SHELL- Royal Dutch / Shell CASE STUDY | Oil Extraction Company Report Writing Example

Executive summary

The following report includes a discussion about the case and its analysis. The case Shell Biodiversity and sustainability has been discussed in the report. The case is mainly related to the issues related to the Royal Dutch/Shell companies which is one of the largest company oil extraction companies is several nations. The report includes the answers to the questions mentioned in the case and the analysis of those questions. From the analysis it can be said that the Shell group is a multinational organization which has its business area mainly in the energy and petrochemical stream.
The main aim of the company is to engage itself and extract responsibly, effectively and profitably all the sources of energy it deals with. The report includes the discussion of the issue of the biodiversity loss and the devastation of the ecosystem. This can be explained using the examples like oil spilling, natural gas flaring, and impacts on the health and so on. For the purpose of understanding the environmental factors and the analysis of the issues related to the biodiversity the case has been examined. The report also includes the discussion of the CSR (corporate social responsibility) and Sustainability developments factors that has been adopted by Shell in its strategies in order to protect the global system and which is also one of the factor for the growth of the company in long term. The report also includes the conclusion about the analysis and findings of the research of the case.
The Shell Company operates in more than 140 countries around the globe and is engaged in the exploration of gas, oil, chemicals, power and also the research and development of the renewable and energy resources. The company operations in the past have impacted the environment a lot by the degradation of the environment by its exploration activities. But in the current period the company has adopted several corporate social responsibility factors and attempts to remain sustainable developments in the society. The protection of the biodiversity is an important part of the company operations in the current period, as these are the factors that help the company to attain new development projects and expand its operations (About Shell 2012).

Introduction

In this current business environment it is vital for the organizations to keep a watch on the environmental issues related with their operations. It is vital for organizations to maintain their operations and keep a control in their operationality causing harm to the environment in any way. It is vital for organizations to maintain a high level of corporate social responsibility towards the society and try to maintain the environmental stability. The following report includes the analysis of the case of the Dutch/Shell group and its operations and how their operations contributed into the degradation of the environment. The report also includes the insights about the solution to the problems that has been raised in the case.

Analysis of the Questions related to the case under discussion

Role of multinational organizations in 21^st century

Multinational organizations are those who operate in more than one nation. They have operations in several countries. The multinational organization plays a vital role in bringing the nations closer and develops business and cordial relationships in between them. Multinational organizations in the 21^st century links different countries and their cultures and also shares natural resources in between themselves. These organizations help the countries to utilize the natural resources and benefit the people all the countries in which they are operating. The multinational organizations helps the government of the nations in building advantage for their industries and also helps them to produce products and services with the use of high end technology at cheaper rates. The globalization has made the whole world a small village in which multinational organizations play the role of local vendors (Banerjee 2007).
In the 21^st century the multinational organizations plays a vital role in the development of the business relationships in between the nations. These also have an impact on the political conditions of the nations and also have the power to develop the markets in different nations. The multinational organizations increase the level of employment and also bring in business in different nations. The development of the large multinationals and their role can be seen from the following points:
Economic development:
In the 21^st century the multinational organizations plays a vital role in the economic development of the nations. As large multinational organizations helps the poor nations to bring in development and employment opportunities. These organizations also help in the efficient utilization of the natural resources which aids the government in the development of the economic resources.
International Relations:
The multinational organizations also play a vital role in the development of the international relations among the nations. With the increase in the business activities of these multinational organizations there is an increase in the international relations uin between the organizations (Wettstein 2009).
Sustainable development:
The multinational organizations also play a vital role in the sustainable development by the way of simply channelizing the financial and physical resources in between the countries or nations (Shell Environment 2012).

Business and social responsibilities- Shell

From the analysis of the case it has been analyzed that in the past period Shell has performed several tasks and activities which has harmed the environment of several nations in which it was operating. The company has impacted the natural and environmental resources of several countries like, Brazil, Nigeria, and UK and so on. The company has performed several activities that has damages the environment and has also affected the trust of the company shareholders, investors. With this the company business has been highly impacted, and thus the company realized the importance of the public relations and social responsibility towards the society which was the only measure to rebuilt the confidence of the investors and customers in the company activities (Chandler and Werther 2010). In the current period the company is one of the first organizations among the natural resource exploration companies to merge the corporate social responsibility with its business operations and strategies. The company today believes that the reputation of the company plays a vital role in communication with the public directly. The company tries to communicate with the public using the launch of a website like listening and responding which has been launched with the main motive to make people aware of the process how the company do and what they do (Operating in areas of high biodiversity value 2012).
The approaches taken by the company was mainly to make the people aware about the company sustainable development measures and make the people around the world to comment on the issues concerned to them regarding the company operations.
The company adopted the CSR activities in order to bring a balance in between the company operations and sustainability of the society and culture. This was also done in order to decrease the company negative image and maintain a healthy balance in between the company activities and social responsibilities (Wettstein 2009).

How can Shell assist in paying the environmental costs of over-exploitation?

