Discussion: View Thread

'The missing book on CSR'

  • 1.  'The missing book on CSR'

    Posted 04-28-2009 08:03
    PRE-PUBLICATION DISCOUNT: 2 DAYS LEFT

    Getting it Right: Making Corporate-Community Relations Work
    Luc Zandvliet and Mary B. Anderson
    240 pp | 234 x 156 mm | paperback | ISBN 978-1-906093-19-8 | Published
    29 April 2009
    List price: GBP25.00 EUR35.00 USD40.00

    ORDER ONLINE AND RECEIVE 20% DISCOUNT
    Offer ends close of business on 29 April 2009:

    http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/add_getquantity.kmod?productid=2830

    Read the Preface (PDF):
    http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/content/pdfs/gir_preface.pdf

    Read the Introduction (PDF):
    http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/content/pdfs/gir_intro.pdf

    You can also request a review copy.

    Corporate-community relations in poor, unstable countries is an area
    fraught with problems for managers despite their best intentions.
    Based on seven years of on-the-ground research, a new book is about to
    be published that will help corporate managers get it right.

    Described by Jean-Pierre Cordier of French oil company Total as the
    "missing book on CSR", "Getting it Right: Making Corporate-Community
    Relations Work" is published this week - which means there are only
    two days left to claim 20% pre-publication discount. The deadline has
    been extended to close of business on Wednesday 29th April, so order
    now.

    *** Bulk orders save up to 60%. See below.

    PRAISE

    "This is by far the best book on community relations for corporate
    practitioners that I have read. It lays out the rationale, the issues
    and the pitfalls in a strikingly simple but profound way and presents
    real case studies that point the way to positive outcomes for all
    stakeholders."
    Dr Chris Anderson, Director Corporate and External Affairs Africa,
    Newmont Mining Corporation

    "Getting relations right with communities is critical to business
    success but very challenging. This extraordinary multi-year global
    study of business and community interactions is richly filled with
    insightful, practical, and clear advice on how companies and
    communities can avoid costly mistakes and construct powerful and
    mutually beneficial relationships."
    James E. Austin, Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business
    Administration, Emeritus, Harvard Business School

    "Why do so many corporations, despite the best of intentions, get it
    wrong when they set up shop in poor communities? This book not only
    clearly explains why, but it also offers a rich array of practical and
    sensible recommendations on how to get it right, based on years of
    painstaking field research and analysis of the complex interactions
    between communities and corporations. This book not only fills an
    important gap in the corporate social responsibility field but its
    principles and advice help us understand what we mean when we speak of
    sound and sustainable development. It should be required reading for
    the executive about to embark on a field posting, but also by any
    development practitioner that is interested in understanding how to
    interact with poor communities."
    Ian Bannon, Sector Manager, Fragile States, Conflict and Social
    Development, Africa Region, World Bank

    "For people interested or involved, directly or indirectly, in CSR,
    this was the 'missing' book, which is now a reality."
    Jean-Pierre Cordier of French oil company Total


    ABOUT THE BOOK

    >>>A company begins exploration of future operations in a remote and
    rural area of a poor, but resource-rich country. The communities in
    this area welcome the company's interest, seeing the prospects for
    improved social and economic conditions. They look forward to the
    creation of jobs and other income opportunities, and they look forward
    to being connected to the outside world through the company.

    >>>The company, for its part, wants to get it right with local
    communities. In order to understand the context in which they plan to
    operate as well as to demonstrate their respect for local mores,
    managers hire an anthropologist or a non-governmental organization
    (NGO) to do community surveys. They see these as the first steps for
    establishing good relations between the company and local communities.

    >>>Five years later, a visitor to the area sees schools and clinics
    that the company has built and staffed for the community. He sees
    upgraded roads and electricity that had not existed before. He sees
    increased activity in the region, more people and more vehicles, as
    people have migrated to the area for work. But he hears the company
    manager complain that he spends far too much time dealing with the
    community's "never-ending demands" and with "local trouble-makers,"
    and he hears community members complain that "the company has done
    nothing for us."

    This book has been written for corporate managers who are responsible
    for company operations in societies that are poor and politically
    unstable. Many such managers are frustrated with the situations they
    face. They try their best to run effective, profitable and beneficial
    operations that take account of the needs of all their stakeholders,
    including local surrounding communities. But, even with their best
    efforts, they encounter community dissatisfaction, unrest, opposition,
    and delays and, worse yet, threats and violence.

