Changing higher education systems through corporate social responsibility? _ A study on multinational enterprises’ efforts to establish proto-institutions at Vietnamese universities

MNEs’ subsidiaries in Vietnam are confronted by a dramatic skill mismatch on the labor market. In recent years, a couple of MNEs have set up collaborations with local universities through sponsoring of scholarships, equipment donations and training programs as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The goal of this chapter is to examine to what extent MNEs act as institutional entrepreneurs through CSR projects at partnering universities, thereby contributing towards an upgrading of Vietnam’s higher education system. Data have been derived on the basis of 25 in-depth interviews with firm managers and university representatives as well as secondary statistical data. The authors draw the following conclusions. First, the largest benefits of CSR projects are shared between the directly involved partners. Second, the diffusion of skills and technologies across the different departments and institutes within the cooperating university is substantially small.