The company can pay the costs of over exploitation to the public in several ways. As the company has adopted the CSR practices and adopts several techniques which assists in the sustainability development of the environment. The ways in which the company can pay the costs has been explained in points below:
Efficient use of resources:
The Company can assist in paying the environmental costs of over-exploitation by the use of efficient utilization of the resources. As this may include research and development activities which the company can put in order to utilize the resources to the fullest and increase the productivity of the resources exploited (Shah 2011).
Reducing the greenhouse gas emissions:
Shell assist in paying the environmental costs of over-exploitation by taking initiatives to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. This will help the company in actively helping to reducing the pollution and maintaining environment sustainability (Operating in areas of high biodiversity value 2012).
Effective R&D:
The company can actively participate in development of new methods of explorations which will lead to low wastage of the resources and increase the efficiency of the resources. With the development of new technologies the company can assist in maintaining the environment sustainability.
Investment in social area:
The Company can also try to develop itself social image by working for the community. As the company caption is “Respecting people, benefiting communities and working with stakeholders” this shows that the company is focused towards developing the community and also benefit the society at large. The company has also worked on its green house emissions and is trying to help the community by the way of tying up with several stake holders and government and other companies like the vehicle companies and is trying to reduce the environmental impact.
Ethical practices:
The Company is on the road of adopting the ethical practices and this can be seen from the example that the company has dismissed nine employees and eight contractors and suppliers from its list in Nigeria after the introduction of the policy in the year 200 related to the factors related to unethical behavior.

Learning from Nigerian operations and how the company image has been impacted by the environmental disasters

The company has learned several factors from the Nigeria operations. From the analysis of the case it has been analyzed that the company has developed a very negative public image in Nigeria. The factors that the company has learned from the operations in Nigeria mainly includes,
Sustainable development:
The company has learned from the operations in Nigeria that the company must operate in a manner that brings a sustainable development of the environment. The company has learned that the company must keep a watch on its operations and must not do over exploration of resources which impacts the environment and the society as this has negative impacts on the environment and the people which not better for the company for long term operations. The company has learned several issues related to the environment which mainly includes the loss of biodiversity due to the excessive exploration, the air pollution due to the refineries and chemical processes. The company learned from all these factors is to clean up and restore land, rivers and all the degradation that has been caused by the company (Burger 2011).
Economic Development:
There were several economic factors that company has learned from its Nigeria operations.  The company has learned to develop the economic condition of the area in which it is operating so; the company has developed several funds that have helped the Ogoni people and the Nigerian government to establish the community and support the society in agriculture, establishing small businesses, literacy development and the development of education facilities.
Maintaining social image helps in long term development:
The Shell group from it Nigerian operations has learned that the social and the cultural issues needs to be handled with proper care and importance as this also impacts the company image and impact the operations for longer term.
Development of rights related to people:
From the operations in several countries and mainly in Nigeria the company has learned that the company must maintain the human right issues and develop the society at large. As in the past the company actions were not commenting on the issues related to the human rights which has impacted the company image and turned it into a negative factor that has a lasting impact on the company operations. This has led the company to follow the human rights and keep a positive watch on such issues. The company also tries to go beyond the operations and tried to educate people with respect to the environmental conservations by launching of several environmental conservation programs (Anton and Shelton 2011).

Shell’s focus on conservation activities:

With the passage of time the activities of Shell has developed with regard to the environmental conservation. The company has developed its conservations activities at the core of its business operations, actions and decisions. As per the company today the sustainable development of the community the maintenance of the biodiversity is vital. The company conservations activities are highly broad in the current period as the company today, company plans to operate its business activities in line with the business principles and factors including the regulatory frameworks, managing the environmental groups and the growing stakeholder’s demands. The company has also collaborated with several scientific groups in order to bring down the environmental impacts and increase the efficiency of the resources which will help in improving the environment for longer period (Burger 2011).

Conclusion & Recommendation

From the analysis of the case it can be concluded that even after several wrong actions and decisions taken by the company in the past the company is trying to rectify its previous mistakes and move forward with addressing the social responsibility in its actions, business activities and decisions. It can also be recommended that the company must perform high research and development in order to develop methods and procedures which will help the community to effectively utilize the natural resources. It can also be recommended that the company must also launch several training programs for its employees and community where it operates, related to the environmental sustainability and environment conservation. This will help the company to develop a better image for itself among the people and bring in better profitability in the coming period as compared to the past.

References

About Shell. 2012.  A History of Shell http: [Online]. Available at: http://www.shell.com.au/ [Accesses on: 23 August, 2012].
Anton, D.K. and Shelton, D.L. 2011. Environmental Protection and Human Rights. Cambridge University Press.
Banerjee, S.B. 2007. Corporate Social Responsibility: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Burger, A. 2011. Shell in Nigeria: Oil, Gas, Development & Corporate Social Responsibility. [Online]. Available at: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/07/shell-nigeria-csr-corporate-social-responsibility [Accesses on: 23 August, 2012].
Chandler, D. and Werther, W.B. 2010. Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment. SAGE.
Operating in areas of high biodiversity value. 2012. [Online]. Available at: http://www.shell.com/home/content/environment_society/environment/biodiversity/protected_areas/ [Accesses on: 23 August, 2012].
Shah, A. 2011. Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares. [Online]. Available at: http://www.globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares[Accesses on: 23 August, 2012].
Shell Environment. 2012. [Online]. Available at: http://www.shell.com/home/content/environment_society/environment/ [Accesses on: 23 August, 2012].
Wettstein, F. 2009. Multinational Corporations and Global Justice: Human Rights Obligations of a Quasi-Governmental Institution. Stanford University Press.