Sustainability, Corporate Community Engagement and Enterprise Development – Lessons from a Case Study in Emu-Ebendo Niger-Delta, Nigeria

O.E. Ajide

o.e.ajide@rgu.ac.uk
Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, UK (United Kingdom)

P.A. Strachan


Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, UK (United Kingdom)

A. Russell


Bournemouth University, UK (United Kingdom)

D.R. Jones


Bournemouth University, UK (United Kingdom)


Abstract

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.


Keywords:

community engagement, community enterprise development, sustainability, local content, Niger Delta, Nigeria, oil and gas

BABIAK K., LOVA S.T., 2011, CSR and Environmental Responsibility: Motives and Pressures to Adopt Green Management Practices, in: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environment Management vol. 18, p. 11-24.
  Google Scholar

BAHUGUNA S., 1989, Environmental Conservation for Survival, in: Indian Journal of Public Administration 35 (July-September), cited in: BHAT S., Natural Resources Conservation Law, Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 2010.
  Google Scholar

BAJPAI N., SACHS J. D., 2011, India’s Decade of Development: Looking Back at the Last 10 Years and Looking Forward to the Next 20, in: Working Paper Series no. 3, p. 1-31, http://globalcenters.columbia.edu/files/cgc/pictures/Indias_Decade_of_Development_II_CGCSA_working_paper_series_July_2011.pdf (15.12.2014).
  Google Scholar

BAKER S., 2006, Sustainable Development, Rutledge Publishing Co., Abingdon.
  Google Scholar

BANERJEE S. B., 2002, Corporate Environmentalism: The Construct and Its Measurement, in: Journal of Business Research, vol. 55, p. 177-191.
  Google Scholar

BARBIER E. B., 1987, The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development, in: Environmental Conservation, vol. 14, no 2, p. 101-110.
  Google Scholar

BENNET D. H., 1996, Valuing a Tree, in: Tropical Rainforest Research-Current Issues, ed. Edward D. S. et al., Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York, p. 467-475.
  Google Scholar

BOULDING K. E., 1996, The Economics of Coming Spaceship Earth, in: Baltimore: Jones Environmental Quality in a Growing Economy: Essays from the Sixth RFF Forum, ed. Jarrett H., Hopkins University Press, New York, p. 3-14.
  Google Scholar

BOWIE N. E., 1990, Morality, Money and Motor Cars, in: Business, Ethics and the Environment: The Public Policy Debate, eds. Hoffman W. H., Frederick, R. and Petry Jr. E. S., Quorum Books, New York, p. 89-97.
  Google Scholar

CARSON R., 1962, Silent Spring, Penguin Books, London.
  Google Scholar

COLE M., 2004, Trade, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis and Environmental Kuznets Curve: Examining the Linkages, in: Ecological Economics, vol. 48, no 1, p. 71-81.
  Google Scholar

CRAVENS D., HILLS D., WOODRUFF R., 1987, Marketing Management, Irwin: Hoomewood.
  Google Scholar

DASGUPTA S., LAPLANTE B., WANG H., 2002, Confronting the Environmental Kuznets Curve, in: Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 16, p. 147-168.
  Google Scholar

DALY H. E., 1991, Steady-State Economics, San Francisco: Freeman & Co., 2nd ed., Island Press, Washington D.C.
  Google Scholar

DAVIES G. D., 2013, Appraising Weak and Strong Sustainability: Searching for a Middle Ground, in: Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development, vol. 10, no 1, p. 111-124.
  Google Scholar

DESJARDINS J., 2005, Business and Environmental Sustainability, in: Business and Professional Ethics Journal, vol. 24, p. 35-59.
  Google Scholar

DONGFENG Y., CHENGZHI Y., YING L., 2013, Urbanization and Sustainability in China: An Analysis Based on the Urbanization Kuznets Curve, in: Planning Theory, vol. 12, no 4, p. 391-405.
  Google Scholar

EHRLICH P., 1968, The Population Bomb, Buccaneer Books, London.
  Google Scholar

EKINS P., 1997, The Kuznets Curve for the Environment and Economic Growth: Examining the Evidence, in: Environment and Planning A, vol. 29, p. 805-830.
  Google Scholar

EKINS P., 2000, Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dodrecht.
  Google Scholar

ENLIGHTEN, 2010, Green Product Development: A Key for Survival, Current Challenges, in: HCL Technologies http://www.hcl.com/hcl/green_product_development_key_for_the_survival_current_challenges_0.pdf (3.09.2015).
  Google Scholar

