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Chapter I Introduction第一章引言
企业社会责任（CSR）是指企业在创造利润和对股东和员工承担法律责任的同时，也要对消费者、社区和环境承担责任，企业社会责任要求企业超越传统的以利润为唯一目标的观念，它要求企业在创造利润的过程中，必须以利润为唯一目标，以利润为主要目标，以利润为主要目标，以利润为主要目标，以利润为主要目标，以利润为主要目标，以利润为主要目标，以利润为主要关注生产过程中人们的价值，关注对环境、消费者和社会的贡献（Nekhili、Nagati、Chtioui和Rebolledo，2017年；Wang和Sarkis，2017年）。
20世纪80年代，欧美发达国家开始兴起企业社会责任运动。一些参与绿色和平、环境保护、社会责任和人权以及公众舆论的非政府组织一直呼吁企业承担社会责任（Raufflet、Cruz和Bres，2014年）。在压力不断增加和自身发展需要的推动下，许多欧美跨国公司制定了履行社会责任的措施（Palazuelos和Fern_ndez，2012年）。雪佛龙公司是美国的一家跨国公司，由于公司认真履行了环境保护的社会责任，公司造成的环境污染问题大大减少，这对改善自然环境和改善自身社会有很大的帮助。L Prestige（Buccina、Chene和Gramlich，2013年）。
随着我国经济的发展，自然环境日趋恶化，大气、水、海洋污染日益严重。环境问题已成为经济发展的瓶颈，为了人类的生存和经济的可持续发展，中国政府也开始要求中国企业积极履行环境保护的社会责任（吴林刘，2016）。中石化集团作为中国的跨国公司，2001年也制定了企业社会责任措施，但近年来，公司的环境问题仍然暴露在外（董、皮、马、东，2017）。
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means that enterprises in the creation of profits and bearing legal responsibility for shareholders and employees should also bear the responsibility for consumers, communities and the environment, CSR requires that enterprises should go beyond the traditional concept of taking profit as the sole goal, it emphasizes the focus on the value of people in production process and it is concerned about the contribution to the environment, consumers and the society (Nekhili, Nagati, Chtioui and Rebolledo, 2017; Wang and Sarkis, 2017).
In the 1980s, CSR movement began to rise in developed countries in Europe and America. Some non-governmental organizations involved in green peace, environmental protection, social responsibility and human rights, as well as public opinion, have been calling for enterprises to assume CSR (Raufflet, Cruz and Bres, 2014). Forced by increasing pressure and their own development needs, many European and American multinational companies have developed measures to fulfill social responsibility (Palazuelos and Fernández, 2012). Chevron Corporation is a multinational company in the United States, since the company seriously fulfilled the social responsibility of environmental protection, environmental pollution problems caused by the company reduced significantly, which have a great help for the improvement of the natural environment and the improvement of their own social prestige (Buccina, Chene and Gramlich, 2013).
With the development of China's economy, the natural environment is deteriorating, the atmosphere, water, marine pollution is increasingly serious. Environmental problems have become the bottleneck of economic development, for the survival of mankind and economic sustainable development, Chinese government has also begun to require Chinese enterprises to actively fulfill the social responsibility of environmental protection (Wu, Lin and Liu, 2016). Sinopec Group as a multinational company in China, has also developed CSR measures in 2001, but in recent years, the company's environmental problems have still been exposed (Dong, Pi, Ma and Dong, 2017).
This study aims to discuss the differences between the two companies in fulfilling CSR and to analyze why both companies have fulfilled their social responsibilities but an enterprise could protect the environment well and the other could not. This research then reviews the relevant literatures and theories relating to CSR, through the questionnaire survey on the two enterprises to understand the status quo of the two companies in fulfilling their CSR. Finally, according to the literature review and the results of the questionnaire survey, it reveals the differences between the two companies in the performance of fulfilling CSR to show why Chevron Corporation could protect the environment well while Sinopec Group failed.
Chapter II Literature review
2.1 Theoretical basis
Sustainable development theory refers to the development which both meets the needs of contemporary people and avoids harm of the ability of the future generations to meet their needs, it takes fairness, continuity, commonality as the three basic principles (Caiado et al., 2017). From the perspective of environmental protection, sustainable development pursues the harmony between man and nature, it reduces the consumption of natural resources and makes it lower than the rate of regeneration, such as the use of clean technology and the production of non-polluting products, guiding consumers to adopt sustainable consumption, and promoting the reform of production methods (Patlins, 2017). If the environment is not properly protected, the costs for repairing the environmental damage will be very large, which will even offset the results of economic growth, enterprises’ fulfilling CSR of environmental protection is an important measure to achieve economic, social and natural sustainable development (Nekhili, Nagati, Chtioui and Rebolledo, 2017).
