Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0289-6667

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Chambers College of Business and Economics

Department

Management

Committee Chair

David Dawley

Committee Member

Abhishek Srivastava

Committee Member

Tainxu Chen

Committee Member

Hyeonsuh Lee

Committee Member

Wei Hua

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation is to provide theoretical and empirical insights into strategic antecedents and financial performance implications of corporate social responsibility (CSR) portfolios in multinational corporations (MNCs). Specifically, the following research questions are studied: 1. How do the international cultural exploration, exploitation, and ambidexterity of a firm influence its CSR portfolio? (Study 1) 2. Do MNCs earn higher profits if they spread their CSR activities across many sustainable development goals (SDGs), or if they concentrate on them among a few? (Study 2) 3. Does environment, social, & governance (ESG) performance (ESG reputation and ESG controversies) moderate this relationship, potentially enhancing or constraining the financial benefits of CSR portfolio? (Study 2) The key contributions of this dissertation lie at the intersection of strategy and international business (IB) research, advancing our understanding of how cultural distance between foreign subsidiaries shapes the configuration of MNCs’ CSR portfolios.

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