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Social Investment through Community Enterprise: The Case of Multinational Corporations Involvement in the Development of Nigerian Water Resources

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Abstract

This paper examines the different mechanisms used by multinational corporations (MNCs) in Nigeria seeking to make long-term social investments by meeting the critical challenge of improving water provision. Community enterprise – an increasingly common form of social enterprise, which pursues charitable objectives through business activities – may be the most effective mechanism for building local capacity in a sustainable and accountable way. Traditionally, social investments by MNCs have involved either donations to a charity, which then assumes responsibility for delivering social outcomes, or direct management of social investment in-house. These approaches have been criticized, however, for their limited contribution to local capacity building, their focus on short-term outcomes, and the restricted role that they afford to communities. Partnering with community enterprise, provided there is sufficient local capacity to support it, is the most effective mode of governance through which MNCs can manage social investments in developing countries.

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Correspondence to Nelson Phillips.

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Dr. Emeka Nwankwo is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aquada Development Corporation, an infrastructure and technology development firm based in Nigeria.

Nelson Phillips is the Professor of Strategy and Organizational Behavior at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London.

Paul Tracey is a Lecturer in Enterprise at the Centre for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick.

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Nwankwo, E., Phillips, N. & Tracey, P. Social Investment through Community Enterprise: The Case of Multinational Corporations Involvement in the Development of Nigerian Water Resources. J Bus Ethics 73, 91–101 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9200-8

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