Drawing on a sociological approach, this paper examines how the subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs) translate equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) ideas from their headquarters (HQs). International business (IB) studies emphasize the context-sensitive and socially constructed nature of EDI. Through a single case study of an Italian subsidiary translating EDI ideas from its U.S. HQs, we present a power-laden EDI translation process and broaden the extant research by revealing the power relations underlying the EDI translation process. We portray the sociology of MNCs in which different professional categories engage in “translation spaces”, i.e., social spaces where they interact throughout various phases of the translation process. Specifically, we identify two key phases: the signification and negotiation phases. In these phases, intentional and unintentional translators play varying roles in either facilitating or hindering the translation of EDI ideas within the subsidiary. Thus, we first advance the sociology of EDI translation in IB by revealing how EDI understanding is constructed and reconstructed through the interactions of translators. Second, we contribute to translation research in IB by depicting the iterative and recursive nature of the translation process. Finally, we reveal forms of resistance to EDI and the emergence of new power relations shaped by professional diversity within the subsidiary, unearthing the generative nature of the EDI translation process in MNCs.

本文采用社会学方法，研究了跨国公司 （MNC） 的子公司如何从其总部 （HQ） 转化平等、多样性和包容性 （EDI） 理念。国际商务 （IB） 研究强调 EDI 的上下文敏感性和社会建构性质。通过一家意大利子公司从其美国总部翻译 EDI 理念的案例研究，我们展示了一个充满权力的 EDI 翻译过程，并通过揭示 EDI 翻译过程背后的权力关系来扩大现有的研究。我们描绘了跨国公司的社会学，其中不同的专业类别参与“翻译空间”，即他们在翻译过程的各个阶段互动的社交空间。具体来说，我们确定了两个关键阶段：意义阶段和协商阶段。在这些阶段，有意和无意的翻译人员在促进或阻碍子公司内部 EDI 思想的翻译方面发挥着不同的作用。因此，我们首先通过揭示 EDI 理解是如何通过翻译人员的互动来构建和重建的，从而推进 IB 中 EDI 翻译的社会学。其次，我们通过描述翻译过程的迭代和递归性质，为 IB 的翻译研究做出贡献。最后，我们揭示了对 EDI 的抵制形式以及由子公司内部专业多样性塑造的新权力关系的出现，揭示了跨国公司 EDI 转换过程的生成性质。