eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

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This study researches the phenomenon of MNE-NGO engagement in the context of Finnish society. The first objective of the study is to find out factors why Finnish MNEs select to engage with particular NGOs. Secondly, this study aims to find out which forms of NGO engagement the MNEs prefer and for what reasons. The topic of MNE-NGO engagement has been gaining increasing interest during past decades in academic research due to interest towards CSR and NGOs. However, why particular NGOs are selected among increasing number of NGOs to be supported is very slightly researched field.

The theoretical framework of this study is formed by looking into MNE, CSR and NGO first separately and then from business-NGO engagement perspective. The starting point is MNE and CSR literature thus it can be stated that without those concepts there would be no contact between MNEs and NGOs. The NGO literature makes sense of the variety of NGOs within societies, and business-NGO literature introduces the forms of engagement these organizations have established. The literature review introduces the Extended Collaboration Continuum where all potential engagement forms between business and NGOs are placed according to their special characteristics. In addition, and to complete the theoretical frame of reference, strategic search and choice literature is utilized.

The empirical research is conducted as a multiple-case study. Director and managerial level representative from both MNEs and NGOs are being interviewed. The representatives are responsible for either marketing, stakeholder relationships, fundraising or corporate social responsibility. In total, 11 persons are interviewed personally in semi-structured interviews.

The findings of this study indicate that Finnish MNEs and NGOs engage with each other for several of reasons. The main reason for selecting a particular NGO is that the MNE-NGO engagement need to fulfill a certain strategic aspect within the overall company strategy. As importantly, the Finnish MNEs select only NGOs which values are aligned with the company values. Also non-monetary support and large and few engagements are the most common NGO selection factors.

According to the findings, the Finnish MNEs prefer the low involvement stage engagements - namely philanthropy and transactional engagement. Even though the Finnish MNEs highlight the strategic aspect being an important NGO selection factor and the literature supports the business-NGO engagements enlarging to higher involvement stages on the Extended Collaboration Continuum, the low involvement NGO engagement forms remain strong. However, the findings show that the Finnish MNEs which base their decision to support a particular NGO to cognitive aspects, such as evaluating the outcome of the engagement, seem to reach the higher involvement engagement forms on the Extended Collaboration Continuum more often. MNEs practicing only philanthropy are, on contrary, basing their NGO and engagement form selection to their past experiences.