Abstract
Interest shown on the environmental impact of operations of multinational enterprises in developing countries has grown significantly recently, and has fuelled a heated public policy debate. In particular, there has been interest in the environmental degradation of host communities and nations resulting from the operations of multinational oil companies in developing countries. This article examines the issue of environmental costs and responsibilities resulting from oil exploitation and production in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The case study is based, in part, upon series of interviews with key stakeholders in the Nigerian oil industry. The article further examines the implications of the current practice and policies of multinational oil companies with respect to environmental impact of oil exploitation. The study’s findings illustrates that it is becoming increasingly apparent to oil companies that pollution prevention pays while pollution does not and under pressure from stakeholder groups, oil companies now routinely incorporate environmental impact assessments into their corporate strategy.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ackerman R. W. (1975). The Social Challenge to Business. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Adeniji K. (1988). Water Resources and Environmental Pollution in Nigeria: Some Preliminary Findings. Journal of Environmental Management 27: 232
Akanle O. (1991). Pollution Control Regulation in the Nigerian Oil Industry. Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Lagos, Nigeria, p.1–30
Banerjee, S. B.: 2002, ‘Contesting Corporate Citizenship, Sustainability and Stakeholder Theory: Holy Trinity or Praxis of Evil’, presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Denver, August 9–13
Beauchamp T. L., Bowie N. E. (1997). Ethical Theory and Business. Fifth Edition. Prentice Hall, New Jersey
Beckerman W. (1988). The Case for Economic Growth. In: Donalson T., Werhane P. (eds) Ethical Issues in Business: A Philosophical Approach. 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Berman S., Wicks A., Kotha S., and Jones T. (1999). Does Stakeholder Orientation Matter? The Relationship Between Stakeholder Management Models and Firm Financial Performance. Academy of Management Journal 42(5): 488–506
Blackstone W. T. (1988). Ethics and Ecology. In: Beauchamp T. L., Bowie N. E. (eds) Ethical Theory and Business. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp. 411–424
Bowie N. (1990). Business Ethics, and the Environment: The Public Policy Debate. Quorum Books, New York
Carroll A. (1996). Business and Society. Southern Western College Publishing, Cincinnati, OH
Clarkson, M. B. E.: 1995, ȁ8A Stakeholder Framework for Analysing and Evaluating Corporate Social Performanceȁ9, Academy of Management Review 20(1), 92–117
Davis K. (1973). The Case For and Against Business Assumption of Social Responsibilities. Academy of Management Journal 16: 312–322
Des Jardins J. R. (1999). Business’s Environmental Responsibility. In: Frederick R. (eds) A Companion To Business Ethics. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford and Massachusetts
Des Jardins J.R, McCall J. J. (2000). Contemporary Issues in Business Ethics. Wadsworth, Thomson Learning, United States
Desai A. B., Rittenburg T. (1997). Global Ethics: An Integrative Framework for MNEs. Journal of Business Ethics 16: 791–800
Dowling J. and Pfeffer J. (1975). Organisational Legitimacy: Social Value and Organisational Behaviour. Pacific Sociological Review 18:122–138
Evans J. C. (October 1998). Issues Management in the Global Economy: Moving Beyond being just Multinational. Defense Counsel Journal, Chicago 65(4): 490–493
Feinberg J. (1983). The Rights of Animals and Unborn Generations. In: Beauchamp T. L. and Bowie N. E. (eds) Ethical Theory and Business. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp. 428–436
Freeman R. E. (1984). Strategic Management: A Shareholder Approach. Pitman/Ballinger, Boston
Frederick, R.: 1990, ‘Individual Rights and Environmental Protection’, presented at the Annual Society for Business Ethics Conference, San Francisco, USA
Fritzsche, D.: 1990, ‘Emerging Ethical Issues in International Business’, Sam Advanced Management Journal (Autumn 1990), 55(4), 42–46
Frynas J. G. (2005). The False Developmental Promise of Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Multinational Oil Companies. International Affairs 81(3): 581–598
Gallarotti, G. M.: 1995, ‘The Managerial Incentive Structure and Environmentally Sound Strategies’, The Columbia Journal of World Business (Winter), 30(4), 38–57
Goodpaster K. E. (1990). Can Corporation have an Environmental Conscience. In: Hoffman Michael W., Frederick Robert, and Petry Edward S. (eds) The Corporation, Ethics, and the Environment. Quorom Books, New York
Guerrette R. H. (1986) Environmental Integrity and Corporate Responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics 5: 409–415
Hasnas J. (1998). The Normative Theories of Business Ethics: A Guide for the Perplexed. Business Ethics Quarterly 8(1): 19–42
Hawke, R. J. L.: June 1989, ‘The Challenge to the Mining Industry’, Mining Review, (2), 1–9
Hoffman M. W. (1991). Business and Environmental Ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly 1(1): 169–184
Ikporukpo C. O. (1983). Petroleum Exploitation and the Socio-Economic Environment in Nigeria. International Journal of Environmental Studies 21:193–203
Ikporukpo, C. O.: 1985, ‘The Management of Oil Pollution of Natural Resources in Nigeria’, Journal of Environmental Management 20, 199–206
