International Business and the 2030 Agenda (conference theme track)

Through its cross-border operations, international business has often been considered to favour countries’ economic growth. Yet even in the presence of economic growth, countries still face numerous grand sustainability challenges, whose solution is at the core of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda. Such challenges include economic inequality, climate change, lack of decent work in global value chains, modern slavery, unsustainable consumption, and gender discrimination, among others. While multinational enterprises (MNEs) are often part of the problem, they can also be part of the solution. We especially encourage papers that examine why and under what conditions MNEs impede the achivement of SDG goals, as well as papers investigating how and when MNEs can promote progress in the solution of contemporary societal grand challenges. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: (a) MNEs’ role related to specific goals (e.g. climate change, hunger, education, etc); (b) MNEs’ interactions with policy-makers within and across countries in relation to the SDGs (non-market strategy); (c) MNEs’ governance changes related to the integration of the SDGs; (d) Comparative and international governance of the SDGs; (e) Global collaboration between stakeholders and international “partnerships for the goals”; (f) Challenges represented by the SDGs for international business; (g) Shortcomings of MNEs’ current strategies vis à vis the attainment of the SDGs.

Keywords:
SDGs 2030 Agenda; grand societal challenges; climate change; modern slavery; global value chains; power; lobbying; sustainability; non-market strategy; political capabilities; public-private partnerships; governance; multi-stakeholder initiatives.