Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Multinational Oil Companies'

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria contributes more than 95 percent of the country’s export incomes and generates more than 40 percent of the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 85 percent of the nation’s total revenue (Karl and Gray, 2003, p. 26). Although most multinational oil companies (MNOCs) have found the Niger Delta a fertile ground for business, the region remains backward, poor and underdeveloped. The host communities have been frustrated by the effects of oil production on the environment, which include oil spillages, the reduction of arable land, and the destruction of wild life and fish reserves. As a result of the oil bearing communities’ angry sentiments towards the MNOCs and the Nigerian Government, incessant conflict, and violent crises have enveloped the region. To mitigate the anger, the MNOCs have engaged in some programs and projects intended to benefit the oil- bearing communities in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This thesis is focused on how the CSR strategies of the MNOCs have contributed to the perennial conflict in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The mixed methods descriptive design study employed involves the use of survey instruments and content analysis to interrogate the conflict situation. Findings indicate that the failure of MNOCs operating in the Niger Delta region to provide concrete and sustainable CSR, and the government’s inability to regulate the MNOCs and plough back the taxes paid by the latter to develop the region, has led to the current crises. These supported the thesis that the lack of concrete social responsibility contributes to conflicts in the Niger Delta. Building upon the stakeholders’ theory, the theory of frustration and aggression, and conflict theory, this study discovered that the cause of the conflict in the Niger Delta is not solely an issue of corporate social responsibility and revenue allocation, but it largely depends on the divergences of the different stakeholders’ interests. This study, therefore, recommends a revocation of the 60/40 ownership structure between the government and the oil companies. Instead, host communities should be considered part owners of the oil deposits in their land, which would give them a fair percentage in the ownership structure.

This study investigates the corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercised by the multinational oil companies (MNOCs) operating in the Niger Delta, and its impact on sustainable development (SD) in this important region of Nigeria. Particular focus is given to sustainable improvement in well-being and enhancement of socio-economic development for the local communities. To investigate these, archival from newspapers, magazines documents on CSR in Niger Delta from NGOs, documents from oil company’s websites and interview data from forty participants from the local communities, stakeholders and senior managers from the MNOCs were obtained. The MNOCs’ CSR and SD policies and practices were also inspected from the company’s website and photographs of the local environment around the MNOCs extraction suites and plant were also collected. These data were then analysed using: photo voice, document analysis, constructivist grounded theory, website-based content analysis, and covert participant observation. The study identified discrepancies between the MNOCs declared online CSR and SD policies and practices and those in operation in the Niger Delta region. Our findings also show that local communities are marginalised. To address this, it is argued that Ruggie’s frameworks, Sen’s capability approach for a full life, and Bowen’s list of social goals should be used as guiding principles by the MNOCs in the Niger Delta region. The study offers theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions to the studies of business ethics, international management and international business by offering new insights into CSR and SD.

This study investigates the corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercised by the multinational oil companies (MNOCs) operating in the Niger Delta, and its impact on sustainable development (SD) in this important region of Nigeria. Particular focus is given to sustainable improvement in well-being and enhancement of socio-economic development for the local communities. To investigate these, archival from newspapers, magazines documents on CSR in Niger Delta from NGOs, documents from oil company’s websites and interview data from forty participants from the local communities, stakeholders and senior managers from the MNOCs were obtained. The MNOCs’ CSR and SD policies and practices were also inspected from the company’s website and photographs of the local environment around the MNOCs extraction suites and plant were also collected. These data were then analysed using: photo voice, document analysis, constructivist grounded theory, website-based content analysis, and covert participant observation. The study identified discrepancies between the MNOCs declared online CSR and SD policies and practices and those in operation in the Niger Delta region. Our findings also show that local communities are marginalised. To address this, it is argued that Ruggie’s frameworks, Sen’s capability approach for a full life, and Bowen’s list of social goals should be used as guiding principles by the MNOCs in the Niger Delta region. The study offers theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions to the studies of business ethics, international management and international business by offering new insights into CSR and SD.
Nigerian Government; Education Trust Fund (ETF)
On title page: Vol I of II. Only this file was provided.

