Sustainability Corporate Community Engagement and Enterprise Development (original) (raw)
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SRPN: Corporate Social Responsibility Issues (Topic), 2017
Corporate community engagement remains an under researched area in sustainability debates. Presenting a case study, based on in-depth interviews and site visits, of how one indigenous company Energia Ltd has formed a strong partnership or bond with the Emu-Ebendo community in the oil rich Niger Delta, the dynamics of corporate community engagement are critically discussed. Evidence of how both the company and community has benefited from this relationship is presented. The case analysis concludes that the company has effectively utilised a clearer understanding of the culture of the host community, leading to a transformational relationship. The approach adopted by Energia Ltd in the Emu-Ebendo community is unique in context. The key conclusion reached is that community benefit funds and community enterprise development, as a derivative of corporate engagement, can play a transformational role in societal and economic development.
2016
This thesis made new contributions to the company-community relations field by incorporating institutional theory, stakeholder theory and community engagement theory, to investigate the community engagement strategies, community relations approaches and social responsibility practices used by companies in a developing country. It makes new contributions to the debate on why multinational companies - Eni SpA, Total SA and RD Shell in the Nigerian Niger Delta region (NDR) struggle to establish and manage relations with host communities. The research idea is founded on the concern that there is a failure in addressing why oil MNCs operating in Nigeria, fall short of meeting the expectations of communities, hence face diverse challenges from communities, including threats of losing their social licence to operate. Institutional theory, stakeholder theory and community engagement theory were purposefully and consistently applied to establish a theoretical foundation to explore and explai...
Corporate Partnerships and Community Development in the Nigerian Oil Industry
The volatile nature of corporate-community relations, which has meant significant loss in oil revenue for government and decline in corporate profit for oil multinational (MNCs), has elevated the obtaining of a 'social licence to operate' from the periphery to the heart of strategic business thinking within the Nigerian oil industry. As a result, oil multinationals (MNCs) have increasingly responded to this challenge by adopting partnership strategies as a means of contributing to community development, building a mutually beneficial relationship with local communities and reinventing themselves as a force for good in their host communities. This paper critically examines the different community development partnership (CDPs) initiatives' undertaken by Exxon Mobil and Total within their corporate-community relations strategy in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Analysis suggests that CDPs that are 'bottom up' have more positive impact on host community development than those that are 'top-down' in nature. However, neither has had any real impact on how the core business activities of oil MNCs are undertaken or have they ameliorated the negative social and environmental impact of oil production on host communities. Consequently, the paper argues that while partnerships have the potential to improve the impact of business affirmative duties on host community development, the failure to integrate negative injunction duties into such partnerships undermines its contributions to host community development. The paper concludes by exploring the implications for partnerships' initiatives and business-society relations in developing countries.
The volatile nature of corporate-community relations, which has meant significant loss in oil revenue for government and decline in corporate profit for oil multinational (MNCs), has elevated the obtaining of a 'social licence to operate' from the periphery to the heart of strategic business thinking within the Nigerian oil industry. As a result, oil multinationals (MNCs) have increasingly responded to this challenge by adopting partnership strategies as a means of contributing to community development, building a mutually beneficial relationship with local communities and reinventing themselves as a force for good in their host communities. This paper critically examines the different community development partnership (CDPs) initiatives' undertaken by Exxon Mobil and Total within their corporate-community relations strategy in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Analysis suggests that CDPs that are 'bottom up' have more positive impact on host community development than those that are 'top-down' in nature. However, neither has had any real impact on how the core business activities of oil MNCs are undertaken or have they ameliorated the negative social and environmental impact of oil production on host communities. Consequently, the paper argues that while partnerships have the potential to improve the impact of business affirmative duties on host community development, the failure to integrate negative injunction duties into such partnerships undermines its contributions to host community development. The paper concludes by exploring the implications for partnerships' initiatives and business-society relations in developing countries.
International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, 2013
This literature review examines evidence for corporate community engagement, it maps out its field as it currently stands, and identifies the gaps in what is currently known on corporate community engagement. It also assesses on the best way to engage communities in extraction of minerals by both extractive industries and research. The review was done in 2012. The study is organised around three research questions germane to corporate community engagement. The first question is: What are the factors that trigger conflict between corporates and local communities? The second question is: How do local communities define meaningful corporate engagement? The third question is shaped by evidence in literature which supports the notion that community engagement is a process of inclusive participation that supports mutual respect of values and actions for authentic partnership of people in the same geographic proximity. The question is: using the levels of participation how can the awaked social energies in communities be harnessed to develop corporate community engagement that supports authentic partnerships. The review locates the concept of corporate community engagement within levels of participation. Firstly the domain of the corporate community engagement is specified and validated through a two stage process informed by key informants located in mining communities. The study uses a Meta ethnography methodology to address the study questions. Throughout the methodological steps followed, an attempt was made to ensure that existing knowledge was incorporated as well as practical realities of corporate community engagement within the extractive industries.
