Mining, the environment, and human rights in Ghana: An area of limited statehood perspective

While the global norms meant to guide corporate environmental human rights conducts have steadily improved, there have been limited efforts directed at exploring whether business-related environmental human rights infringements have as a result reduced. To address this gap, this paper examines the extent to which mining companies meet their responsibility to respect human rights and ensure that environmental rights of community members in mining areas are not violated. By privileging community voices, the paper offers nuanced insight into why gaps continue to persist between corporate commitment to human rights objectives and community experience in areas of limited statehood (ALS). We show that weak governmental capacity, neoliberal business model, and differences in sociocultural logics mediate between corporate environmental human rights commitments and their conduct on the ground. The paper concludes by considering the theoretical implications for business and human rights in ALS

Institutional Antecedents of the Corporate Social Responsibility Narrative in the Developing World Context: Implications for Sustainable Development

Efforts to understand the background to perceptions and manifestation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the developing world need to focus on establishing their link with the challenges of socio-economic governance and societal expectations and cultural traditions. This signifies a departure from a western centric understanding of CSR but also an over-focus on CSR as philanthropy. This study considers the Malawian tourism industry and finds that its colonial legacy, post-colonialism development thinking and the national education system explain the prevalence of a ‘CSR as philanthropy’ agenda. When these factors interact with challenges of socio-economic governance and societal expectations, however, the universality thesis that has often been associated with the theory and implementation CSR can be challenged. These findings therefore suggest a shift from the western centric CSR thinking to a CSR perspective that is strongly grounded in local values and norms and which meets the expectations of the global society. This indicates a way forward if CSR is to be adequately institutionalized in the developing world

Corporate Social Responsibility in SMEs: a shift from philanthropy to institutional works?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) amongst Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is often characterised in the literature as unstructured, informal and ad hoc discretionary philanthropic activities. Drawing insights from recent theoretical/analytical frameworks (i.e. Crane et al., in Corporate social responsibility: Readings and cases in a global context, 2013; and Valente and Crane, in Calif Manag Rev 52(3):52–78, 2010), and on empirical data collected from both Nigeria and Tanzania, we found that CSR practices in SMEs are much more nuanced than previously presented. In addition, SMEs undertake their CSR practices to varying degrees in multiple spaces—i.e. the workplace, marketplace, community and the ecological environment. These CSR practices go beyond philanthropy and in some instances involve institutional works aimed at addressing some of the institutional gaps in the environments where these SMEs operate. The paper makes a contribution by drawing attention to the multiple spaces of CSR practices amongst SMEs, and the institutional works they do, which are often taken for granted in the extant literature. We provide a unique perspective—by arguing that what is frequently conceptualised as philanthropic CSR in Africa is (or may include) ‘institutional works’

Corporate Social Responsibility in SMEs: a shift from philanthropy to institutional works?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) amongst Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is often characterised in the literature as unstructured, informal, and ad hoc discretionary philanthropic activities. Drawing insights from recent theoretical/analytical frameworks (i.e. Crane, Matten, and Spence, 2013; and Valente and Crane, 2010), and on empirical data collected from both Nigeria and Tanzania, we found that CSR practices in SMEs are much more nuanced than previously presented. In addition, SMEs undertake their CSR practices to varying degrees in multiple spaces – i.e. the workplace, marketplace, community and the ecological environment. These CSR practices go beyond philanthropy and in some instances involve institutional works aimed at addressing some of the institutional gaps in the environments where these SMEs operate. The paper makes a contribution by drawing attention to the multiple spaces of CSR practices amongst SMEs, and the institutional works they do, which are often taken for granted in the extant literature. We provide a unique perspective – by arguing that what is frequently conceptualised as philanthropic CSR in Africa is (or may include) 'institutional works'. Paper Type: Research paper

Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Development in the Niger Delta, Nigeria: A Critical Analysis