2.2 Social responsibility of environmental protection
Wu, Lin and Liu (2016) believed that the purpose of an enterprise’s fulfilling social responsibility of environmental protection is through the adjustment of human behavior to achieve the harmonious development of human society and the nature. From the perspective of the substantive content, a company's environmental responsibility is defined as: in the maximum pursuit of shareholder interests and enhancing the interests of social-related groups, a company should also maximize the consideration of the carrying capacity of the ecosystem to avoid the physical damage caused by its corporate management to the entire ecosystem.
Essah and Andrewsfrom (2016) were from the perspective of a company's social responsibility to take the environmental responsibility as a part of CSR. They figured that protection and rational use of the environment and resources is not only related to the vital interests of contemporary human beings, but also related to the survival and development of future generations, it is the premise and the key to achieve the sustainable development of human society, enterprises’ protection and reasonable use of the environment is their responsibility for the whole of mankind and future generations, so the responsibility of enterprises is a typical CSR.
Śmiechowski and Lament (2017) further pointed out that a company's environmental responsibility is a broad concept, including environmental legal responsibility and environmental moral responsibility, it is not just the traditional sense of environmental responsibility; it is a company's commitment to the long-term goal of social development, and it is also a set of integrated responsibility system, including legal responsibility and moral responsibility.
2.3 Summary
In short, the theory of sustainable development is the theoretical basis for enterprises to fulfill and assume the social responsibility of environmental protection. Enterprises in fulfilling social responsibility of environmental protection need to reduce the destruction to the environment to achieve the harmonious development of enterprises and nature, and enterprises’ acts of fulfilling society responsibility of environmental protection is not just a matter of law but also a moral issue.
Chapter III Methodology
In this study, it made use of a quantitative study, it was through questionnaires to collect data. Questionnaires help a researcher to collect more first-hand data easily in a short period of time, and the results of questionnaires facilitate quantitative analysis (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2007). The questionnaires in this study were distributed and taken back through the questionnaire survey website: SurveyMonkey. The questionnaire survey was conducted towards employees from Chevron Corporation (Chevron for short) and Sinopec Group (Sinopec for short). Only employees from the two companies were allowed to complete the questionnaire. A total of 23 pieces of questionnaires were distributed and recovered. The questionnaire includes 10 questions, the main purpose of the questionnaire was to investigate the views of the respondents on their companies in fulfilling the responsibility of environmental protection.
Chapter IV Findings
Q1. What company do you belong to? (Chevron/ Sinopec)
In this investigation, 12 respondents were from Chevron, the other 11 were from Sinopec.
Q2. How long have you worked in the company? (1-3 years/4-6 years/More than 6 years)
Figure 1Years of working in the two companies
The questionnaire results showed that considering the respondents from Chevron, 7 respondents worked for 1-3 years in the company, 4 respondents worked 3-6 years and a respondent worked more than 6 years in the company. In terms of respondents from Sinopec, 6 respondents worked for 1-3 years, 5 respondents worked 3-6 years and no respondent worked more than 6 years in the company.#p#分页标题#e#
Q3. What is your position in the company? (Front-line workers/ Administrative staff/ Technical
staff/ Other positions)
Company Position Front-line
workers Administrative
staff Technical
staffs Other
Positions
Chevron Number of respondents 5 4 2 1
Sinopec Number of respondents 6 1 3 1
Table 1 Positions of the respondents
There were 5 front-line workers, 4 administrative staffs, 2 technical staffs and a staff of other types of positions from Chevron. 6 front-line workers, an administrative staff, 3 technical staffs and a staff of other types of positions were from Sinopec.
Q4. Does your company attach importance to compliance with environmental laws? (Yes/No)
Figure 2 Attitude towards compliance with environmental laws
10 employees from Chevron believed that their company paid attention to complying with environmental protection laws, but the two denied. 9 employees from Sinopec gave a positive answer and the other two denied
Q5. Does your company focus on the prevention of environmental pollution accidents? (Yes/No)
Figure 3 Attitude towards prevention of environmental pollution accidents
10 employees from Chevron said that their company valued prevention of environmental pollution accidents and the other 2 held a negative attitude. 7 employees from Sinopec answered “Yes” and the other 4 said “No”.
