Sustainable Business - Integrating Business and Community Needs in Devoll Hydropower Project, Albania
(2011) NEKK01 20111Department of Economics
- Abstract
- In the ongoing debate about how we can create a sustainable society, the role of business is negotiated and reshaped with the concept of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) being central to the discussion. This debate steams from past experiences of business externalities, where costs of business transactions have been offloaded on society. This is also the reality in large dam projects in the past where the burden of negative impacts has been carried by local communities. Due to stakeholder pressure, a sustainable dam strategy today involves considerations, not only of economic aspects, but also of social and environmental issues. From a business point of view CSR measures have been motivated with risks reduction and developing... (More)
- In the ongoing debate about how we can create a sustainable society, the role of business is negotiated and reshaped with the concept of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) being central to the discussion. This debate steams from past experiences of business externalities, where costs of business transactions have been offloaded on society. This is also the reality in large dam projects in the past where the burden of negative impacts has been carried by local communities. Due to stakeholder pressure, a sustainable dam strategy today involves considerations, not only of economic aspects, but also of social and environmental issues. From a business point of view CSR measures have been motivated with risks reduction and developing legitimacy, both arguments linked to external stakeholder pressure. However, many business practitioners and academics argue that CSR is best placed in the core business strategy where it can benefit both business and society. Consequently, this thesis asks the question if community investments in a large dam project can be designed to meet the needs of both business and society. A literature review of past dam projects worldwide shows that substantial investments have been made in local communities often without consideration of key business needs. Following this, a case study of Devoll Hydropower Project (DHP) in Albania illustrates that a community investment strategy that takes into consideration both community and business needs is possible in practice and several areas for such investments are identified. The thesis concludes that there is potential for synergetic value creation among pools of human, physical, natural, financial and physical assets in the local community context of a large dam. A focus on both business and community needs creates a CSR strategy that reduces risk and increases legitimacy but that also leads to synergetic value creation beneficial to both community and business shareholders. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1973658
- author
- Persson, Sara LU
- supervisor
-
- Sonja Opper LU
- organization
- course
- NEKK01 20111
- year
- 2011
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Sustainable Business, CSR, Dam Project, Business Case, Externalities, Stakeholder Theory, Community Investments, Benefit Sharing Mechanisms, Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, Capital Assets
- language
- English
- id
- 1973658
- date added to LUP
- 2011-06-16 14:24:17
- date last changed
- 2011-06-16 14:24:17
@misc{1973658,
abstract = {{In the ongoing debate about how we can create a sustainable society, the role of business is negotiated and reshaped with the concept of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) being central to the discussion. This debate steams from past experiences of business externalities, where costs of business transactions have been offloaded on society. This is also the reality in large dam projects in the past where the burden of negative impacts has been carried by local communities. Due to stakeholder pressure, a sustainable dam strategy today involves considerations, not only of economic aspects, but also of social and environmental issues. From a business point of view CSR measures have been motivated with risks reduction and developing legitimacy, both arguments linked to external stakeholder pressure. However, many business practitioners and academics argue that CSR is best placed in the core business strategy where it can benefit both business and society. Consequently, this thesis asks the question if community investments in a large dam project can be designed to meet the needs of both business and society. A literature review of past dam projects worldwide shows that substantial investments have been made in local communities often without consideration of key business needs. Following this, a case study of Devoll Hydropower Project (DHP) in Albania illustrates that a community investment strategy that takes into consideration both community and business needs is possible in practice and several areas for such investments are identified. The thesis concludes that there is potential for synergetic value creation among pools of human, physical, natural, financial and physical assets in the local community context of a large dam. A focus on both business and community needs creates a CSR strategy that reduces risk and increases legitimacy but that also leads to synergetic value creation beneficial to both community and business shareholders.}},
author = {{Persson, Sara}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Sustainable Business - Integrating Business and Community Needs in Devoll Hydropower Project, Albania}},
year = {{2011}},
}