In 2005, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) began investing in Canada, when it acquired 16.69 per cent equity of MEG Energy Corp., a private Calgary-based energy company. In 2011, it acquired OPTI Canada, a Canadian oil company that had gone bankrupt, followed in 2013 by the contentious acquisition of Nexen Inc., a Canadian oil and gas company. Despite this enticing potential market and the desire to fuel China's rapidly growing economy, CNOOC faced low oil prices, slow economic growth in Canada, fierce competition from other multinational oil companies, and pressure from environmental non-governmental organizations. Given these challenges, how could CNOOC achieve success in Canada?

In 2005, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) began investing in Canada, when it acquired 16.69 per cent equity of MEG Energy Corp., a private Calgary-based energy company. In 2011, it acquired OPTI Canada, a Canadian oil company that had gone bankrupt, followed in 2013 by the contentious acquisition of Nexen Inc., a Canadian oil and gas company. Despite this enticing potential market and the desire to fuel China's rapidly growing economy, CNOOC faced low oil prices, slow economic growth in Canada, fierce competition from other multinational oil companies, and pressure from environmental non-governmental organizations. Given these challenges, how could CNOOC achieve success in Canada?

Managers are encouraged to develop deeper, collaborative relationships with NGOs as they execute their CSR strategies, and they have benefited from guidance to date that has focused on the dyadic relationships between a single firm and a single NGO. However, corporate relationships in CSR can include broader collaborations with both other firms and multiple NGOs. This article provides a framework for examining a range of collaboration opportunities and provides managers guidance for matching CSR strategies with the goals of the firm. The framework focuses on specific strategies that firms can employ to help ensure that returns from investments in CSR are maximized.