Revenue flow and human rights: A paradox for Shell Nigeria
The case describes Shell’s evolution within the context of sensitive human rights issues related to oil exploration and exploitation in Nigeria. Given that much of the revenue from Nigerian oil resources was being “siphoned” off by corrupt state governors, the case focuses on issues relevant to government transparency and corruption. It describes Shell’s involvement in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and its collaboration with the Nigerian Government to instigate a more transparent reporting on oil revenues. However, since two senior Shell executives involved in EITI and negotiations with the government are about to retire from the company, the prospect of briefing their successors on the complexity of the Nigerian situation brings a number of questions that still remain to be answered “to the table”.
Participants learn about the invasive nature of corruption and its effect on human rights, but more specifically about the role of a multinational versus the role of the government when trying to deal with such issues. Participants will also learn a great deal about the complexity of sustainability issues for corporations, particularly human rights, issues. There is also learning about the scope and limits of corporate responsibility, and the difficulties that all players face in tough market conditions and a on a “non-level playing field”. Participants can develop new insights on ways of operating responsibly, creating valuable partnerships and interacting in a global, but socially responsible, context.
Shell
Events from the start of Shell’s interventions in Nigeria 1937, up to September 2006
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
For more than a decade, ESG-linked funds and corporate sustainability strategies have run on the same quiet assumption: spend more on sustainability, and the market will eventually reward you for it. The problem, however, is that this theory is mo...
The case tracks the development of Slow Forest Coffee, a company launched in 2017 on the belief that when producing food in a regenerative way, everyone benefits. Farmers flourish, nature thrives and the economy prospers. By 2025 Slow had converte...
For years, executives were sold a compelling idea: doing good would also mean doing well. Surveys suggested that consumers were increasingly willing to pay more for products seen (or marketed) as better for the planet. Consultants reinforced the m...
Indigenous community enterprises (ICEs) face intensifying civic threats, yet how they collectively interpret these threats drawing on religious principles remains theoretically underdeveloped. Drawing on an in-depth ethnographic study of one of th...
Corporate sustainability has become a central issue for businesses, driven by environmental, social and governance pressures and stakeholder expectations. The present study aimed to assess how reports and certifications influence motivations, oper...
Investor climate initiatives are facing unprecedented scrutiny at a time when the policy landscape is shifting rapidly, and the effectiveness of current investor actions is being actively questioned. Against this backdrop, this project reexamines ...
This paper investigates why firms facing identical carbon-pricing incentives exhibit heterogeneous decarbonization trajectories. We address this question through a theoretical framework that conceptualizes national institutional quality and innova...
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Journal of Business Venturing Insights June 2026, vol. 25, e00632, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2026.e00632
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 20 May 2026, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.70685
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
London School of Economics research project report, May 2026
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Research Policy May 2026, vol. 55, no. 4, 105432, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105432
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications