| Abstract | Introduction
It is evident in various studies that implementation of CSR programmes is mostly led by the senior leadership of MNCs, as such, their orientations play a vital role in the success or failure of CSR programmes for the following reasons:
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Cultural sensitivity: It is important that MNCs are culturally sensitive to align with local values and norms. Therefore, differences in leadership orientation may impact on how well the CSR strategies align with local cultural values.
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Local relevance: Senior leadership teams may have global priorities that do not fully align with local community needs. This may create a disconnect between the drivers of CSR agenda and local community.
Case Description
This study focuses on corporate social responsibility implementation on a specific case for the following reasons: For several years, the case study corporation has been featuring in national and international news media for the wrong reasons. The case study corporation has been exploring crude oil in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria since 1950s. Over the years, there have been reported atrocities and abuse of corporate powers allegations levied against the case study corporation by the local community residents in which it explores crude oil. While the case study had denied any wrong doings, the community residents are of the view that the existence of the corporation in their region has been more of a curse than blessing. The misunderstanding and contradictions in perceptions have led to series of incidences of oil-worker hostage takings, blockage of oil facilities, oil pipeline vandalisation, and human rights violation and created a negative case that is damaging the corporate image of the case study oil MNCs in Nigeria. The contradictions on what constitutes a good corporate citizenship between the corporate senior leadership and community residents may have stemmed from the differences in CSR orientations. On this note, this study investigates the extent which the differences in senior leadership team and local community’s CSR orientations impact on effective implementation of CSR programmes.
To fully explore the case study MNC’s CSR issues, a constructivist realism position that encompasses quantitative and qualitative research methodologies was adopted as they both apply similar logic when analysing phenomena. They are also deconstructive in probing natural unfolding episodes in the social world since both methodologies deal with data. The study involved 70 participants comprising of 50 employees of the case study corporation and 20 members of the local community residents who were randomly selected and interviewed. Their responses were subsequently analysed.
Discussion and Evaluation
Analysis of findings of the study suggests that there are differences in the senior leadership team of the case study corporation and that of the local community residents’ CSR orientations in some respects. On the other hand, it is surprising to note that despite the differences in their CSR orientations, majority of the research participants subscribed to the view that corporations’ obligations to society are not limited to economic and legal, they should include social, environmental, and philanthropic. In addition, the study revealed that corporations that operate in environments where legal and corporate governance rules are weak have the tendency to ignore obligations that are beyond economic and legal.
Conclusions
Based on findings of the study, to resolve the existing CSR issues between the case study corporation and community residents, the following recommendations:
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There is a need to develop a robust framework that could facilitate effective dialogue between the case study corporation and local communities in the process of implementing CSR projects.
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To make the case study corporation walking the work, the host country must tighten its corporate governance and rules of law. |
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