The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: Pros and cons for managers of multinationals

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are becoming a crucial mechanism for coordinating governments’ efforts to address global challenges. However, their implementation by managers is challenging. In this article, we offer an overview of the pros and cons of the SDGs as mechanisms for managers of multinationals to help contribute to sustainable development. On the pro side, the SDGs are comprehensive and actionable. On the con side, they are vague, complex and may lend themselves to “rainbow-washing.” We provide suggestions for managers to help them respond to these challenges by avoiding cherry-picking SDGs, using the SDGs to assess sustainability, and pursuing SDG projects via partnerships.