What is Corporate Social Responsibility, and what is not? Companies engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) when they confer benefits on the communities located in or near where they work which are neither required by law nor an integral part of their primary, profit-oriented operations. … [Read more...]
International Corporate Political Corruption: the Case of Niko Resources Ltd.
Founded in 1987 as a publicly-traded junior Canadian natural gas company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Niko Resources Ltd. (Niko) enjoyed a reputation as a gutsy natural gas explorer and producer by taking on projects in politically volatile and economically less-developed regions of the world. … [Read more...]
What is Wrong with Corruption?
I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. … Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow . . .– Abraham Lincoln, quoted in Jack London’s The Iron Heel The first sign of … [Read more...]
Chevron Corp. v. Naranjo: Goliath’s Global Anti-Enforcement Injunction against David
The clichéd David vs. Goliath depiction is one which is often used when describing legal cases. But Ecuador’s Lago Agrio community vs. the Chevron Corporation is one legal battle which aptly fits the analogy. The controversial case has a long history, involving alleged environmental violations in … [Read more...]
Lessons Learned from the British Petroleum Disaster
During the summer of 2010 the world was absorbed in live footage of the Macondo oil prospect bleeding 4.9 million barrels of oil into the surrounding ocean. Many months of helplessness followed the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform; an oil rig owned by Transocean but ultimately under the … [Read more...]