THE CURRENT STATE OF CSR IN QATAR PETROLEUM
The research proposal broadly explores the management of corporate social responsibility in the Qatar oil and gas industry. The purpose of the study is to explore the type of CSR activities that Qatar Petroleum undertakes, how it evaluates potential opportunities and the performance of CSR activities. It also explores the benefits that the company gains from CSR activities. The literature review will take a positivist ontology and epistemology approach. This technique is largely free from personal perceptions and assumes that CSR activities are independent of the interference of the researcher. It will combine the positivist approach with empirical axiology to create a value-free context. In this environment, the researcher is independent of the data and does not introduce a subjectivity that taints the results.
Research Questions and Objectives
The objective of the research is to determine the current state of CSR in Qatar Petroleum. The study will answer the following research questions:
- To assess the type and nature of CSR activities in which Qatar Petroleum engages.
- To critically analyze how Qatar Petroleum assesses potential CSR opportunities.
- To determine how Qatar Petroleum’s CSR activities are evaluated.
- What benefits Qatar Petroleum gets from CSR activities.
Literature Review
It is essential to explore the development of CSR with an objective of comprehending the growth in the conceptualization of its development as a practice. Over time, the theoretical developments in the practice have provided scholars with the impetus to explore its nature fervently through the view of positivist ontology. The first scholar to define the concept of CSR in 1953 described it as the obligation of business owners to actively seek policies, lines of actions, and decisions that align with the desirable values and objectives of the larger society (Bowen 2013). Since then, the definition of the concept has morphed into different activities, as explained by Lee, Park, and Lee (2008). The 1950’s and ‘60s definition centred on the social responsibility of business owners, it turned to enlightened self-interests in the 1970s, while scholars in the 1980s were about social performance. The focus of the 1990s was strategic management. A different evolution of CSR was offered by Carroll (2016), who defines the 1950s as the onset of modern social responsibility, the 1960s as a literature expansion period, the 1970s as an era for the expansion in the definitions of CSR, the 1980s as a time of shifting focus from definitions to growing research and alternative themes. The 1990s were a time of exponential growth in the exploration of alternative themes.
Type and Nature of CSR Activities that Qatar Petroleum Engages
According to CSR Report (2017), the country has made momentous leaps in social responsibility initiatives in an effort to support the development processes set for 2030. As the population of the country increases, a parallel need to increase the strategic pace of development has also awakened. The backbone of this system is the creation of a robust mechanism of supplying and monitoring the natural resources. Moreover, it involves taking actions that promote safety and stability for people’s social and economic lives. The government chose CSR in this essence to be the means and target of achieving the said objective.
Qatar Petroleum demonstrated its CSR towards the current and future generations in unprecedented projects to interpret the country’s national vision practically. The objective of the “Imdad” project was to improve the process of strategic forecasting for raw materials and inventories, guaranteeing the efficient utilization of natural resources devoid of waste, shortage, and outage (CSR Report 2017). The national “Tarsheed” program proved Qatar’s commitment to energy rationalization, which aligns with global policies on environmental conservation and sustainable development. It calls for the rational and efficient use of water and electricity to the existing international standard in the process of creating a modern state. This project had significant impact on the consumption of water and electricity, with reductions of 14% and 17% respectively (CSR Report 2017. The “Made in Qatar” exhibition was a CSR activity that took the form of an exchange platform in which local markets could further the conversation on converting businesses from being consumptive to productive and shifting the dependence of the market from oil and gas to diverse factors of production.
Qatar Petroleum organizes environmental awareness campaigns that engage the community to participate in sustainability activities. The organization has increased its expenditure on CSR projects from 28,000,000 in 2016 to 38,120,000 in 2018 (Qatar Petroleum Sustainability Report (2018). It sponsors school and community awareness campaigns through activities, such as marine debris management, tree planting, environmental workshops, and valuable natural resources protection projects (Qatar Petroleum 2020). The number of activities that the organization undertook rose from 14 to 16 during the same period, with one of the most successful imitative being the Dukhan Environmental Awareness Campaign (Qatar Petroleum Sustainability Report 2018). The activity promoted CSR through a public beach cleanup activity involving students and teachers. This activity communicated the essence of active participation in reduction of costal pollution. It also emphasized the need to reduce waste at the source for not only the coastal areas, but for the holistic environment.
How Qatar Petroleum Assesses New Opportunities for CSR
Qatar Petroleum assesse new opportunities for CSR by nurturing an innovative, creative generation at Qatar University. The College of Business and Economics builds partnerships and relationships that add value to education, encourages, and supports innovation. The “Maan” initiative, which translates to ‘Together’ assesses new opportunities for CSR by supporting innovative ideas from students at the university and other nationals (CSR Report 2017). It provides financial and technical assistance to scholars to support a knowledge economy that implements and absorbs diverse and novel CSR ideas. The university organizes educational days during which students and nationals can network with stakeholders through simulated training models. The interaction raises awareness on financial markets, operation mechanisms, investment principles, and money market trading, thus, equipping the innovative demographic with practical knowledge of the national economy. Education expos combine practical and theoretical knowledge to create a rich and interactive platform for diffusion of knowledge. Such experiences provide learners with the skills of applying the theoretical materials practically. The training positions them strategically to serve their country locally, regionally, or in international environments.
