The false developmental promise of Corporate Social Responsibility: evidence from multinational oil companies |
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Authors: | JEDRZEJ GEORGE FRYNAS |
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Institution: | Professor in Corporate Responsibility and Strategic Management at the University of Middlesex Business School. He is the author of Oil in Nigeria;(2000), co-editor (with Scott Pegg) of Transnational corporations and human rights (2003) and co-author (with Kamel Mellahi and Paul Finlay) of Global strategic management (2005). |
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Abstract: | Using the example of multinational oil companies, this article suggests that there are fundamental problems surrounding the capacity of private firms to deliver development and the aspiration of achieving development through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) may be fundamentally flawed. The article is based on an extensive twelve-month research project on the Gulf of Guinea region funded by the Nuffield Foundation. This research identified a number of constraints to a developmental role for CSR: the subservience of CSR schemes to corporate objectives; country- and context-specific issues; the failure to involve the beneficiaries of CSR; the lack of human resources; technical/managerial approaches of company staff and the lack of CSR's integration into larger development plans. But even if private companies were able to overcome practical problems, it argues that the current CSR agenda fails to address the crucial issues of governance and the negative macro-level effects that multinational companies cause in host countries. The article concludes by suggesting that a focus on CSR may divert attention from broader political, economic and social solutions for developmental problems. |
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