How does the media frame the legitimacy of multinationals in the context of geopolitical rivalry? A study of Chinese multinationals in developed countries

Chinese multinational enterprises are facing almost continuous negative media coverage in many Western countries, given the rising geopolitical tensions between the China and the West. This thesis aims to scrutinize this phenomenon to examine why and how Chinese multinationals are suffering from negative media coverage, and how firms can deal with such challenges when facing geopolitical complexities. To examine the phenomenon of interest, this thesis takes a cross-disciplinary approach by combining the subjects of international business, mass communication, and international relations. The research problem that this thesis aims to address is: How can Chinese multinationals interpret and respond to media-framed legitimacy challenges when facing intensive geopolitical tensions? This research problem leads the author to develop three concrete research questions: How are liabilities of origin framed by the media, thereby posing legitimacy challenges for Chinese multinationals? How are the voices of different stakeholders framed by the media in constructing the legitimacy of Chinese multinationals? How can Chinese multinationals form voice strategies to mitigate legitimacy challenges in the geopolitical context? The research design in this thesis contains three independent yet related studies in dealing with the general research problem. The first case study focuses on the legitimacy challenges of Huawei in the UK. The second case study focuses on the legitimacy challenges of TikTok in the US. The third study supplements the previous two case studies and explores Chinese multinationals’ voice strategies through semi-structured interviews with public relations managers. This thesis extends knowledge and makes contributions to three theoretical gaps regarding multinationals’ legitimacy challenges in the geopolitical rivalry, media framing of multinationals’ legitimacy, and multinationals’ voice strategies as part of the nonmarket strategy. Besides, it responds to the call