Abstract
Oil and gas firms in Nigeria are generally perceived to be weak in their environmental and ecological initiatives towards their host communities. Yet there has been a dearth of empirical emphasis from research that shows evidences about the role of ecological protection on the corporate image of oil and gas firms. Therefore, this study focused on examining the influence of a commitment to ecological protection on the corporate image of oil and gas firms in Nigeria. The study adopted the mixed methods approach where quantitative and qualitative methods (survey and interview) were used. For the quantitative research, copies of structured questionnaire were distributed to 350 employees of the selected firms, while 30 respondents from other stakeholder groups were interviewed for the qualitative research. Based on the results of the regression and thematic analyses, findings show that the firms’ commitment to ecological protection through their policy to avoid the use of materials from the illegal exploitation of natural resources, commitment to waste minimisation and recycling and pollution leads to increased investors’ confidence, strengthened relationship with the government, host community and reduced pressure from third parties. Therefore, it is recommended that oil and gas firms intensify efforts in activities that ensure ecological protection of host communities and thus build stakeholders confidence in the firms’ corporate image.
Highlights
The oil and gas sector has been termed a controversial sector for several decades
This signifies that ecological protection had significant joint influence on corporate image of oil and gas firms
The result in the Table further establishes that the composite influence of ecological protection did not occur by chance as it gives the F-ratio value of 152.332 which signifies the strength of the four independent variables as potent predictors of corporate image of oil and gas firms
Summary
The oil and gas sector has been termed a controversial sector for several decades. This is because there has been persistent, widespread engagement in unprincipled business practices that entail adverse social, environmental, and ethical consequences (Du and Vieira 2012, Woolfson and Beck 2005). Most corporate social responsibility studies such as Akujobi (2009), Idemudia (2014) and Okike (2007) have dominantly focused on the impact of CSR on the society without showcasing the possible influence of CSR practices on the organisation’s performance (Idemudia 2014).
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