Multinational corporations and inclusive supply chains: How conflicting social and market logics can coexist

An institutional logic represents the way a particular socioeconomic world works. Building on an institutional logics approach, this paper examines how a multinational corporation balances market and social logics. Specifically, we examine an inclusive supply chain in the Mexican business unit of a leading multinational. Employing 50 indepth interviews, observations, and further secondary data, we find that while the market logic is not unexpectedly superordinate, the multinational corporation is able to manage both logics successfully through specific mechanisms beyond employing basic tradeoffs. This research contributes to understanding the management of diverging market and social logics, and adds to the theoretical understanding of inclusive supply chains, while also showing how a multinational corporation can help to address the global challenge of poverty by mobilizing an inclusive supply chain.