One key to CSR’s success has been its fuzzy definition, whereby its meaning is constantly (re)defined by practice and through the dialectical relationship between companies and their stakeholders. This thesis focuses upon the influence of MNOCs’ socio-political field upon their CSR (rather than upon specific CSR projects), from a critical realist perspective, contributing to existing research in three key ways. Firstly, I present original explanatory models that outline the practice of CSR in Colombia and Venezuela. From these models, I develop further models that categorise the types of CSR practiced in each country. I argue that Colombia follows a conventional model of private-led CSR; by contrast, the Venezuelan model pushes the boundaries of more traditional CSR definitions. Given the government’s dirigiste approach, I categorise the Venezuelan model as an example of a new form of CSR, that I call Regulated CSR (RCSR), noting the inherent contradictions of regulating to increase responsibility. Secondly, I produce original research on MNOCs’ CSR reports, examining how MNOCs’ agency is affected by global socio-political discourses. Paradoxically, whilst CSR is an important element of corporate communication, many MNOCs only disclose limited CSR-related information. Thirdly, this thesis contributes to the growing discussion of CSR’s role within the neoliberal paradigm. I argue that CSR is not and cannot be a panacea for social absences and can have negative social effects. Therefore, appropriate regulation is necessary, starting with greater corporate transparency at an international level to level-up MNOCs’ practices, and national oversight of MNOCs’ CSR budgets and practices.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a subject of increasing interest among academics and business practitioners globally. This thesis contributes to the discourse on CSR in the context of the Nigerian oil industry with regard to corporate-community relations. Specifically, the thesis constitutes a critique of CSR initiatives by multinational oil companies (MOC) operating in the Niger Delta region and their impact on the traditional livelihoods of local communities. The research attempts to understand the link between CSR and Psychological contract from the perspective of both the host communities and the MOCs. This thesis examines community perceptions, expectations and seeks to interpret the relationship between the host communities and the MOCs. The study provides empirical data through the use of twenty-eight semi-structured interviews and three focus groups. This is significant given that most of the research conducted into CSR in this region has been limited to descriptive and extensive theoretical explanations. Findings from the research suggest that the relationship between the host communities and the MOC is a very complex one and that the impact of the MOCs activities can be interpreted from the host communities’ negative actions. The thesis makes an important contribution to the emerging literature on social license to operate (SLO) and in what manner the local communities seek to enforce it. It also offers an alternative approach to CSR based on need assessment and stakeholder involvement rather than corporate obligations and expectations from society in general.

One key to CSR’s success has been its fuzzy definition, whereby its meaning is constantly (re)defined by practice and through the dialectical relationship between companies and their stakeholders. This thesis focuses upon the influence of MNOCs’ socio-political field upon their CSR (rather than upon specific CSR projects), from a critical realist perspective, contributing to existing research in three key ways. Firstly, I present original explanatory models that outline the practice of CSR in Colombia and Venezuela. From these models, I develop further models that categorise the types of CSR practiced in each country. I argue that Colombia follows a conventional model of private-led CSR; by contrast, the Venezuelan model pushes the boundaries of more traditional CSR definitions. Given the government’s dirigiste approach, I categorise the Venezuelan model as an example of a new form of CSR, that I call Regulated CSR (RCSR), noting the inherent contradictions of regulating to increase responsibility. Secondly, I produce original research on MNOCs’ CSR reports, examining how MNOCs’ agency is affected by global socio-political discourses. Paradoxically, whilst CSR is an important element of corporate communication, many MNOCs only disclose limited CSR-related information. Thirdly, this thesis contributes to the growing discussion of CSR’s role within the neoliberal paradigm. I argue that CSR is not and cannot be a panacea for social absences and can have negative social effects. Therefore, appropriate regulation is necessary, starting with greater corporate transparency at an international level to level-up MNOCs’ practices, and national oversight of MNOCs’ CSR budgets and practices.

