Multinational Enterprise Legitimacy Strategies in Post-Conflict Reconstruction Environments: Evidence from North East Nigeria

This dissertation investigates the legitimacy strategies employed by multinational enterprises engaging in investment and operations in post-conflict reconstruction environments, using North East Nigeria's gradual recovery from the Boko Haram insurgency as the primary empirical context. Multinational firms increasingly encounter post-conflict markets that offer both frontier investment opportunities and complex legitimacy challenges arising from community trauma, governance vacuums, displaced population dynamics, and heightened scrutiny from international human rights stakeholders. Existing international business theory provides limited guidance on legitimacy management in these settings. The study employs an interpretive multi-case study methodology examining five multinational firms, from agricultural investment, construction, telecommunications, and microfinance sectors, operating in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states between 2018 and 2024. Data collection combines 60 semi-structured interviews with firm representatives, community leaders, traditional rulers, government officials, and civil society organisations alongside documentary analysis of community engagement records and corporate responsibility reports. The theoretical framework integrates organisational legitimacy theory, conflict-sensitive business practices, and the stakeholder salience model. The dissertation develops an original post-conflict legitimacy navigation framework comprising four adaptive strategies identified through cross-case thematic synthesis: conflict sensitivity integration, community co-governance, phased visibility management, and indigenous authority alignment. Original theoretical contributions include the post-conflict legitimacy navigation framework, a refined conception of context-specific legitimacy thresholds in fragile environments, and a typology of stakeholder salience configurations unique to post-conflict settings. Keywords: legitimacy, post-conflict, multinational enterprises, North East Nigeria, stakeholder theory