Multinational Enterprise, Social Responsiveness, and Pollution Control
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reportsobserved patternsof MNEresponse ina numberof organizationaland operationalareas. The findingsare then informallyinterpretedin relationto the aforementionedanalyticalframework, and likelypaths of evolutionin MNEbehaviorare identified. MULTINA1 rlONAL ORGANIZ 'ATIONENVIROI NMENT INTER}kCTION
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As an "open"socio-technicalsystem the MNEis closely tiedto conditionsinthe environmentwithin which it operates-an environmentthatcan be viewed as the networkof individuals,groups, and organizationswithwhichthe enterpriseinteracts.One can define multipleoverlappingand somewhatdiscontinuousenvironmentsforthe MNEatvariouslevels:sub-national,national,regional,and international.Operatingsimultaneouslyin many of these environments,the MNEmust acquire inputs,dispose of outputs,and maintainsupportinthe formof social legitimacy.Theeffectiveness and viabilityof the enterprise over time depends on its abilityto secure, defend, and alterits transactionswiththese environments. The literatureon organization-environment interactionhas developed rapidly-for two recent reviews,see [44] and [62].Theworkhas been largelytheoreticalorconceptuafinnature,andcan be classified intothreemainbranches.One focus of analysis has concentratedon interorganizational sets, fields, and networkshave been defined [7], relationshipsand interactions.Interorganizational [22], [70], with emphasis on the determinantsor results of exchange relationshipsbetween organizations[3], [42], [43]. A second focus of analysis consists of attemptsto trace the impactof the environment(orspecific dimensionsof it) on the internalorganizationalstructureand functioningof the firm.Typologiesof externalorganizationalenvironmentshave been created [21], [32], [60], andtheoreticalstatements relationshave been proposed [17], [39], [41], [46], and [50]. asserting organization-environment Empiricalstudies showthatcharacteristicsofthe environmentinfluenceorganizationstructure[12], goal setting [57], goal attainment[47], managerialautonomy[16], managerialperceptions of uncertainty[20],organizationaleffectiveness [48], innovativebehavior[4], andtimecommitmentsto internalversus externalaffairs[38]. The thirdapproach in the literatureemphasizes the organization'sabilityto controlor alter its environment.A numberoftheoristshave notedthatorganizationsseek to influenceor regulatetheir interdependencewiththe environmentin orderto reduce uncertainty[14], [59], [61]. A reviewof the organization-environment literaturesuggests that: (1) there is a large numberof variables influencingthe relationsbetween an organizationand its environment;(2) the relevant theoryis stillratherincoherent,diffuse,and ambiguous inits concepts and explanatoryprinciples; (3) there is wide agreement thatdifferentconfigurationsof organizationalstructure,strategy and functioningare requiredto cope withdifferentenvironmentalconditions;and (4) relativelylittle att
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