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8 Participants’ Recommendations for O&G Social Investment
strengths and the gaps in participants’ recommendations and additional possibilities
for change.
8.1 Considering the Purpose of Social Investment
In this section, I investigate participants’ recommendations about the purpose of
social investment and how to put identified goals into practice. When considering
the purpose of social investment, participants talked about social investment as,
ideally, more than a social license to operate. According to the participants, social
investment should assist companies’ host communities to ‘achieve development’
while serving business’ needs for a specialised labour force. Participants inferred
that social investment should be ‘community-centred’ and focussed on fostering
capacity building within communities. However, sometimes experts’ views were
at odds with these ideals when they spoke of prioritising business interests over
communities’ interests. I now examine experts’ recommendations in relation to the
purpose of social investment.
8.1.1 Social Investment Beyond a Social License to Operate
In their recommendations for social investment practices, participants suggested the
need to go beyond a social license to operate. As P15 posited:
Well, from research, what we’re seeing is a trend of, beyond the traditional business objectives
of social investment, you know which would be to improve a company’s reputation, image
and improve local support to the operations, you know social licence to operate. (P15 social
investment expert emphasis original)
Here, P15 seemed to draw on working with discourses. However, s/he drew on
elements of working on discourses later in the interview when giving examples
of how to go beyond a social license to operate, saying “we’re seeing companies
using social investment … in science, technology, engineering and maths” (P15,
social investment expert). Here, P15 notes how companies decided on which fields
to invest in based on their own workforce needs. P15 advocated moving beyond a
social license to operate, while still adopting elements of working on discourses of
social investment.
Elsewhere, P15 again drew on working with discourses. In the following quote,
s/he recommended that O&G companies look at how social investment could assist
the host country in achieving “sustainable development”. However, here elements of
working around discourses of social investment are also evident:
So I don’t know if you’ve looked at the potential implications of the sustainable development
goals at all in your research but there’s a potential that this could have implications for
expectations on companies in terms of social investment. So it’s a new agreed language of
8 Participants’ Recommendations for O&G Social Investment
strengths and the gaps in participants’ recommendations and additional possibilities
for change.
8.1 Considering the Purpose of Social Investment
In this section, I investigate participants’ recommendations about the purpose of
social investment and how to put identified goals into practice. When considering
the purpose of social investment, participants talked about social investment as,
ideally, more than a social license to operate. According to the participants, social
investment should assist companies’ host communities to ‘achieve development’
while serving business’ needs for a specialised labour force. Participants inferred
that social investment should be ‘community-centred’ and focussed on fostering
capacity building within communities. However, sometimes experts’ views were
at odds with these ideals when they spoke of prioritising business interests over
communities’ interests. I now examine experts’ recommendations in relation to the
purpose of social investment.
8.1.1 Social Investment Beyond a Social License to Operate
In their recommendations for social investment practices, participants suggested the
need to go beyond a social license to operate. As P15 posited:
Well, from research, what we’re seeing is a trend of, beyond the traditional business objectives
of social investment, you know which would be to improve a company’s reputation, image
and improve local support to the operations, you know social licence to operate. (P15 social
investment expert emphasis original)
Here, P15 seemed to draw on working with discourses. However, s/he drew on
elements of working on discourses later in the interview when giving examples
of how to go beyond a social license to operate, saying “we’re seeing companies
using social investment … in science, technology, engineering and maths” (P15,
social investment expert). Here, P15 notes how companies decided on which fields
to invest in based on their own workforce needs. P15 advocated moving beyond a
social license to operate, while still adopting elements of working on discourses of
social investment.
Elsewhere, P15 again drew on working with discourses. In the following quote,
s/he recommended that O&G companies look at how social investment could assist
the host country in achieving “sustainable development”. However, here elements of
working around discourses of social investment are also evident:
So I don’t know if you’ve looked at the potential implications of the sustainable development
goals at all in your research but there’s a potential that this could have implications for
expectations on companies in terms of social investment. So it’s a new agreed language of