Imevbore, A. M. A.:1979, ‘The Impact of Oil Pollution on the Biota of the Nigeria Delta’, in The Petroleum Industry and the Environment of the Niger Delta, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Lagos, Nigeria, pp. 87–107
Khan S. A. (1994). Nigeria: The Political Economy of Oil. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Kinako P. D. S. (1981). Short -Term Effects of Oil Pollution on Species Numbers and Productivity of a Simple Terrestrial Ecosystem. Environmental Pollution 29: 87–91
Kindred H. (1987). International Law. 4th Edition. Edmond Montgomery Publication Ltd., Canada
Kolk A., Van de Veen M. (2002). Dilemmas of Balancing Organisational and Public Interests: How Environment Affects Strategy in Dutch Main Ports. European Management Journal 20(1): 45–54
Mahon J. E. and Waddock S. A. (1992). Strategic Issues Management: An Integration of Issue Life Cycle Perspectives. Business and Society 31(1): 19–32
Millstone S., Watts F. B. (1992). Effect of the Green Movement on Business in the 1990s. In: Sullivan T. F. P. (eds) The Greening of American Business: Making Bottom-Line Sense of Environmental Responsibility. Government Institutes Inc., Maryland, pp. 1–21
Moffat, D. and O. Linden: December 1995, ‘Perception and Reality: Assessing Priorities for Sustainable Development in the Niger Delta’, Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment 24(7–8), 19–31
Nasi J., Nasi S., Phillips N. and Zyglidopoulos S. (1997). The Evolution of Corporate Social Responsiveness. Business and Society 36(3): 296–321
Nnadozie, K. C.: January 1998, ‘Legal and Administrative Requirements of Environmental Impact Assessment in Nigeria’, Nigerian Petroleum News
Ntambirweki, J.: 1991, ‘The Developing Countries in the Evolution of an International Environmental Law’, Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 14, 905–928
Odu C. T. I. (1977a). Oil Pollution and the Environment. Bulletin of the Science Association of Nigeria 3: 282–289
Odu C. T. I. (1977b). Microbiology Contaminated with Petroleum Hydrocarbons, 11 Natural Rehabilitation and Reclamation of Soils Affected. Institute of Petroleum Technical Paper, London
Ojikutu, R. O.: 1979, Overview of Existing Laws and Regulations dealing with Environmental Protection in Oil Industry Operations in Nigeria (Petroleum Industry and the Environment of the Niger Delta, Federal Ministry of Housing and Environment, Lagos)
Osuno, O.: 1982, ‘Impact of Oil Industry on the Environment’, in Proceeding of Environmental Awareness Seminar for National Policy Makers, Ministry of Petroleum Resources Lagos, Nigeria
Rosario L. (1992). Multinationals: The Not Always Welcome Guests. Far Eastern Economic Review 155(24): 55–58
Sankoh O. A. (1996). Making Environmental Impact Assessment Convincible to Developing Countries. Journal of Environmental Management 47: 185–189
Sethi, S. P.: 1979, ȁ8A Conceptual Framework for Environmental Analysis of Social Issues and Evaluation of Business response Patternsȁ9, Academy of Management Review 4, 63–74
Singh J. B., Carasco E. F. (1996). Business Ethics, Economic Development and Protection of the Environment in the New World Order. Journal of Business Ethics 15: 297–307
Swanson T., and Barbier E. (1992). The End of Wildlands and Wildlife? In: Swanson T., and Barbier E. (eds) Economics for the Wilds: Wildlife, Wildlands, Diversity and Development. Earthscan, London
Stone, C. D.: 1983, ‘Should Trees Have Standing? – Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects’, in Beauchamp and Bowie (eds.), (Prentice Hall, New Jersey), pp. 563–567
The World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Ulhøi J. P., Madsen H., Hildebrandt S. (1996). Green New World: Corporate Environmental Business Perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Management 12(3): 243–254
Utzinger, J., K. Wyss, D. D. Moto, N. Yémadji, M.␣Tanner and B. Singer: 2004, ‘Assessing Health Impacts of the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development Pipeline: Challenges and a Way Forward’, Environmental Impact Assessment Review 25(1), January 2005, 63–93
Vafeas N., Nikolaou V. (2001). The Association Between Corporate Environmental And Financial Performance. Advances in Public Interest Accounting 8: 195–214
Wood, D. J.: 1994, ȁ8Essayȁ9, Business and Society 33(1), 101–105
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Dr Gabriel Eweje is a lecturer in Management and International Business at College of Business, Massey University, Auckland Campus, New Zealand. Previously, he worked as a Research Fellow at the United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS), Tokyo, Japan, and taught at Royal Holloway University of London, England. His PhD from University of London focused on Corporate Social Responsibility and Activities of Multinational Oil and Mining companies in Developing Countries. He also worked as a Research Fellow with International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London on a project on how mining and minerals can contribute to sustainable development (MMSD). His research interest lies around the issues of business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability related disciplines.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Eweje, G. Environmental Costs and Responsibilities Resulting from Oil Exploitation in Developing Countries: The Case of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. J Bus Ethics 69, 27–56 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9067-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9067-8