How Can Leaders of Multinational Organizations Be Ethical by Contributing to Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives? Guidelines and Pitfalls for Leaders Trying to Do Good

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a laudable goal for multinational enterprises (MNEs) because of the significant positive impact they can bring to the society and environment around the world. However, there are significant challenges to the practice of CSR in MNEs. This article discusses two major barriers to CSR that are especially significant for MNEs: leaders'attitudes and cultural variance. We then apply insights from Rest's ethical decision-making and cross-cultural research to offer guidance to leaders of MNEs to implement CSR in their organizations. We present a multistep process by which leaders first reflect on and clarify what goals they want to accomplish in the realm of CSR and then how to build consensus for those goals and modify them to incorporate the values and beliefs of local constituents.