The discovery of oil has been identified as both a blessing and a curse for Nigeria. While oil revenue has been a blessing to the country, the failure of oil companies to be socially responsible to their host communities has been a source of numerous crises in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria. Earlier studies have enriched our knowledge on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be used to benefit host communities, but how corporate social responsibility and the stakeholder approach can be used to prevent these crises have received little attention in the literature. Thus, this study contributes to knowledge by investigating the effect of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder management on corporate social performance. This research adopted a quantitative approach method, and survey was developed based on the existing scales of corporate social responsibility measurement. Two different sets of questionnaires were administered to 160 employees of the big four multinational oil companies in Nigeria and 225 members of the host communities in the Niger-Delta area. A hundred and forty-six questionnaires were returned from each of the two sets of respondents. These questionnaires were analysed using Partial Least Square and descriptive statistics. The results of the analyses revealed that a strong relationship exists between compliance to industry standards and environmental performance evidence from employees of multinational oil companies. While the results showed that a weak relationship exists between compliance to industry standards and environmental performance based on the response from the host communities. The results also showed that a strong relationship exists between corporate legitimacy and community relations from both the employees of multinational oil companies and host communities. Furthermore, the results revealed that a strong relationship exists between corporate legitimacy and community perception from both stakeholders. In addition, there is also a strong relationship between regulatory infractions and environmental performance from the results of the two main stakeholders. The results also indicated that a strong relationship exists between CSR initiatives and community relations for the two main stakeholders. However, the results revealed that a weak relationship exists between CSR initiatives and community perception from both groups of stakeholders. Another contribution of this stufy to knowledge is the corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance measures used in this research. While existing measurements of corporate social responsibility in the literature have combined all the variables, this study separated them into various dimensions, to ensure easier adaptability for other studies. This study is a set of possible ideals, practicable and feasible concerns corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures. In addition, this study is a response to a prolonged and contested problem of appropriate measurement of corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, this gap in the literature led to development of a more robust conceptual model of a reflective construct of corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance that in some respects differ from existing conceptual model of corporate social responsibility. Therefore, this research recognised the attempt by previous studies on development of corporate social responsibility measurement model. Still, this study proposed agenda and scope of corporate social responsibility, as well as the measures used to implement corporate social responsibility via the reflective construct for the oil companies' operationalisation in Nigeria.

La Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (RSE) contemporaine au Nigériaest née de la crise des Ogonis dans les années 1990. Shell et d’autres compagniespétrolières, opérant dans le Delta du Niger, ont essayé de préserver leur réputation à lasuite de la crise, en se présentant comme des acteurs socialement sensibles. Depuis lors,la RSE est devenue une pratique et une politique courante dans les principaux secteurs del’activité économique nationale. Sa mise en oeuvre se traduit principalement par descontributions au développement local à travers la mise à disposition des infrastructuressocio-économiques de base. D'autres dimensions de la RSE ont été largement ignorées etrestent inappliquées. Pourtant, les entreprises, notamment les compagnies pétrolièresmultinationales, en reconnaissent d'autres aspects. Cette recherche examine donc lesraisons de cette disparité entre la conceptualisation et la mise en oeuvre de RSE dans lepays. Elle suggère que la RSE au Nigéria n’est pas seulement conditionnée par le cadrenormatif international et le contexte institutionnel local, mais aussi par les objectifs desacteurs impliqués
The Ogoni crisis of the 1990s marked the debut of contemporary CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR) in Nigeria. Shell and other oil companies operating in the NigerDelta tried to salvage their tarnished reputation in the wake of the crisis by presentingthemselves as socially responsive actors. Since then there has been a remarkableexpansion in CSR activities in the all key economic sectors of the country. These haveprincipally focused on contributing to local development through the provision of basicsocioeconomic infrastructures. Other dimensions of CSR have been largely ignored andremain unapplied. Yet enterprises, especially multinational oil companies, acknowledge thatthere are other aspects. This study examines the reasons for this disparity between theconceptualisation and the implementation of CSR in the country. This study suggests thatthe CSR is not only determined by contextual/institutional factors (local and international)but also by the objectives of actors involved

