This focused issue addresses how multinational enterprises navigate environments characterized by fragmented, conflicting, and overlapping institutional and stakeholder pressures arising from national security concerns, populist movements, and societal disruptions. The call recognizes that while international institutions like the UN SDGs and Paris Agreement shape MNE decision-making, domestic resistance in some countries creates institutional conflicts that MNEs must resolve through their strategic choices.
The issue seeks contributions exploring four main areas: the factors exposing MNEs to institutional fragmentation; how firms combine market and non-market strategies to respond to these pressures; how MNEs orchestrate responses across multiple jurisdictions; and how macro-level tensions affect internal organizational dynamics. The editors welcome conceptual and empirical papers using various methodologies, along with interdisciplinary work that incorporates political science perspectives.