Paper short abstract:

This paper aims at analyzing the relationship between local and global CSR and the international business strategies of multinational corporations in Cameroon.

Paper long abstract:

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) provides an opportunity for multinational corporations to establish and maintain beneficial relationships with their host and home publics. The interdependence of the global community resulting from globalization has put the public relations of transnational corporations on the spot to cater for the different expectations of their host and home publics. As a result, the public relations of multinationals have the balancing task of aspiring to global standards that demand more global CSR as well as considering the demands of local situations that prescribes more local CSR. Their duty of managing diverse external publics as well as supervising operations among the various branches even becomes more demanding in the area of CSR because of the increased and contrasting demands of their global and local audiences. International business strategies are accompanied by structural arrangements, complimentary organizational cultures, and specific and distinct headquarters orientations towards subsidiaries that facilitate the maximization of business opportunities available to them. The various strategies were developed to accommodate the need for integration or local responsiveness as regards the product market. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, this paper examines how the international business strategies used in the product market respond to local and global CSR issues.