FREEMAN R. E., 1994, The Politics of Stakeholder Theory: Some Future Direction, in: Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 4, no 4, p. 409-422.
  Google Scholar

FRENCH P., 1992, The Corporation as a Moral Person, in: Business Ethics: A Philosophical Reader, ed. White T., Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, p. 10-12.
  Google Scholar

FRENCH P., 1995, Corporate Ethics, Harcourt Brace and Company, New York.
  Google Scholar

FRIEDMAN M., 1970, The Social Responsibility of Business, in: New York Times Magazine, vol. 13, September Issue, p. 122-126.
  Google Scholar

GOLEOTTI M., 2007, Economic Growth and the Quality of the Environment: Taking Stock, in: Environment, Development and Sustainability, vol. 9, p. 427-454.
  Google Scholar

GOMES C. M., KNEIPP J. M., KRUGLIANSKAS I., ROSA L. A. B., BICHUETI R. S., 2015, Management for Sustainability: An Analysis of the Key Practices According to the Business Size, in: Ecological Indicators, vol. 52, p. 116-127.
  Google Scholar

HARDIN G., 1968, The Tragedy of the Commons, in: Science, vol. 162, no 3589, p. 1243-1248.
  Google Scholar

HARRIS J. D., FREEMAN R. D., 2008, The Impossibility of the Separation Thesis: A Response to Joakim Sandberg, in: Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 18, no 4, p. 541-548.
  Google Scholar

HILL R. J., MAGNANI E., 2002, An Exploration of the Conceptual and Empirical Basis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve, in: Australian Economic Paper, vol. 41, p. 239-254.
  Google Scholar

HOFFMAN W. M., 1991, Business and Environmental Ethics, in: Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 1, no 2, p. 169-184.
  Google Scholar

IKERD J., 2005, Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense, Kumarin Press, Hartford.
  Google Scholar

IBM, 2007, Corporate Social Responsibility Report, http://www.ibm.com/ibm/environmnet/annual/IBM_CorpResp_2006.pdf (20.05.2014).
  Google Scholar

KANT I., 1785, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. and ed. Gregor M. J., 1996, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  Google Scholar

KEENE A., DELLER S. C., 2015, Evidence of the Environmental Kuznets’ Curve among US Countries and the Impact of Social Capita, in: International Regional Science Review, vol. 38, no 4, p. 358- 387.
  Google Scholar

LEOPOLD A., 1996, The Land Ethic: A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There, Oxford University Press, New York.
  Google Scholar

MARMOR A., 1999, The Separation Thesis and the Limits of Interpretation, in: Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence, vol. 12, no 1, p. 135-150.
  Google Scholar

MCKANE A., PRICE L., CAN S. R., 2008, Policies for promoting Industrial Energy Efficiency in Developing Countries and Transition Economies: Executive Summary, in: UNIDO-Vienna, http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/media/documents/pdf/Energy_Environment/ind_energy_efficiencyEbookv2.pdf (5.12.2015).
  Google Scholar

MENON A., MENON A., 1997, Enviropreneurial Marketing Strategy: The Emergence of Corporate Environmentalism as Market Strategy, in: Journal of Marketing, vol. 61(January Issue), p. 51-67.
  Google Scholar

MEYERS C., 1992, The Corporation, Its members, and Moral Accountability, in: Business Ethics: A Philosophical Reader, ed. White T., Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, p. 252-259.
  Google Scholar

MILES M. P., MUNILLA L. S., 1993, Eco-orientation: An Emerging Business Philosophy? in: Journal of Market Theory Practice, vol. 1, no 2, p. 43-50..
  Google Scholar

MISHRA P. K., SAMARTH R. M., PATHAK N., JAIN S. K., BANERJEE S., MAUDAR K. K., 2009, Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Review of Clinical and Experimental Findings after 25 Years, in: International Journal Occupational Medicine Environmental Health, vol. 22, p. 193-202.
  Google Scholar

MULIA P., BEHURA A. K., KAR S., 2016, Categorical Imperative in Defense of Strong Sustainability in: Problemy Ekorozwoju/ Problem of Sustainable Development, vol. 11, no 2, p. 29-36.
  Google Scholar

NAESS A., 1973, The Shallow and Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary, in: Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, vol. 16, p. 95-100.
  Google Scholar

NAESS A., 1986, The Deep Ecology Movement: Some Philosophical Aspects, in: Philosophical Inquiry, vol. 8, p. 10-31.
  Google Scholar

