusive and sustainable change.