Corporate community relations and development: engagement with indigenous peoples
Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 2021
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to increase knowledge about community relations and development (CRD) activities done in conjunction with mining activities of multinational companies affecting indigenous peoples and thus help improve relationships between them, despite continuing bad consequences the people continue to endure. It is through such better relationships that these consequences may be redressed and mitigated, and greater sharing of benefits of mining may occur, bearing in mind what constitutes benefits may differ from the perspectives of the indigenous peoples and the miners. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach is taken, including interviews with company officials responsible for CRD activities, elaborated with observations, company and public documents and previous literature about these mining operations and the peoples. Findings The CRD activities have gradually increased compared with their absence previously. They are officially labelled social i...
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE NIGER DELTA
This paper analyzes the nexus between corporate social responsibility and community development in Niger Delta, using the case of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company and community development in selected host communities in Bayelsa State. The paper revealed that, the oil companies score conspicuously low in the discharge of Corporate Social Responsibility activities in tandem with the huge profit they make from the area. This is because the living standard of the local people is still low and in pitiable conditions. Again, whereas, there are memoranda of understanding signed between the oil companies and the host communities, the oil companies more often than not fail to implement such agreement which negate the promotion of community development. More so, MOU's programmes do not reflect the priority needs of the people, which make such projects subject to abuse and misuse. The paper therefore recommends that the laws governing the Nigerian oil industry must be reviewed to compel oil companies to carry out social responsibility activities. Moreso, the MOU's must be respected, implemented and fully driven by the spirit of popular participation to give the oil bearing communities a sense of belonging, if that is done, it will help to close the curtain of strained relationship between oil companies and their host communities.
Corporation, Community And Development: An Integrated Approach
Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR can no longer remain in the fringes of corporate life, as a decorative show-piece or public relations exercise or a feel- good factor. CSR has to become an integral part of corporate strategy and an effective instrument for a creative integration of the corporation with the community and the surrounding environment. The corporate world has to understand the mutual interdependence between the Corporation and the Community and has to integrate itself with the society in which it functions in a mutually beneficial relationship. However this relationship should not be merely practical with a predominant focus on the long-term or “enlightened self-interest” of the organisation in the bottom-line but also developmental. A business organisation has the resources and expertise to provide a helping hand to the human development process in the community. This article examines the relationship between business and society and the corporation and the community in a strategic, developmental perspective.
Journal of Global Social Sciences
The objective of the study was to investigate and assess the community relations strategies (CRS) and sustainable development (SD) of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and their host communities in Bayelsa state. The study adopted the marginality and mattering theory (MMT) proposed by Schlossberg (1989), as theoretical underpinning for understanding community relation strategies and sustainable development particularly marginalized SPDC host communities in Bayelsa state, and applied descriptive survey research design to generate data. It was reinforced by secondary sources. The study finds that SPDC has not imparted positively to the sustainable development of the host communities in Bayelsa state compared to the negative consequences rising from the exploitation and exploration of oil and gas activities in their host communities, which include: environmental pollution, oil spillage, unemployment, destruction of farmland and other forms of degradation. It also reveals that...
Journal of Advances in Social Science and Humanities, 2020
As corporations adopt innovative ways to secure business interests, they seek to influence social space. Stakeholder’s increasing awareness of their rights serve to hold corporations responsible for their actions and inactions to foster sustainable development in their operational areas. While not all stakeholder demands can be met by corporations, managing stakeholder expectations of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) outcomes proves difficult partly due to the ambiguity of defining the content of development investments. This study evaluated the nature and types of development projects and outcomes implemented through the GMOU in selected clusters in Rivers and Bayelsa States. The study disaggregated the programme and project content of the SPDC GMoU in selected Rivers and Bayelsa State clusters. The study relied on the qualitative approach with the adoption of key informant interviews and focus group discussions as methods of data collection. A key finding of the study was that CSR and Community Development outcomes in the Niger Delta indicates a preference for quick win infrastructural projects over other forms of human development programmes such as income, poverty, health, education, and individual socio-economic development. The paper concludes that at every stage of development, people know what their needs are and can prioritise according to expediency, available resources and future development needs. While there are no pre-ordained paths to development, the study makes a case for expansion of development focus beyond infrastructural projects to accommodate human capital development and other forms of interventions in a broader community framework in order to meet more stakeholder needs in a sustainable way.