All three business leaders highlighted the importance of a corporate philosophy focused on CSR principles and business practices, which facilitated the strategies used to manage retired assets. PA1 noted that many O&G companies in Alberta had adopted a corporate CSR philosophy, but PA2 highlighted that the CSR philosophy is not evident at
all segments of some O&G companies. PA3 noted that since 2000 some scandals from unethical business practices in the O&G industry that were not reflective of CSR values jeopardized public goodwill towards the O&G industry. Rahbek, Pedersen, Gwozdz, and Hvass (2016) underscored the organizational sustainability benefit of establishing
entrenched corporate values through open, honest, and transparent communications relating to social and environmental stewardship. PA2 noted that “honest
communications” was one of the corporate values and PA3 highlighted that “open and honest communications” was one of their company values. PA1 highlighted their annual community engagement workshops that foster honest communications with stakeholders. All participants agreed that their organizations’ communication of the corporate CSR philosophy guided their business conduct and practices.
PA1 explained that corporate CSR philosophy should be communicated at all levels of the organization and should be evident in the corporate values, policies and resource allocation. PA3 noted that the responsible leadership commitment must align with the corporate CSR philosophy, and the communication of that philosophy cultivates an organizational culture focused on organizational sustainability. PA1 explained, “an organization such as ours with a strong corporate philosophy on environmental responsibility and stewardship has a competitive advantage over its peers.” The participants agreed that effective and frequent communication of CSR initiatives that included retired asset management to all employees and stakeholders demonstrates a commitment from leadership to asset retirement sustainability.
Correlation to current literature. Organizational culture refers to learned
beliefs, values, habits, attitudes, behavioral norms, procedures, practices, and expectations that influence how employees work in an organization (Mohelska & Sokolova, 2015; Northouse, 2016). A workplace culture that fosters environmental responsibility encourages corporate citizenship (Fistis et al., 2014) and such a culture facilitates the integration of asset retirement sustainability in CSR resource allocation. PA2 mentioned that “as an environmentally responsible organization we have a culture that places priority on our abandonment and reclamation programs.” PA3 emphasized that leadership communication of a corporate CSR philosophy demonstrates transparency which develops trust between the firm and the employees, stakeholders, and enhances the firm’s reputation. All participants confirmed that their organizations highlighted their asset retirement sustainability as part of their CSR performance in their CSR reports.
The review of the company artifacts including the annual CSR reports from 2013 to 2017 and the health, safety, and environment policies highlighted the communication of the corporate CSR philosophy to stakeholders. Neugebauer, Figge, and Hahn (2016) posited the use of tools of corporate CSR communications provided company legitimacy and avoided reputational damage. The annual CSR reports from PA1 organization highlighted the firm’s commitment to stakeholder engagement and the environment with the different stakeholder groups including indigenous groups, local communities and landowners, employees, contractors, government and regulators, shareholders, and industry groups. The CSR reports from PA2 organization highlighted the firm’s community relations policy, environmental performance, business conduct and ethics
policy, and initiatives for safe operations. The CSR reports from PA3 organization emphasized the priority on safety and sustainability and highlighted the health, safety, and environmental performance. All the participants’ organizations had established ethics policy, health, safety, and environmental policies, stakeholder engagement, and
community relations policy, which confirmed with the findings of this study. Many firms claim the CSR mantra but lack substance in action and
implementation (Jones et al., 2014). Buldybayeva (2014) emphasized one of the issues of CSR communications is the reporting, but George et al. (2016) noted the value of using various communications platforms to disperse honest and transparent information relating to social and environmental performance. Using an adage, leaders of O&G companies should not just “talk the talk but walk the walk.” Some O&G companies in Alberta claim the CSR mantra, but their Licensee Liability Rating (LLR) and Liability Management Rating (LMR) from the AER provided evidence contrary to a corporate CSR philosophy. The LLR and LMR are metrics measured by the AER for every O&G company in
Alberta to assess each company’s ability to address its retired assets liability. Muehlenbachs (2017) highlighted that O&G leaders had neglected retired asset management as part of their focus on CSR. PA2 noted that some Alberta O&G
companies neglect their responsibility for retired asset management, especially during low commodity prices. It is the responsibility of the leadership of an O&G firm to establish the structure, policies, resources, and communication for the adoption of a corporate CSR culture at all levels of the organization.
