Oil And Gas Firms

Oil and Gas Firms

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Background Oil and Gas firms these days are not only judged on their bottom line but also by their level of social responsibility. The oil and gas sector faces many challenges regarding social performance due to the nature of the business it engages in. However, there are also many benefits from best practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the oil and gas sector, such as good stakeholder management, care of the environment and a positive impact on the timeline of projects. “When I look at an investment proposal now, it still covers the technical issues, of course. It certainly covers the financial issues. But fully half of that proposal deals with what I would call the nontechnical risk. The social performance, the sustainability issues — how have those been taken into account? ….What’s the cost of that, and how long does that take…. The reason I use the word “dramatic” is that the timeline of these projects now is largely driven by those social performance and sustainable development issues, as opposed to the technical and other commercial issues”. (From “Trust Me” to “Show Me”: Moving Sustainability at Shell Oil From “Priority” to “Core Value”, MIT Sloane Management Review Magazine: Spring 2011) “Strategic CSR also unlocks shared value by investing in social aspects of context that strengthen company competitiveness….the success of the community and the success of the company become mutually reinforcing…” (Porter, 2006) Assignment Task Choose one firm operating in the energy sector and write a 2,500 word report critically evaluating their strategic use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the influence it has on the strategic direction/objectives/choices of that particular firm. The report should consider the following aspects:  The challenges and benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility.  The strategic nature of Corporate Social Responsibility in the energy sector and the way it can help firms achieve their strategic objectives and direction.  The importance of stakeholder management for projects in the energy sector  Appropriate energy related examples.  Recommendations on how the chosen energy firm’s strategic use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be improved. Total Marks for Assignment: 100 NB: -Analyse couple of stakeholders. -Choose one company and concentrate on a particular project in a particular region(not globally).