Overhauling multinationals for the Anthropocene: How a rogue subsidiary offers a blueprint for sustainable development
研究通过对比联合利华的“叛逆”子公司Ben & Jerry's，揭示了五种机制，可帮助跨国公司适应有限生态系统服务，为可持续发展提供可复制的蓝图。
This research addresses the question of how multinational enterprises (MNEs) can be overhauled to reckon with the finite ecosystem services that characterize the Anthropocene epoch. A comparative mechanism-based methodology is employed to seek an answer in the class of entities that MNEs are benchmarked against the unorthodox organization of a recently dubbed Unilever's “rogue subsidiary,” i.e., Ben & Jerry's, which could evolve into a turning point in sustainable development if replicated on a sufficient scale. The findings are that this subsidiary has put exceptional mechanisms to work, turning around functions that typically bolster the capabilities of MNEs to cash in on natural resources and other non-equity stakeholders. In a nutshell, these mechanisms 1) reduce the cost that stakeholders bear when engaging with MNEs across the value chain; 2) put the wardens of the company mission in charge of the organizational drivers of environmental and social commitments; 3) prevent the conflict of interests inherent in making wardens accountable to shareholders; 4) appoint key MNE executives in good faith consultation with wardens; and 5) secure wardens' recourse to the courts in the case of a breach of contract.