    In many ways, this book is also written by such managers because the
    information and learning it includes come directly from their day-to-
    day, grounded field experience. For seven years the authors have spent
    days and weeks at over 25 sites of companies - including (among
    others) BP, ChevronTexaco, Barrick, Shell, Total, and Newmont -
    operating in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Australia, and North
    America, talking with both company staff and local people. They have
    gathered evidence of how the daily, ongoing operations of companies
    interact with, affect, and are affected by the societies where they
    work. They have heard lots of complaints - on both sides. They have
    seen policies and programs, intended to establish positive relations,
    backfire and, instead, bring angry demonstrations at the company gate
    and seemingly endless negotiations and demands. They have also seen
    operations that are appreciated and supported by local people because
    of the positive impacts they have had.

    Both corporations and communities begin their interactions with
    positive attitudes and expectations, but in a short time tensions
    between the two rise and negative attitudes can supplant positive
    ones. In each location where CEP has seen this story play out, there
    are, of course, variations and details that reflect the specific
    context and local history. But the regularity and similarity of
    complaints across so many contexts also show that there are clear, and
    predictable, patterns in the processes by which company-community
    relations turn sour.

    "Getting it Right" reports, analyzes, and sorts the broad and varied
    experiences of these many corporations, bringing forward the lessons
    that can be usefully applied in other settings. The aim is to help
    corporate managers get it right with respect to interactions with
    local communities, so that they can more efficiently and effectively
    accomplish their production goals and, at the same time, ensure that
    local communities are better (rather than worse) off as a result of
    their presence. The book also addresses what has been learned about
    how companies can interact, appropriately and positively, with
    national governments and advocacy NGOs in ways that promote, rather
    than undermine, the welfare of the citizens of the countries where
    they operate.

    The book provides a treasure trove of practical experience against
    which other managers can analyze their own situations and, using what
    has been learned by smart colleagues before them, arrive at sound,
    practical approaches to their daily challenges.

    "Getting it Right" will be an indispensable resource for all managers
    working in community relations or responsible for operations in
    difficult locations, as well as for students of development studies,
    corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, the
    extractive industries, and stakeholder management.

    ORDER ONLINE AND RECEIVE 20% DISCOUNT:
    http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/add_getquantity.kmod?productid=2830
    Offer ends close of business on 29 April 2009.


    CONTENTS

    Preface and acknowledgments
    http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/content/pdfs/gir_preface.pdf

    Introduction
    http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/content/pdfs/gir_intro.pdf

    Section I
    1 How to understand getting it wrong and getting it right: toward a
    framework for analysis
    2 Benefits distribution: getting it wrong and getting it right
    3 Corporate behavior: getting it wrong and getting it right
    4 Side effects: getting it wrong and getting it right
    5 Making the transition from getting it wrong to getting it right
    Special note on corporate operations in situations of conflict

    Section II
    6 Hiring policies
    7 Compensation policies
    8 Contracting policies
    9 Community consultation and negotiation
    Special note on establishing grievance procedures
    10 Community projects
    11 Working with advocacy NGOs
    12 Working with government

    Section III
    13 Internal management issues that determine the success or failure of
    external relations
    14 Measuring the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement
    15 'Even engineers can get it right ...'


    BULK DISCOUNTS

    For orders of 10 copies or more, generous discounts apply:
    20% discount on orders of 10-49 copies
    30% discount on orders of 50-99 copies
    40% discount on orders of 100-249 copies
    50% discount on orders of 250-499 copies
    60% discount on orders of 500 copies and over
    Published price: £25.00 / €35.00 / US$40.00

    For more on bulk discounts or for any further information, contact:

    Jayney Bown
    Greenleaf Publishing
    Aizlewood Business Centre
    Aizlewood's Mill
    Sheffield S3 8GG
    UK
    Tel: +44 (0)114 282 3475
    Fax: +44 (0)114 282 3476
    sales@greenleaf-publishing.com
    www.greenleaf-publishing.com











    Subscription Policy:

    It is not our intention to send this email to those who do not wish to
    receive it. If you do not wish to hear from us, please reply to this
    email address (newbooks@greenleaf-publishing.com) with the word
    "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line, and you'll be taken off the list.
    Please be sure to reply using the email address that we sent to as
    otherwise it is difficult to trace the details and guarantee the
    removal. To ensure complete removal, please inform us of any other
    email addresses that default to your mailbox.

    Please note that this email is a Greenleaf new titles alert.
    Unsubscribing from this list does not automatically unsubscribe you
    from the Greenleaf publicity announcement list, which provides
    information on relevant conferences. You can do this by sending an
    email with word "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the header to publicity@greenleaf-publishing.com
    .

    _______________________________________________________________________

    To send a message to the list, send your email to SIM@aomlists.pace.edu

    _______________________________________________________________________

    Visit the SIM Division website at: http://sim.aomonline.org
    _______________________________________________________________________

    If you wish to unsubscribe from this list or change your delivery
    options, you can do so online at: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=sim&A=1