Business and Society Review 109:4 395–414 © 2004 Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK. Blackwell Science, Ltd Oxford, UK BASR Business and Society Review 0045-3609 © 2004 Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College 109 4 Original Article BUSINESS and SOCIETY REVIEW MILLAR, CHOI, AND CHEN Conference Papers Global Strategic Partnerships between MNEs and NGOs: Drivers of Change and Ethical Issues CARLA C. J. M. MILLAR, CHONG JU CHOI, AND STEPHEN CHEN INTRODUCTION T he research in social sciences on economic growth in developing economies has reached a consensus on the crucial role played by “institutions” (North, 1990; Olson, 1982; Ostrom, 1990). The transplanting of foreign institutions or the adjustment of local institutions requires the involvement of local knowledge and local participation. We believe that nongovernment organizations (NGOs) can play a vital bridging role in the transfer of foreign institu- tions, for example, multinational corporations (MNCs), to facilitate their integration with local institutions. Buckley (2002) in a recent analysis of the future research agenda for international management has pointed out the importance of analyzing the roles of new actors such as NGOs in the international business environment. This com- plements Arpan’s (1997) Academy of International Business (AIB) presidential address, which raised the issue of the need for inter- national business research to broaden its scope in terms of topics, Carla Millar is professor of International Marketing and Management at the School of Busi- ness, Public Administration and Technology of the University of Twente, the Netherlands. Chong Ju Choi is dean and professor of international business at the Australian National University’s National Graduate School of Management. Stephen Chen is Senior Lecturer in Management at the Australian National University’s National Graduate School of Management.