Abstract

"Gathering Intelligence: Business Responses to Populism in India and West Africa, 1940s to 1980s"

Christina Lubinski, Copenhagen Business School (cl.bhl@cbs.dk)

This paper investigates how multinational enterprises (MNEs) responded to populist movements in India and West Africa between the 1930s and the 1980s. We explore how MNEs navigated and adapted to populist environments, tracing in particular the evolution of intelligence-gathering capabilities in response to changing sociopolitical landscapes. Using records from various corporate and government archives in Germany, the UK, India, and the US, the study explores practices by British and German companies, focusing in particular on Siemens, Bayer, and Unilever. The analysis centers on how these companies approached the challenges of populism, shaped by postcolonial transitions and independence movements in India, Ghana, and Nigeria. By synthesizing insights from international business and business history literature on populism and nationalism, we argue that understanding MNEs’ engagement with populist regimes requires examining populism as both a response to and a driver of sociopolitical crises, marked by rhetoric that opposes elites to the “common people.” In analyzing MNEs’ intelligence-gathering activities, we identify key strategies: monitoring sociopolitical risks, engaging in stakeholder communication, and influencing political actors through lobbying. Findings will address how these intelligence strategies contributed to MNEs’ operational adaptability across diverse markets. By organizing knowledge about populism, MNEs developed responses tailored to each host country, reflecting both successes and limitations in cross-border knowledge transfer. The study sheds light on our understanding of businesses’ responses to populism and clarifies the under-theorized relationship between populism and nationalism.