Translating Strategies of Boundary Spanners within an MNC: The Case of CSR Reporting

Based on an embedded multiple case study of a UK-based MNC, informed by 27 semi-structured interviews and 20 follow-up interviews, this paper studies the translation of corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) within an MNC following its transfer from the HQ. Drawing from the Scandinavian institutionalism, with particular attention to Boxenbaum’s (2006b) three-dimensional framework of translation, the article conceptualises subsidiary translators as boundary spanners within the MNC and investigates the interplay of translators’ individual preferences, strategic framing and local grounding across five subsidiaries. The case analysis identifies four distinct translation strategies: hybridization, cherry-picking, replication, and substitution, thus contributing to the theorization of the intra-organisational translation strategies and contributing to a more sophisticated understanding of the agency roles of boundary spanners within MNCs.