Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Service Failures and Recovery Strategies for Sustainable Business: The Case of Nigeria

This study explores the relationship between CSR, service failure and recovery, and sustainable business in the context of Nigeria’s oil industry. Globally, there is nowhere these problems of environmental degradation, socio-political dissonance, lack of sustainable development, poor CSR, and poverty are more visible than in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria which has been described as “the goose that lays” Nigeria’s golden eggs – oil and gas. It is important, therefore, that multinational corporations (MNCs) in Nigeria provide effective service recovery strategies in an attempt to resuscitate stakeholders’ satisfaction, legitimacy, and trust following a service failure, which could be achieved via the prism of CSR. As has been examined by the available literature, CSR can be an effective organizational strategy for service recovery following failure, which could engender sustainable development in the region of the world habitually known for unsustainable organizational practice and strategy. Therefore, the reason for this study is to explicate via extant literature the relationship between CSR, service failure, and recovery strategies for sustainable business in Nigeria. Consequently, this paper has developed a theoretical model premised on extending Visser’s African variant of the CSR model. This study believes that effective organizational management and recovery approach can strengthen relationships amongst MNCs, the communities, and other relevant stakeholders through building relationships, legitimacy, and trust for a sustainable business.