Examining People's Participation in Corporate Social Responsibility Development Process. A Study of Tullow Oil Ghana Limited

Abstract

Local communities living close to production sites of oil drilling activities, all over the world, have in one way or the other suffered adverse impacts which the exploration companies try to appease through activities of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The key is for each party to tap into the resources and expertise of the other, finding creative solutions to critical social and businesses challenges. This study is to find out the patterns of people's participation at different stages of Tullow’s Cooperate Social Responsibility development process, taking into account the participation of members of the community. The researcher engaged various stakeholders through the use of questionnaires and face to face interviews. At the end of the study, it was seen that practical CSR decision and implementation could hardly involve decisions of the local community in the coastal belt. As high as 90% of respondents had not gotten the opportunity by any Oil Company to either recount their losses or threats due to their operations. Also, almost all the respondents never had the opportunity to make input into Tullow’s CSR decisions regarding CSR projects. Tullow CSR is therefore seen as a strategic approach meant to reduce business risk rather than a participatory platform for both Tullow and the intended beneficiary community.