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 explain methods of community engagement, community relations approaches and social responsibility practices used by the three MNCs. As a study that investigated ‘business in society’, a qualitative research paradigm was adopted, using a cross-sectional design to synthesise the experiences of the companies against those of their host communities, to articulate the slight variations in their approaches. In the data collection and analyses, the study employed a mixed method of secondary and primary research. The secondary research, involved an assessment of company archives and news media materials. Guided in-depth interviews with purposefully sampled senior managers in the three oil MNCs and community representatives, were introduced to advance the research into a full primary research. Data analyses were conducted using a qualitative content analysis, whereby identified themes were coded and then analysed and discussed extensively. This thesis made new contribution to the theoretical application in company-community relations by being the first to incorporate institutional theory, stakeholder theory and community engagement theory to argue the role of valued interests in managing stakeholder expectations. This thesis proved that the three theories used, are interrelated in the sense that each, through different viewpoints, addresses relational issues within and between company and community, and explored the concepts of valued interests and expectations as relational concepts in the theoretical framework. The tripartite theoretical framework therefore offers a new theoretical approach for the contextualisation and rationalisation of company-community relations in a developing country. This thesis also made a new contribution to theoretical knowledge in the stakeholder theory by pioneering in the identification of a stakeholder group the present researcher refers to as the ‘Mediante Stakeholders’, and established that in stakeholder mapping, there is a small stakeholder group within the overlap between internal stakeholders and external stakeholders of the organisation. What sets the mediante stakeholders apart from the rest of the stakeholder groups is the level of access that is given to the this unique stakeholder group and the ability to be both inside and outside the organisation/company at the same time. Empirically, the interviews with oil MNCs and communities revealed different ways of engagement used, such as town hall meetings with communities, cluster development board meetings and other methods of communication including back-and-forth letter communications. Different strategies and approaches were used by MNCs and communities such as the blockade strategy (used by host communities), selective engagement (focusing on engaging the most powerful stakeholders), divide and rule strategy (a dangerous approach some of the oil MNCs have been accused of), and mediated engagement (using NGOs to engage host communities). The research concludes that the development and sustainability of methods of engagement in company-community relations depends on the willingness and commitment of the parties involved. It is the willingness and commitment to work together that guarantee the most constructive methods of engagement with host communities.