PA1 noted that many Alberta O&G companies have excelled in maintaining a safe working environment and reducing their environmental impact from operations by minimizing spills, fugitive emissions, and impact on wildlife habitats. However, PA1 also noted that some Alberta O&G companies have failed to integrate or prioritize retired asset management as part of their CSR focus. Business leaders in O&G firms with a corporate CSR philosophy should adopt the paradigm shift that integrates retired assets management in its annual CSR goals, and the communications to employees and
stakeholders should reflect the CSR goals. The alignment of the leadership commitment with the communication of the corporate CSR philosophy develops a high level of trust between leadership, employees, and stakeholders. Efficient management of retired assets emphasizes the importance of asset lifecycle management (LCM) and develops an environmentally conscious culture in the organization with internal and external stakeholders (McDonald, 2014; Tian & Robertson, 2019).
Correlation to the conceptual framework. Both conceptual frameworks support
the theme of the adoption and communication of a corporate CSR philosophy to facilitate environmental responsibility and organizational sustainability. The CSM conceptual framework incorporates the need for business leaders to communicate the CSR and sustainability values to establish a culture for integrating sustainability into day-to-day decision making (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014). The leadership commitment to
sustainability should be evident in the mission statement, company values and policies Baumgartner (2014). The mission statement of PA1’s firm included the phrase “to be a
responsible corporate citizen to our stakeholders and the environment,” and the mission statement for PA2’s firm included the phrase “commitment to the sustainable world.”
Epstein and Buhovac (2014) emphasized in the CSM framework, the need for distributed leadership, which disseminates the CSR philosophy across the organization and fosters the involvement of the entire organization towards sustainability. Macagno (2014) emphasized the importance of developing an organizational culture in a CSM conceptual framework that promotes sustainable decision-making and behavior in establishing long-term sustainability. Regular communications of CSR values and
performance helps overcome sustainability-oriented change within an organization (Joyce & Paquin, 2016), which aligns with the findings of this study as a strategy to overcome ineffective retired assets management.
The theme also confirms with the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) elements of the AMCM conceptual framework, which emphasizes the importance of communication in promoting a culture of effective asset management. Kuei and Lu (2013) identified that the PDCA cycle was essential in developing a sustainability management culture in
organizations. Sroufe and Gopalakrishna-Remani (2018) noted that firms that adopted and communicated sustainability practices enhanced reputation and social responsibility. Cerdas et al. (2017) acknowledged the value of transparent internal and external
communication as motivation for stakeholders toward environmental sustainability and asset life cycle management. Baumgartner (2014) posited that the governance of sustainability starts with the support and commitment from leadership through policies, strategies, resource allocation, and frequent communication. Ultimately, leaders are
responsible for developing, implementing, and sustaining socially responsible business practices and behaviors that integrate into the organizational culture (Christensen et al., 2014; Kilskar et al., 2018). Table 4 contains the participants’ comments on the
communication of the CSR philosophy in their organizations. Table 4
Theme 2: Adoption and Communication of CSR Philosophy
Participant Participant’s comments
PA1 An organization such as ours with a strong corporate philosophy on environmental responsibility and stewardship has a competitive advantage over its peers. It is my responsibility to communicate and demonstrate our corporate values in our operations.
PA2 Our corporate culture has been consistent over the years in ensuring a very minimal impact on the environment from our development of natural resources. As a company, we prepare an annual corporate responsibility which is our way of showing our stakeholders our commitment to the environment and community engagement.
PA3 We conduct several community and stakeholder engagement events every year to communicate our plans to the communities in which we operate. Our corporate mandate is to ensure that our operations do not impact the environment for
generations which means restoring all operational sites back to its natural state when our operation is done. Abandonment and reclamation have been a hot topic in Alberta in recent years, and as a company, we are committed to cleaning up all our old sites.