MNE research : the contribution of critical realism ?

The aim of the paper is to consider a variety of approaches to understanding the relationship between management agency within MNEs and national institutional systems, and to suggest how theoretical reasoning in this area might be advanced by drawing upon critical realism. The paper is structured as follows. It firstly briefly surveys a selection of the most prominent concepts relating to the agency/structure dichotomy within this particular field (international business, comparative institutionalism, transnational social space, systems-society-dominance, political economy, recombinant governance). It then suggests that this body of theorising could be strengthened with more reference to the ontological assumptions underpinning critical realism. An outline of the core principles of critical realism is then provided, followed by a discussion of critical realist method which argues, in particular, for the benefits of critical realist ethnography. This leads to a final statement of how critical realist ethnography might be employed to inform both international business research in general and specifically case studies of MNE transfer practices.