En prenant l’exemple des entreprises pétrolières multinationales, cette thèse tente de clarifier l’état actuel du concept de responsabilité sociale des entreprises, qui, d’un point de vue juridique, relève du « soft law», et à dessiner la frontière entre le « hard law » et le « soft law», dans le but de mettre en lumière la différence entre les fonctions de ces deux types de droit et de dissiper les attentes irréalistes envers le concept de responsabilité sociale des entreprises. S’alignant avec cette logique, les contextes de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises ont d’abord été explorés, y compris l’évolution et les controverses autour de ce concept, ainsi que les instruments qui le sous-tendent et le mettent sur un pied solide, lesquels représentent certaines caractéristiques communes (diversité, flexibilité, inclusion des valeurs pionnières, etc.) pour être acceptés et engagés par les entreprises. Par ailleurs, a aussi été analysée la tendance au durcissement des règles nationales en cette matière, qui peut être constatée dans les pays développés et dans certains pays en développement. Puis, trois sujets, à savoir l’environnement, les droits de l’Homme et la lutte contre la corruption, ont été choisis et traités, pour, d’une part, exposer comment le « hard law » agit sur eux, ses faiblesses tant dans les pays en développement que dans les pays développés, et ses effets sur les performances réelles des entreprises pétrolières multinationales, et, d’autre part, déployer la contribution de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises sur ces thèmes. Enfin, les dynamiques de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises ont été recherchées. Certaines parties prenantes, comme les gouvernements, les investisseurs socialement responsables, les concurrents ou les ONG, ont un potentiel conséquent pour pousser les entreprises pétrolières multinationales à adopter une approche socialement responsable, tandis que certaines parties prenantes, comme les consommateurs responsables, restent un facteur faible pour la prise de décision de ces entreprises
Examining the example of multinational oil companies, this article tries to make clear the actual situation of the concept of corporate social responsibility, which from legal perspective belongs to soft law, and to draw a line between hard law and soft law, aiming to highlight the difference in functions of these two laws and to dispel unrealistic expectations of corporate social responsibility. Along these lines, this article firstly explores the context of corporate social responsibility, including its evolution, controversies around it, and the underpinning instruments that put it on a solid footing. These instruments represent a couple of common characteristics (diversity, flexibility, inclusion of pioneer values, etc.) that make them accepted by companies as commitment. Furthermore, both developed countries and some developing countries have seen a trend to strengthen national-level rules in this area. Secondly, three subjects, i.e., environment, human rights and anti-corruption, are selected and analyzed to show how hard law functions, its weaknesses in both developing countries and developed ones, and its effects on the actual performance of multinational oil companies, and also to explore what contribution the corporate social responsibility can make. Finally, the dynamics of corporate social responsibility is discussed. Some stakeholders, such as government, socially responsible investors, competitors and NGOs, have great potential to push multinational oil companies to adopt a socially responsible approach, while some other stakeholders, such as responsible consumers, remain a weak factor in the decision-making of these companies

Cette thèse se propose d’effectuer une analyse sectorielle de l’état des droits et des obligations des entreprises multinationales pétrolières en dehors des réglementations des pays d’investissement. Le choix de l’industrie pétrolière se fonde sur la place de ce secteur dans l’économie mondiale et ses caractéristiques particulières. Dans une première partie, nous constaterons que la protection des investissements est particulièrement efficace et que son effet négatif sur le développement des réglementations des États d’accueil des investissements est accentué. Le mouvement actuel de prise en compte de ce problème dans les TBI est insuffisant compte tenu du peu d’intérêt du Traité sur la Charte de l’énergie sur cette problématique et de la difficile évolution rédactionnelle des clauses de stabilisation. Dans un deuxième temps, cette thèse constatera que les obligations transnationales à la charge des entreprises pétrolières multinationales, en dehors du droit des investissements, semblent parfois moins enclines à jouer un rôle d’équilibre dans le secteur pétrolier. Les initiatives de soft law sont adaptées mais adoptées partiellement et les possibles sanctions semblent incertaines. Les mécanismes fondés sur l’extraterritorialité sont limités et la mise en place d’un devoir de vigilance peu adapté à l’organisation pétrolière. La prise en compte des spécificités pétrolières reste cantonnée au cadre du reporting et les outils juridiques propres à l’industrie ne prennent généralement en compte que la lutte contre la corruption. Enfin, les pressions politiques, des ONG et des médias sont centrées sur les entreprises dont le siège est situé dans un État occidental
This thesis carry out a sectorial analysis of the state of the rights and the obligations of the multinational oil companies outside the regulations of the countries of investment. The choice of the oil industry is based on the place of this sector in the global economy and its characteristics. In the first part, we will note that the protection of investments is particularly effective and the potential negative effect on the development of the regulations of the host countries of investments is accentuated in the oil sector. Similarly, the current movement to take this problem into account in the bilateral investment treaties is insufficient given the lack of interest of the Energy Charter Treaty on this issue and the difficult evolution of the stabilization clauses. Secondly, this thesis will find that the transnational obligations borne by multinational oil companies, apart from investment law, sometimes seem less inclined to play a balancing role in the oil sector. The soft law initiatives are adapted but partially adopted and the possible sanctions seem uncertain. Mechanisms based on extraterritoriality are limited and the establishment of a duty of care do not really suit to the oil organization. The consideration of oil specificities is confined to the reporting framework and the legal tools specific to the industry generally only take into account the fight against corruption. Finally, the political pressures, the intervention of non-governmental organizations and the media are focused on companies whose head office is located in a Western State and transfer of oil interests are usual in the sector