The thesis contributes to the emerging critical perspective on CSR and development from the context of corporate-community relations in the Nigerian oil industry. I take a critical look at the link between oil multinationals' (MNCs) CSR initiatives and community development in the Niger Delta. This research focus can be attributed to the contested nature of the debate over the CSR-development relationship (i.e., theoretical concerns), and the inability of oil MNCs to secure their social licence to operate despite increases in community development spending in the region (i.e., policy and empirical concerns). Hence, unlike previous analysis, a stakeholder .analytical approach that focuses on- the 'social responsibility' of oil MNCs and the 'reciprocal responsibility' of other stakeholders was adopted for exploring the link between oil MNCs' CSR initiatives and community development. The research thus attempted to assess and understand the CSR-development nexus from a beneficiary perspective (i.e., host communities), a practitioner perspective (i.e., oil MNCs) and an institutional context perspective (i.e., government). The research carefully interrogates the issues of community perceptions, expectations and sociocultural mores with which they make sense oftheir relationship with oil multinationals (MNCs). Efforts were also made to explore the strengths and limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an effective vehicle for fostering community development and harmonious stakeholder relationship in the Nigerian oil industry. Finally, the research critically examined whether the Nigerian government facilitated or inhibited CSR practices and the possible drivers and constraints for CSR in the Nigerian oil industry. A combinatio~ of quantitative (e.g., household questionnaires) and qualitative (e.g., interviews and focus group discussions) methods informed the process of data collection during fi~ldwork in Nigeria and subsequent analyses presented in the thesis. Findings from the research suggest that the relationship between CSR and community development is often more complex than presently assumed, and the extent to which oil MNCs' CSR initiatives positively or negatively affect community development is best understood in terms of the interplay of corporate motivation and strategy, local culture and institutional context. The research synthesises. an explanation for the inability of oil MNCs to secure their 'social licences to operate', and proposes ways to strengthen oil MNCs' CSR initiatives to enable stakeholders to derive maximum benefits from CSR practices.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Assessing corporate-community involvement strategies in the Nigerian oil industry: An empirical analysis

The desire of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to secure their social license to operate, and address their community development obligations, has led in recent years to the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and strategies. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data collected in host communities within the Niger Delta in Nigeria, the paper compares the effectiveness of two different corporate-community involvement strategies. The evidence suggests that while the corporate-community foundation model has certain advantages over the in-house community investment model, both approaches suffer from a common shortcoming that limits the impact of oil companies' efforts on community development in their host communities. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the research findings for corporate-community involvement in the Nigerian oil industry.Corporate-community involvement Oil industry Corporate social responsibility Community development Nigeria

Canada-Ghana Engagements in the Mining Sector: Protecting Human Rights or Business as Usual?

While states have traditionally had the responsibility to protect human rights, multinational corporations (MNCs) are now increasingly expected to also respect human rights in their pursuit of profitability. However, the increased incidence of human rights violations associated with the activities of MNCs in developing countries has led to various efforts to promote the corporate duty to respect human rights. This article seeks to examine the extent to which Canada’s national Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy can contribute to the prevention or amelioration of incidences of human rights violation associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies operating in Ghana. The article suggests that while Canada’s national CSR strategy does present some opportunities, its ability to ameliorate incidence of human rights violations remains limited. The article concludes by considering the theoretical and practical implications for Canada-Ghana engagements in the mining sector

Insight Grant Competition: Does Transparency Lead to Accountability? A Two-Country Study of Local Implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in West Africa

A major challenge confronting many resource-rich developing countries is severe and systemic corruption, which prevents them from getting the most value from their oil, gas and mining sectors. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global initiative launched in 2002 by the UK government to promote better management of resource revenues, is strongly supported by the Canadian government, one of 15 donor partners. The EITI expects participating governments to disclose the royalties and taxes they receive from the extractive sector, and oil and mining companies to report what they pay to government. While increased transparency about the revenues received from extraction is expected to produce more accountable national and local governance, the EITI Secretariat acknowledged that this outcome is not always achieved and has called for greater effort to be directed to ensuring accountability at the local level. This research responds to this call by focusing on EITI implementation at the local level in Nigeria and Ghana, two important EITI-compliant countries.Funding by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada October 2015 Insight Grant Competition Total Awarded: CAD$115,49