Development Studies

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/10564

Browse

Filters

2000 - 200912010 - 20161

Settings

Subject: search.filters.subject.Social responsibility of business

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Optimising community development through corporate social responsibility : an examination of the tourism industry in Livingstone, Zambia : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Development Studies at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Chilufya, Andrew K
    This thesis explores the potential for corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of hotel and lodge companies to contribute to community development. A critical review of relevant literature is followed by focused discussions of the CSR practices of these companies, their community engagement approaches for seeking community voices in CSR, and policy frameworks for promoting CSR and managing stakeholder relationships. The empirical domain is the practices of hotel and lodge companies on Mukuni community land in Livingstone, Zambia. The discussion in each of the main empirical chapters is based on the analysis of perspectives and experiences of participants. Primary data was collected by conducting document and website reviews, and interviews with senior government officials, hotel and lodge managers, the local tourism association, leaders of relevant local and international NGOs, and leaders from Mukuni communities. Data was also collected through group interviews, network mapping, and pairwise ranking and comparison analyses with community farmers and crafts traders. Site observation of some CSR projects in communities was also undertaken. Thematic analysis was applied to code and analyse data. A theoretical framework focusing on “ensuring equity in CSR through multi-stakeholder measures” was developed and applied to understand the findings. Study findings suggest that power relations are a critical issue in CSR when initiatives are carried out in poor communities. It is shown that dominant corporate power and traditional power and cultural influences of community leaders, coupled with weak policy frameworks for promoting CSR and managing stakeholder interactions, are the main factors that determine the effectiveness of CSR as a vehicle for community development. These findings show that although criticisms are justifiably targeted mainly at corporations, communities and government also fall short in a number of ways as parties in promoting CSR. In view of these findings, key stakeholders, including government, hotels and lodges and communities, are challenged to adapt their respective policies, structures, mentalities and practices to ensure equity in CSR. The study has shown that multi-stakeholder involvement in CSR can encourage equity and might be helpful in shifting CSR from reflecting company interests alone to interests and needs of communities. This argument is based on evidence that in some cases, measures that seek to encourage multi-stakeholder involvement in CSR have proved to contribute to promoting equity and to widely spreading opportunities and benefits. It has also been shown that the role of government and other stakeholders is important for improving the overall effectiveness of CSR as a vehicle for community development.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Impact management and social performance in the petrochemical industry in Taranaki : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2000) Whyte, Mandy
    This thesis addresses the practices of the petrochemical industry, in particular exploration and production companies (E& P), in interacting with operations-affected community stakeholders. It does so by reviewing the range of methodologies common to the industry, and by surveying companies active in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. It seeks to answer the question: how can exploration companies minimise their social impacts and conflict with operations-affected communities, and the associated costs, in a mutually acceptable and sustainable way? The thesis challenges the practice of addressing community concerns with, what the author has identified as, a public relations approach, the primary and underlying purpose of which is, it is argued, to further the economic interests of business. It maintains that practices arising from a public relations approach are both socially inappropriate and commercially ineffective when applied to communities who are negatively affected by companies with which they are obliged to share the same social and physical environment. Instead the thesis supports a community development approach to interactions between the petrochemical industry and community stakeholders. This approach emanates from a philosophical framework that espouses human rights and the integration of social, environmental and economic development as an enduring function of commercial enterprise. It is posited that effective management of the dynamics of opposing interests will not be achieved through companies deploying 'nice people' to negotiate with disaffected, disparate and disempowered groups, but through the use of qualified social practitioners and the community development tools of social assessment, participation and empowerment to create mutuality beneficial outcomes.