Abstract
When Royal Dutch Shell (hereafter ‘Shell’) re-entered the remote Camisea region of Peru to again plan for the development of a large natural gas field in the area, anticipated effects of the company’s activities on local indigenous communities ranged from bringing the evil of destruction and disease to providing prosperity through direct cash compensatory gifts (May et al., 1999a). In fact, in a major break from its past standard operating procedure, the company adopted an unorthodox approach that incorporated extensive stakeholder participation to proactively identify and mitigate the environmental and social impacts of its activities and create net benefits to affected communities without providing direct cash payments. Ultimately, Shell was neither Satan nor Santa, but instead, as will be shown, it was a highly competitive company responding pragmatically to external public pressures and concerns.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Arrow, K. (1974) The Limits of Organisation. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Barker, G., G.R. Smith, F.J. Vacas, E.K. Swingholm, R.M. Yuill, M.A. Aleman (1997) Managing non-technical risks associated with seismic operations in the tropical rainforests of Ecuador. Oil & Gas Journal Special Issue,50–60.
Barney, J.B. (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17: 99–120.
Bernicke, J., G. Dowell, S. Hart, A. Sastry (1997) Corporate Environmental Reputation: Asset or Albatross? Paper presented at the Corporate Reputation, Image, and Competitiveness conference. January, New York.
Burt, R.S. (1992) Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Dierickx, I., K. Cool (1989) Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Management Science, 35: 1504–1513.
Doz, Y., G. Hamel, C.K. Prahalad (1989) Collaborate with your competitors and win. Harvard Business Review, 67: 133–139.
Estrada, J., K. Tangen, H.O. Bergesen (1997) Environmental Challenges Confronting the Oil Industry. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Fombrun, C., M. Shanley (1990) What’s in a name? Reputation building and corporate strategy. Academy of Management Journal, 33 (2): 233–258.
Fombrun, C.J. (1996) Reputation: Realizing its Value from Corporate Image. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Freeman, R.E. (1984) Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Boston: Pitman. Grant, R.M. (1991) The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33: 114–135.
Grolin, J. (1998) Corporate legitimacy in risk society: the case of Brent Spar. Business Strategy and the Environment, 7: 213–222.
Hall, R. (1993) A framework linking intangible resources and capabilities to sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 14: 607–618.
Hart, S.L. (1995) A natural-resource-based view of the firm. The Academy of Management Review, 20: 986–1014.
Hartman, C., E. Stafford (1998) Crafting enviropreneurial value chain strategies through green alliances. Business Horizons March-April, 41: 62–72.
Hastings, M. (1999) A new operational paradigm for oil operations in sensitive environments: an analysis of social pressure, corporate capabilities and competitive advantage. Business Strategy and the Environment, 8: 267–280.
International Finance Corporation (1998) Doing Better Business Through Effective Public Consultation and Disclosure. Washington, D.C.: International Finance Corporation.
Khanna, T., R. Gulate, N. Nohria (1994) Alliances as Learning Races, in Academy of Management Proceedings, D. Moore ed.; 42–46.
Leana, C.R., H.J. Van Buren III (1999) Organisational social capital and employment practices. Academy of Management Review, 24 (3): 538–555.
Lindstedt-Siva, J., L.C. Soileau IV, D.W. Chamberlain, M.L. Wouch (1996) Engineering for Development in Environmentally Sensitive Areas: Oil Operations in a Rainforest, in Engineering Within Ecological Constraints P.C. Schulze ed. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Long, F., M. Arnold (1995) The Power of Environmental Partnerships. Fort Worth: The Dryden Press.
May, P., A.H. Barbosa, N. Zaidenweber, P. Fernandez-Davila, V. Goncalves da Vinha (1999a) Corporate Roles and Rewards in Promoting Sustainable Development: Lessons and Guidelines from Camisea, Research Report, ERG-99–1, Energy and Resources Group, University of California at Berkeley.
May, P., A.H. Barbosa, N. Zaidenweber, P. Fernandez-Davila, V. Goncalves da Vinha (1999b) Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Strategy, in Corporate Incentives and Environmental Decision Making M. Hastings ed. The Woodlands, Texas: Houston Advanced Research Center.
Nahapiet, J., S. Ghoshal (1998) Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organisational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23 (2): 242–266.
Common Financial Strategies Found Among Top 10 Oil and Gas Firms. Oil & Gas Journal 1998, 96 (16): 27–33.
Petrick, J.A., R.F. Scherer, J.D. Brokzinski, J.F. Quinn, M.F. Ainina (1999) Global leadership skills and reputational capital: intangible resources for sustainable competitive advantage. Academy of Management Executive, 13 (1): 58–69
Porter, M., M.B. Fuller (1986) Coalitions and Global Strategy, in Competition in Global Industries. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Prahalad, C.K., G. Hamel (1990) The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review, 68 (3): 79–91.
Russo, M., P. Fouts (1997) A resource-based perspective on corporate environmental performance and profitability. The Academy of Management Journal, 40 (3): 534–559.
Sharma, S., H. Vredenburg (1998) Proactive corporate environmental strategy and the development of competitively valuable organisational capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 19: 729–753.
Sharma, S. (2000) Stakeholder integration and corporate sustainability strategy: a dynamic capability perspective. Houston Advanced Research Center working paper.
Svendsen, A., R. Abbott, R. Boutilier, D. Wheeler (2001) Stakeholder relations: pathways to competitive advantage (draft). CA Magazine, August 2001.
Waddock, S.A., S.B. Graves (1997) The corporate social performance-financial performance link. Strategic Management Journal, 18 (4): 303–319.
Wernerfelt, B. (1984) A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5 (2): 171–180.
Williams, B. (1997) Foreign petroleum companies developing new paradigm for operating in rainforest region. Oil & Gas Journal Special Issue: 37–42.
Wood, D.J., B. Gray (1991) Collaborative alliances: moving from practice to theory. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, June 27 (1): 3–22.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hastings, M. (2002). Neither Satan nor Santa. In: de Bruijn, T.J.N.M., Tukker, A. (eds) Partnership and Leadership. Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2545-3_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2545-3_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5938-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-2545-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive