Article Review: The Role of MNCs in Political CSR, University Name

This article review examines David Detomasi's article, "The Multinational Corporation as a Political Actor: ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ Revisited," focusing on the rising issue of MNCs' role in political CSR within the context of globalization. The review highlights the significance of understanding the varieties of capitalism in the international economy, particularly in the relationship between business and government. The analysis draws comparisons with a similar article by Frynas and Stephens, discussing voluntary corporate activities and business responses to social demands. The review acknowledges the article's strength in using powerful sources and relevant concepts but identifies limitations, such as the insufficient consideration of corporate collectivism and the focus on MNCs rather than a detailed link to the varieties of capitalism. The review concludes that globalization has allowed MNCs to enter new markets, and the arguments are critically explained and gauged in terms of capacity, number, and scope of activity, while also acknowledging the criticisms regarding the chosen method of the state government.

Running head: ARTICLE REVIEW
Article Review
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

1ARTICLE REVIEW
The article The Multinational Corporation as a Political Actor: ‘Varieties of
Capitalism’ Revisited by David Detomasi, was selected to focus on the theme of the role played
by the MNCs in political CSR. It is argued to be a rising issue in the area of management
research. The theme can be enlightened by a detailed explanation of the varieties of capitalism,
which exist at present in the international economy. This article is based on the critical
arguments of the MNCs decision to participate in governance and arise out of the relationship
between business and government (Detomasi 2015).
In this article, the global scenario is stressed upon by evaluating the role played by the
MNCs in political CSR. A similar article was found out that centered on the emerging interest in
political CSR and the activities that affects politically (Frynas and Stephens 2015). The two
articles were found similar in terms of the voluntary activities carried out by the companies to
provide community services. The interaction between business and politics were studied to find
out the business responses to the social demands. The article has contributed to the field of
research by stating that there is limitation about the present conceptions of CSR. This is because
the increasingly important corporate form of collectivism is not taken into consideration.
Therefore, it has become a limitation for this article.
The strength of the article is the establishment of the concepts by using powerful sources.
For instance, the use of a current article in the ‘the Economist’ news newsmagazine regarding the
rise of state capitalism had shed light on the strong upcoming force in the global economy.
Moreover, the use of relevant concepts and instances gave it a powerful platform to present the
views properly. The article has recorded the ways in which state companies are struggling
against the private companies in different trans- national industries. However, there are weak
areas in this article where the author stated about the appearance of a process for the benefit of

2ARTICLE REVIEW
MNC’s interests in creating opposition. The underlying meaning was not quite clear in this part
of the article. Moreover, the role of MNCs were more focused on the article rather than linking it
with the varieties of capitalism. It would have made the article more explicit with a better
analysis.
After reviewing this article it can be summarized that globalization has permitted the
MNCs to enter the new markets and be available to several probable new customers. The three
factors of joint ventures, operational partnerships and informal knowledge sharing contracts of
MNCs are involved in establishing these largely into the wide range of economies where they
function. It can be found out from the article that the arguments that emerged from the research
were explained critically and gauged in terms of capacity, number and scope of activity. This
article found out the advantage that the state ownership uses governments for the financial
activities of the local companies to assert the political purposes. However, there were criticisms
regarding the chosen method of the state government.

3ARTICLE REVIEW
References
Detomasi, D., 2015. The multinational corporation as a political actor:‘varieties of
capitalism’revisited. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(3), pp.685-700.
Frynas, J.G. and Stephens, S., 2015. Political corporate social responsibility: Reviewing theories
and setting new agendas. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(4), pp.483-509.
Bibliography
Scherer, A.G., 2017. Theory assessment and agenda setting in political CSR: A critical theory
perspective. International journal of management reviews.
Westermann-Behaylo, M.K., Rehbein, K. and Fort, T., 2015. Enhancing the concept of corporate
diplomacy: Encompassing political corporate social responsibility, international relations, and
peace through commerce. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(4), pp.387-404.