Associations between Grand Challenges and Multinational Enterprises: A Bibliometric and Thematic Analysis

Abstract

Grand challenges are defined as wicked problems that affect a significant number of people on a global scale. To overcome these challenges and ensure the continued existence of humanity, a greater focus has been placed on addressing the underlying issues. This has led to an increase in research and literature on grand challenges affecting both international business and multinational enterprises. The aim of this study is to assess the status of grand challenge literature in all areas connected to multinational enterprises and grand challenges, which are global issues with significant implications. From 2013 to 2023, the Web of Science database was used to investigate eight search terms from the literature, and bibliometric and thematic analyses were carried out based on the principles of the systematic literature analysis. The most focused areas of the research are performance, foreign direct investment, management, firms’ innovation, knowledge, corporate social responsibility, international business, and impact. Asian, African, European, and other countries may emerge together in different clusters depending on whether the grand challenges they are struggling with are similar or identical. The terms ‘grand challenges’, ‘innovation’ (open and social), ‘technology transfer’, ‘R&D internalization’, ‘digital transformation’, ‘technology’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ in the literature of multinational enterprises indicate that these themes are used as tools to solve grand challenges.