Multinational Companies: Qualitative Comparative Analysis for Conditions for Social Innovation and Semi-structured Interviews Examining Social Innovation, 2020-2022

The research was envisaged to last 30 months. One of the consequences of the pandemic was that initial access in early 2020 was challenging and we sought an extension to 36 months. Hence the project began in early 2020 and ran up till the end of 2022. There were two phases to the project. Phase one entailed a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QAC) to analyse conditions of 10 cases of social innovation in and around MNCs. Phase 2 consisted of semi-structured interviews examine four research question related to social innovation i) interests and motivations of social innovation ii) skills and resources of social innovation iii) inhibiting and enabling institutional factors of social innovation iv) outcomes of social innovation.

This project analysed social innovations relating to inequality that are carried out by social activists in and around multinational companies (MNCs) in five national contexts. Defined as the “innovative activities and services that are motivated by the goal of meeting a social need” (Mulgan, 2006, p. 146), particularly those arising from social divides within society and the corporate responsibilities towards the externalities that MNCs create, we considered when and how some actors within MNCs engage in innovative activities that address such social divides, with a view to understanding whether and how such initiatives contribute to inclusive growth and to sustainable development. Our primary focus is on the process of social innovation that pertains to inequality in general and the work of ‘social activists’ from both inside and beyond the boundaries of these companies. We studied social innovation as a combination of not only top-down initiatives led by executives and those close to them, but also bottom-up processes led by social activists from a range of backgrounds and positions. We sought to understand the dynamics of such social innovations as regards which actors are taking them forward, what these initiatives concern, what resources are deployed, how such initiatives span the boundaries of companies and civil societies, and whether and why they are successful. We addressed the opportunities and challenges for the scaling up of social innovations through MNCs’ transnational networks, which are a key driver of transformations in both developed and emerging economies on both sides of the Atlantic.

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