Evaluating the drivers of corporate social responsibility in the mining industry with multi-criteria approach: A multi-stakeholder perspective

Abstract

Mining industries receive significant global attention due to the nature of their environmental and social responsibilities. Although mining industries have many advantages, inappropriate mining activities have led to dramatic environment and resource depletion. To achieve a balance of such activities, sustainable practices are a must and should be followed by the industry. Of the various sustainable practices, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) has gained prominence recently. In developed countries, CSR is at an advanced level, but in developing countries – especially in South Asia – CSR is in a preliminary stage, due to both known and unknown reasons. This paper investigates drivers for CSR implementation in the mining industry in India, a developing nation in South Asia. Some studies focused on CSR issues but were limited to industrial perspectives without considering multi-stakeholders. This paper attempts to bridge this gap by analysing CSR drivers from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, including governmental, media, and societal associations. We propose a model framework, illustrated with a case study from an industrial unit in India, through Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (Fuzzy DEMATEL). Based on these findings, industries can increase their chances of practicing value-added CSR in industrial environments. This study extends the scope of this problem through varying multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) tools and different environments such as grey, fuzzy, and other approaches. The additional drivers can also be validated with statistical work.