碩士
國立臺灣大學
國際企業管理組
93
The petroleum market in Taiwan has been gone through deregulation procedure as its own schedule. China committed in entering WTO to open its motor fuels retailing market for foreigners’ participation in end of 2004 and scheduled to further open its fuels wholesale market in end of 2006. Many multinational oil companies express strong interests in Chinese motor fuels retailing market. They aggressively participate in Chinese motor fuels retailing market and make different progress. According to current Chinese economic size and economic growth rate, the estimation of crude demand will continually tremendously increase in the future. The efficiency of the entire petroleum industry attracts a lot of attentions from the public, especially in the trend of the rising crude price. This study is to understand (A) the Taiwanese and Chinese petroleum industry policies and the latest motor fuels retailing market environments, (B) the causes of the petroleum market deregulation and the schedules, (C) the privatization procedure of local national oil companies, and (D) the cases of multinational oil companies’ motor fuels retailing market entry strategy in Taiwan and China. Through reviews of the choices of entry mode by the multinational oil companies in entering the Taiwan and China motor fuels retailing markets in different stages of the deregulation and the strategies of the local national oil companies under the pressures of company privatization in the responses of multinational oil companies’ motor fuels retail market entry, this study concludes that; (A) It will enhance the stability of motor fuels retailing market prices in Taiwan that the motor fuels suppliers operate more retail stations in the market. And this study does not anticipate there will be any wholesales price war in China upon wholesales market is opened in 2006 since the fuels pricing is constrained by regulations in China. (B) Taiwan’s petroleum market was deregulated as its own planned schedule, while China was opened its fuels retailing markets per the commitments of WTO entry. There is quite huge difference in the deregulation time frame between Taiwan and China. And there are no regulated retail motor fuels prices currently in Taiwan, while there are directive fuels pricing mechanisms in China. (C) The privatization pace of national oil companies is different in Taiwan and China. The labor union in Taiwanese national oil company has strong influences on the progress of the company privatization. And there are no disadvantages in retail and wholesale motor fuels market competitiveness for national oil company according to CPC’s experiences, no matter the national oil company is privatized. (D) The multinational oil companies, with the same criteria, will select the countries with larger market size and higher market growth rate to be the market entry candidates. And most of multinational oil companies, with less than 50% equity, form joint venture companies with the local national oil companies to develop the joint-brand retail networks in China.

碩士
國立中央大學
高階主管企管碩士班
103
Direct marketing includes conceptual propagation and product marketing which constructs the main frame of sale activity. The radial sales effectiveness is the key factor to success in direct selling. To overturn the traditional way, direct-selling involves the marketing of products and services directly to consumers in a face-to-face manner, away from permanent retail locations market competition and getting Amazing business performance. The target company of this case study is an American essential oils company’s China branch office founded in 2014. Taking the particularity of Chinese direct selling market and complexity of the supervision of direct selling into account, only the single-level direct selling activity is allowed according to the national laws at this stage. How to make the appropriate adjustment of operational strategy is main problem needed to be resolved by the direct selling enterprises. This research focuses on discussing the business transformation of multinational direct selling companies in china market. With this main objective, the researcher selects S-C-P model as the analytic tool and SWOT analysis to formulate the strategy; moreover, the researcher selects a case to review the competition strengths and offers the suitable development strategies which provides a more complete way of thinking and operating reference for those direct selling enterprises.