Stakeholder engagement creates unique opportunities for organizations to identify and leverage CSR activities. Employee engagement initiatives that address health, safety, diversity, employee relations, mentoring, benefits and wages are addressed through training. Training programs expand the ability of the staff to deal with CSR issues. Minimizing business risks through employee training is an evidence-based solution for identifying CSR opportunities. Qatar Petroleum launched the Governance Transformation Organization (GTO) as a strategic opportunity to improve compliance and governance, especially in high-risk topics, such as CSR (Qatar Petroleum Sustainability Report 2018). The company also updated its code of ethics to transform it into one of the most transparent organization sin the oil and gas industry. In light of these new changes, it was essential to improve the skill levels of employees on anti-bribery, trade compliance, business sanctions, and fair competition.
How Qatar Petroleum Evaluates its CSR Activities
The backbone of the organization’s evaluation framework is the belief that opportunities for growth emerge through continuous leaning. Qatar Petroleum places immense emphasis on its leading role in talent and diversity management initiatives (Qatar Petroleum Sustainability Report 2018). Dedicated learning and knowledge advancement are critical development tools for the sector. Vocational learning activities that provide employees with technical and administrative skills are provided to enhance the professional competencies of the employee teams. The organization merged the training sessions with a two-level evaluation program that ensures that employees undergo continuous improvement and access high quality training sessions.
Succession planning is an evaluation process that evaluates the preparedness of candidates to fill leadership positions and undertake other core roles. The first leadership program comprised of five pilot programs dedicated to senior and mid-level leaders (Qatar Petroleum Sustainability Report 2018). Each program involves executive coaching and peer learning. It also incorporates a feedback loop and competency assessment modules. At the end of each training session, the management categorizes local talent into two groups: ready now and ready soon. The latter groups undergoes further development while the former assume leadership roles according to the succession plans of the senior leadership. Diversity and equal opportunity training is an additional evaluation metric used by the company. The company focuses primarily on Qatar nationals in succession activities, but it carefully considers expats because the senior management believes that diversity is a source of strength.
Benefits that Qatar Petroleum gains from CSR Activities
Qatar Petroleum’s extends its social responsibility to its stakeholders, including employees, by offering them competitive salaries and myriad benefits. Transport, housing, pension, medical insurance, training, education facilitation, business need, and shifting allowances are examples of the benefits that the company’s employees receive. The Human Capital Services Center is an example of Qatar Petroleum’s employee welfare and engagement initiatives, which continuously creates engagement opportunities with staff members (Qatar Petroleum Sustainability Report 2018). In return, the organization attracts and retains the best talent in the industry. Experienced, loyal, dedicated, and creative employees enhances performance and organizational excellence. Qatar Petroleum’s employees are compliant with its policies, culture, systems, and processes. Engaging employees enhances talent growth and resourcing initiatives. Combining these initiatives elevates the organization to international standards.
Methodology
Paradigm
A novice scholar who begins to dissect a research problem will eventually hone certain views of social expectations based on personal values and beliefs. This stage of critical thinking has critical significance in enabling a researcher to appreciate the existing research and framing the research questions. According to Aymer and Okitikpi (2010), a paradigm covers epistemology, ontology, and methodology. Scotland (2012) considers the paradigm questions to be primary and the research method to be secondary. The parameters of the paradigm consist of perceptions, assumptions, and viewpoints that can implicate the congruence of the objectives and research questions, making it paramount to understand and limit the biases of the researcher (Hollway 2008). In particular, Henry and Pene (2011) caution that all scholars harbor natural biases that are likely to affect the research design.
Reference List
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Carroll, AB 2016, ‘Carroll’s pyramid of CSR: Taking another look’, International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, no. 1, vol. 1, pp.3-4.
CSR Report 2017, QatarCSR: Citizenship Report-2017,. Available from https://qp.com.qa/en/MediaCentre/Lists/QPPublications/Attachments/29/QP%202018%20Sustainability%20Report.pdf
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Hollway, W 2008, The importance of relational thinking in the practice of psycho-social research: Ontology, epistemology, methodology and ethics, The Open University.
Lee, EM, Park, SY, & Lee, HJ 2013, ‘Employee perception of CSR activities: Its antecedents and consequences’, Journal of Business Research, vol. 66, no. 10, pp.1716-1724.
Qatar Petroleum Sustainability Report 2018, Sustainability report: Passion and Possibilities for Sustainable Growth. Available from http://qatarcsr.com/uploads/links/2018-05-05/Qatar-CSR-Report-2017-EN.pdf
Qatar Petroleum 2020, QP Activities. Available from https://qp.com.qa/en/QPActivities/QPOperations/Pages/EnvironmentandSocietyDetails.aspx?EID=1
Scotland, J 2012, ‘Exploring the philosophical underpinnings of research: Relating ontology and epistemology to the methodology and methods of the scientific, interpretive, and critical research paradigms’, English Language Teaching, no. 5, vol. 9, pp.9-16.