|
|
 |
|
|
Corporate Social Responsibility Failures in the Oil Industry
Edited by Charles Woolfson and Matthias Beck
|
|
|
Work, Health and Environment Series, Series Editors, Charles Levenstein and John Wooding
You can read the
Introduction for free right now, just click here.
IN PRAISE
"There has been a lack of systematic analysis of the relationship between corporate
responsibility and corporate accountability. This book, through a series of detailed
case studies, highlights many of the fault lines and controversies in debates about
the proper roles and responsibilities of companies in a globalized economy. The
reader doesn't need to be in complete agreement with the contributors' analysis or
conclusions to recognize the extremely important contribution of this book. It
should be required reading for all advocates of corporate responsibility."
—Rory Sullivan, Director, Investor Responsibility, Insight Investment, Editor,
Business and Human Rights: Dilemmas and Solutions
"Lies, damned lies, and statistics-just three of the techniques favored by the
international oil industry in its attempt to present a friendly face. That the oil
companies are more powerful than many of the states in which they operate, and are
thus able to act with complete disdain for local norms and regulations, is well
demonstrated in this book. Corporate Social Responsibility Failures in the Oil
Industry exposes the basic amorality of the giants that lead this industry.
It is essential reading for those who wish to peer behind their public relations
facade."
—Jake Molloy, General Secretary, Offshore Industry Liaison Committee
(UK offshore oil workers' trade union)
"I'm not sure how I came to read this book, but I am certainly glad that the opportunity came my way. The book is a collection of contributions from several authors, compiled and edited by Charles Woolfson and Matthias Beck. These eminently qualified academics present a controversial and somewhat "in your face" challenge to the oil industry's claim of good corporate citizenship.
The editors and authors' views are supported by in-depth analysis of the Piper Alpha disaster (1988) and the loss of the submersible drilling rig, the Ocean Ranger (1982). They conclude with examples of sub-standard OSH performance since the accidents that present a less-than-flattering view of the industry.
What is the relevance of this book to an Australian OSH professional? Since the Australian Standard 8003-2003 on Corporate Social Responsibility was published, occupational safety and health has been firmly placed in the portfolio of corporate social responsibility obligations. However, with the notable exception of recent works by Professor Andrew Hopkins, there are few examples in Australia that have been subjected to the level of scrutiny as those in this book. As Australian OSH professionals start to grapple with defining the "hows" of corporate social responsibility, this book could prove to be a useful contribution to the debate."
—Martin Ralph, Western Australia Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, November 2005
"Oil drilling on land or at sea is always risky but the oil giants promise good governance, a clean environment and safety. This collection of academic papers shows that they deliver corruption, pollution and death.
Corporate Social Responsibility Failures in the Oil Industry is academic in style and aimed at safety specialists. But it is accessible enough for the concerned layperson to read and gather powerful evidence against the greedy oil corporations.
As the editors say in their afterword: the oil corporations require "neither rule of law, democracy, nor respect for individual rights to survive and prosper".
—Barry Healy, Green Left Weekly, March 15, 2006
"The collection is a powerful reminder that the cause of corporate social responsibility is not simply in the spending of profits but also with how profits are made. It demonstrates the potential implications of the oil industry for health and safety and for the very fabric and security of life which remain present issues for workers, communities, consumers, governments and shareholders alike. Yet, they are not simply resolvable by companies alone but through wider systems of governance involving governmental and civil society organisations unless, that is, until energy sources beyond petroleum are accessed and distributed."
—Jeremy Moon, Nottingham University Business School, Corporate Governance, Volume 15, Number 3
ABOUT THE BOOK
This book directly challenges the oil industry's claims of corporate good citizenship,
now widely advanced as part of a global public relations offensive. The volume spans the
industry's reach, from the troubled waters of the U.K. offshore Continental Shelf, with its
horrendous legacy of the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster, to the inhospitable shores of
Newfoundland, with its own tragic legacy of lost lives, to the new frontier of oil
corporate colonialism in the former Soviet Union and the icy plains of Alaska. The
central theme of violations of basic labor rights and of health and environmental
protection standards will make uncomfortable reading in the boardroom. It is equally
essential reading for those who seek to improve the position of workers and communities
within the oil industry's global reach.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Charles Woolfson is Reader in Industrial Relations at the University of Glasgow,
where he received his doctoral degree. His main areas of research have been labor
disputes, socio-legal studies of the regulation of health and safety, corporate social
responsibility, and the offshore oil industry. He is a Member of the Glasgow Baltic
Studies Unit. Woolfson has also held a Marie Curie Research Fellowship in Lithuania
and a Visiting Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the
University of Edinburgh.
Matthias Beck is Research Professor of Risk Management at Glasgow Caledonian
University and Director of the Centre for Risk and Governance (CRAG). He formerly
lectured in economics at the St. Andrews and Glasgow universities. In addition to
economics, his main teaching has been in the field of research methods. Beck has a
doctorate from MIT and has conducted research in labor market studies, corporate
governance, and quantitative sociology. He has co-authored numerous articles with
Charles Woolfson on socio-legal and regulatory issues, and recently has published on the
topics of financial governance and banking failures.
Intended Audience: Students, practitioners (corporate leaders, trade unions and NGOs), policy actors
(governmental authorities and international agencies), and stakeholders in the field of
International Business Management, Industrial Relations, Trade Unionism, the Oil and
Gas Industry, Environmental Studies, Legal and Regulatory Studies, and the field of
Human Rights and Labor Standards.
|
| Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. |
| Phone: 631 691-1270 |
|
Fax: 631 691-1770 |
|
Toll free order line: 800-638-7819 |
|
Email: info@baywood.com |
|
|
|
