Shared goals, different logics: comparison of multi-stakeholder and business-led initiatives as private governance models

Multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) and business-led initiatives (BLIs) constitute the predominant models of private governance through which corporations engage to manage sustainability challenges, especially in their supply chains. Yet, little is known about the differences between the models or the implications thereof. This study compares MSIs and BLIs through an institutional logics lens to understand their differences and theorise about their potential to address sustainability challenges. Is it better to give a hungry person a fish or a fishing rod, and when? Using the case of the Bangladesh garment industry, this study compares a MSI and BLI which arose simultaneously and shared the same broad goals but conducted their work in very different ways. It develops a framework of differing logics of private governance, finding that MSIs embody a collective logic, well suited for addressing systemic issues and process rights, while BLIs exemplify a benevolent logic, befitting for narrowly-defined problems and measurable outcomes.