Guest Editorial: Regain Trust by Aligning with Society´s Needs

Abstract

Guest editorial Ask a project team in a consumer goods company to draw a stakeholder map, and they will put the consumer in the middle. A retail team in our own downstream business will do the same. Now ask an upstream development team to create a stakeholder map and they will put the oil company in the center. The company-centric stakeholder model still belongs to the time when an oil company had to communicate its good intentions (“tell me”) and had to demonstrate it was also executing them (“show me”). Our industry adapted well to this company-centric period with, for example, impressive gains in operational excellence and safety performance. But the world continues to change. Society is more than ever aware of the many challenges that it faces, whether it is reducing poverty or illiteracy, improving human rights, or responding to climate change. Society nowadays expects business to take on more responsibility than just operating safely and paying taxes and salaries. Local communities are more vocal in asserting their co-ownership of the mineral resources that oil and gas companies produce by demanding a share in that wealth. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are the global expression of the need for societal actors to team up and address the complex issues that the world has to resolve. In short, we have firmly entered the “join me” world. The “join me” world demands a different mindset in which business no longer focuses on its priorities, but operates in partnership with new societal partners, and in which its core business is more aligned with societal priorities. This new external mindset can only be effective if it is supported by a re-alignment of internal processes and decision-making practices of the company. The challenge, therefore, is twofold. We need to: Change our mindset from the “show me” to the “join me” world Integrate external realities better with our core business activities Change Our Mindset The company-centric model is easy, because it shows a simple boundary between “us” and “them,” i.e., between what the company wants to do and what it needs and expects from its stakeholders to achieve the company goals. Being in the center gives the feeling of being in control, but that position makes us more vulnerable, too. Indeed, we face more budget overruns and schedule delays in capital project delivery due to external stakeholder issues, which, in turn, results in reputational damage and loss of trust. Too often we find ourselves at odds with the society in which we operate. To be an active part of society rather than outside it requires a shift from the company-centric model to the society-centric model (Fig. 1). In the societal model, one develops a perspective that positions societal needs at the center. The stakeholders involved, including the company, create a level playing field whereby continuous engagement by all actors results in progress in a certain community, region, or country.