Stakeholder interaction in the establishment of an oil and gas manufacturing hub in Saldanha Bay

Abstract

Business ventures tend to commit themselves too soon to the twin issues of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder interaction, but in practice normally fail to deliver on all their promises in this regard, which often lead to great disappointment for the local communities involved. The new dispensation in South Africa has currently contributed to a great extent to how communities respond when they face issues of this nature. Sowman and Megan Gawith (1994) are believe that this new approach in behaviour of communities is owing to the recent influence of western models of development on developing areas. An inability of business to adapt to this changed environment will inevitably lead to a fragile relationship between such an entity and the community, which could easily ruin the implementation of development plans and ultimately cause the end of a business. Waddock and Graves (1997) are of the view that if good stakeholder consultation is maintained, it could be favourable for both business and community, and healthy relationships of this nature are always evident in the practice of such a company. The Stakeholder Engagement Practitioner Handbook (2008:5) is a specific model which is explored by this study in order to prevent a negative kind of relationship between a business and the local community. This is regarded as an imperative tool for comparison purposes to ensure sustainable and sound interaction, whilst identifying potential problem areas and simultaneously serving as a guiding map. The aim of this study was to investigate the ongoing interactions process for the identification of strengths and weaknesses of engagements in the Saldanha Bay venture in order to provide recommendations for improvement accordingly, as well as to determine whether the current process is substantive and responsive enough to the real needs and expectations of these groupings. The research, therefore, reviewed available literature on public paticipation and stakeholder interaction for business success in order to develop a theorethical model based on the strengths and weaknesses of the current engagement process in the Saldanha Bay Municipal area, and to also identify key components for beneficial dialogue. A descriptive case study technique was adopted as the most appropriate design to focus analytically on the entire engagement process and to extrapolate the nature of the interaction from various stakeholder accounts, in order to emphasise the views of the selected population. The results of this study indicated that the current local engagement process did indeed match most of the elements contained in the proposed model after a comparison was conducted. The research findings further revealed that even though the forum gained enormous momentum during the first phase, the process still lacks a few key areas to ensure more effective engagement. If these key areas are not properly addressed, this situation could at a later stage pose a serious threat to the future sustainability of the forum.