Mike Geppert is Professor of Strategic and International Management in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany.Ödül Bozkurt is Professor of Work and Employment in the Department of Management at the University of Sussex Business School, UK.Christoph Dörrenbächer is a Professor of Organizational Design and Behaviour in International Business in the Department of Business and Economics at the Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany.

This Research in the Sociology of Organizations volume offers innovative theoretical and methodological contributions to research on MNEs. We are living in extraordinary times – marked by shifting geopolitics, rising nationalism, rapid advances in artificial intelligence, and other transformative forces – that are reshaping MNEs both internally and externally. In response, it is crucial for researchers to reconceptualize and rethink how we study MNEs as complex, dynamic organizations. This Research in the Sociology of Organizations volume contributes to that effort by introducing the transnational social space perspective, offering valuable insights into the evolving role of MNEs in addressing grand societal challenges. It also fosters critical reflection on the future of MNEs in a rapidly changing world.

• Chapter 1. Reinterpreting Multinational Enterprises through a Revitalized Transnational Social Space Perspective: Introduction and Outlook; Mike Geppert, Ödül Bozkurt, and Christoph DörrenbächerPART IChapter 2. The Self-Preservation Perspective of the MNE Applied in an Emerging Transnational Social Space: A New Theoretical Lens for Analyzing Anti-Societal Firm Behavior; Stephen R. Buzdugan, David Freund, Mats Forsgren, and Ulf HolmChapter 3. A Seat at the Table: A Polycentric Perspective on MNEs and Grand Challenges; Christopher A. HartwellChapter 4. International Sanctions, Transnational Social Space Dynamics and Human Resource Implications for Multinational Enterprises; Fang Lee Cooke and Geoffrey WoodPART IIChapter 5. On the Role of Issue-based Transnational Communities in MNE Organizing for Sustainability; Lutz Preuss and Ralf BarkemeyerChapter 6. Global Value Chains and Transnational Social Spaces and Communities: The Emergence of a Circular Economy in the Apparel Industry; Mohammad B. Rana, Matthew M. C. Allen, and Syed Ahmed TajuddinChapter 7. Developing Transnational Social Space in an Emerging Market: How a Chinese NGO Led Apple to Clean Up Local Supply Chains; Haitao Yu, Jacky Hong, and Wenjie LiuPART IIIChapter 8. Global Issues and Transnational Social Spaces: The Attention of Multinational Enterprises to Grand Challenges; Philipp Poschmann, Lisa-Maria Gerhardt, Michael Hunoldt, Jan Goldenstein, and Peter WalgenbachChapter 9. Globalism and Its Discontents: A Case Study of Two Turkish MNCs between Globalism and Nationalism; Ozan Duygulu and S. Arzu WastiPART IVChapter 10. Transnational Communities in MNE Organizing for Sustainability: Towards a Typology; Lutz Preuss and Ralf BarkemeyerChapter 11. The Failure of the International Business Discipline to Revitalize the Understanding of the Multinational Enterprise: The Example of the Global Factory Approach; Christoph Dörrenbächer and Mike Geppert