PAWŁOWSKI A., 2008, How many dimensions does sustainable development have?, in: Sustainable Development, vol. 16, no 2, p. 81-92.
  Google Scholar

PETERSON C. H., RICE S. D., SHORT J. W., ESLER D., BODKIN J. L., BALLACHEY B. E., IRONS D. B., 2003, Long-Term Ecosystem Response to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, in: Science vol. 302, p. 2082-2086.
  Google Scholar

PEETERS H., 2003, Sustainable Development and the Role of Financial World, in: Environment, Development and Sustainability, vol. 5, p. 197-230.
  Google Scholar

RALSTON H., 1988, Environmental Ethics: Duties to and Values in the Natural World, Temple University Press, New York.
  Google Scholar

SANDBERG J., 2008, Understanding the Separation Thesis, in: Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 18, no 2, 213-232.
  Google Scholar

SARKAR R., 2008, Public Policy and Corporate Environmental Behavior: A Broader View, in: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, vol. 15, p. 281-297.
  Google Scholar

SSHUMACHER E. F., 1999, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered: 25 Years later … with Commentaries, Hartley and Marks Publisher Inc, Vancouver.
  Google Scholar

SHEA C. P., 1989, Doing Well by Doing Good, in: World-Watch Institute, vol. 6, no 2, p. 24-30.
  Google Scholar

SINGER P., 2011, Practical Ethics, Cambridge University Press, New York.
  Google Scholar

STERN D., 1998, Progress on the Environmental Kuznets Curve, in: Environment and Development Economics, vol. 3, no 2, p. 173-196.
  Google Scholar

STERN D., COMMON M. S., BARBIER E. B., 1996, Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation: The Environmental Kuznets Curve and Sustainable Development, in: World Development, vol. 24, no 7, p. 1151-1160.
  Google Scholar

Sustainability: Idea’s Sustainability Initiatives, 2015, http://www.ideacellular.com/aboutus/sustainability (23.09.2015).
  Google Scholar

SYLVAN R., 1985, A Critique of Deep Ecology: Discussion Papers in Environmental Philosophy- 12, Canberra: Australian National University, Canberra.
  Google Scholar

TAYLOR P., 1986, Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics, Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
  Google Scholar

UN, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development-UNCED, 1992, Rio-Declaration on Environment and Development,
  Google Scholar

http://www.jus.uni.no/lm/environmental.development.rio.declaration.1992/portrait.pdf (25.01.2015).
  Google Scholar

UN, United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development-UNCSD, 1992, Agenda 21, in: Environment and Development Agenda, http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents.Agenda21.pdf (23.12.2014).
  Google Scholar

WAHBA H., 2008, Does the Market Value Corporate Environmental Responsibility? An Empirical Examination, in: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, vol. 15, p. 89-99.
  Google Scholar

WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development), Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, New York 1987, http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf (23.11.2015).
  Google Scholar

WICKS A. C., 1996, Overcoming the Separation Thesis: The Need for a Reconsideration of Business and Society Research, in: Business and Society, vol. 35, no 1, p. 89-118.
  Google Scholar

WORLDWATCH, 2014, State of the World 2014: Governing for Sustainability, Worldwatch Institute, Washington.
  Google Scholar

WORLDWATCH, 2003, State of the World 2003: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society, W. W. Norton & Company, New York.
  Google Scholar

YANDLE B., BHATTARAJ M., VIJAYARAGHYAN M., 2004, Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Review of Findings, Methods, and Policy Implications: Research Study Update, No. 02-1, in: The Property and Environment Research Center, http://www.perc.org/sites/default/files/rs02_1a.pdf (23.12.2015).
  Google Scholar

Download


Published
2017-07-03

Cited by

Ajide, O., Strachan, P., Russell, A., & Jones, D. (2017). Sustainability, Corporate Community Engagement and Enterprise Development – Lessons from a Case Study in Emu-Ebendo Niger-Delta, Nigeria. Problemy Ekorozwoju, 12(2), 59–68. Retrieved from https://ph.pollub.pl/index.php/preko/article/view/4979

Authors

O.E. Ajide 
o.e.ajide@rgu.ac.uk
Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, UK United Kingdom

Authors

P.A. Strachan 

Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, UK United Kingdom

Authors

A. Russell 

Bournemouth University, UK United Kingdom

Authors

D.R. Jones 

Bournemouth University, UK United Kingdom

Statistics

Abstract views: 14
PDF downloads: 6