Q6. Does your company work with other organizations or institutions to deal with environmental pollution? (Yes/No)
Figure 4 Attitude towards working with other organizations or institutions to deal with environmental pollution
12 employees from Chevron said “Yes”. 6 employees from Sinopec answered “Yes” and the other 5 said “No”.
Q7. Is your company willing to offer more environmentally friendly products? (Yes/No)
Figure 5 Attitude towards being willing to offer more environmentally friendly products
9 employees from Chevron believed that their company was willing to provide more environmentally friendly products, but the other 3 held a negative attitude. 6 employees from Sinopec thought that their company was willing to produce this kind of products, while the other five did not agree with that.
Q8. Is your company willing to invest a lot of money to improve equipment to reduce pollution? (Yes/No)
Figure 6 Attitude towards investing a lot of money to improve equipment to reduce pollution
9 employees from Chevron said that their company was willing to do that, while the other 3 denied. 5 employees from Sinopec believed that their company would do that, and the other 6 did not think the same way.
Q9. Do the management and employees of your company have a strong sense of environmental protection? (Yes/No)
Figure 7 Sense of environmental protection
9 employees from Chevron believed that their management and employees have a good sense of environmental protection, while the other 3 did not agree. 5 employees from Sinopec also agreed with that their management and staff have a strong sense of environmental protection while the other 6 denied.
Q10. Will your company assess the impact of a project on the ecological environment in the early stages when the project is conducted? (Yes/No)
Figure 8 Assessment on the impact on the ecological environment
9 employees from Chevron said “Yes” and the other 3 chose “No”. 4 employees from Sinopec thought that their company would do that while the other 7 employees held an opposite view.
Chapter V Data analysis and Discussion
The questionnaire survey mainly investigated employees from Chevron and Sinopec, all the respondents have worked in their respective companies for more than a year, and 43% of the respondents have worked for more than three years. In addition, the survey respondents came from the various departments and positions of the enterprises. Therefore, the respondents have a more comprehensive and profound understanding of information of their companies, and the information they expressed through the questionnaire was credible and effective.
Question 4 indicated that the respondents agreed with that both companies attached importance to compliance with environmental laws. Caiado et al. (2017) figured that environmental pollution has become the problem that governments have attached importance to today, because it has a close relationship with social, natural and environmental sustainability. All governments have enacted environmental protection laws to penalize enterprises with polluting acts, which should be the important reasons for the two companies’ complying with environmental protection laws.
Śmiechowski and Lament (2017) pointed out that to fulfill CSR of environmental protection is not only a legal issue but also a moral issue, in addition to complying with relevant laws, enterprises should also take other measures to actively fulfill the responsibility of environmental protection. It was learned from the questionnaire survey that the respondents believed that Chevron paid more attention to the prevention of environmental pollution accidents, they were more willing to provide more environmentally friendly products, they were willing to invest a lot of money to improve equipment to reduce pollution, their management and employees have more strong environmental awareness; in the early stages of a project, they were more willing to assess the impact on the ecological environment. According to relevant research and reports, Chevron has taken a series of measures to better protect the environment, including increasing the development of new energy sources, investing in the fields of wind energy, bio-energy, electrification and carbon solutions, and actively cooperating, communicating with international environmental protection organizations to help the company to identify and manage possible environmental pollution problems to find opportunities for improvement. And they clearly state that biodiversity conservation will be included in the assessment, decision-making and production operations of projects. Sinopec was also in accordance with the laws of the government to take a series of measures to improve the process flow, increase environmental protection equipment, excepting that, they did not much about environmental protection. These results revealed that from the moral level, in the implementation of social responsibility for environmental protection, Chevron was more active than Sinopec, as they took more measures to prevent the occurrence of pollution incidents, which explained why after Chinese government promulgated a series of environmental protection laws, and they also adopted a series of improved process and increased environmental protection equipment, Sinopec still produced a series of environmental pollution incidents, such as: air pollution, water pollution and so on (Lv, Li, Wang and Li, 2015).
Chapter VI Conclusion
Environmental protection has become an important part of the social responsibility that contemporary enterprises need to fulfill. Enterprises’ active fulfilling social responsibility of environmental protection is helpful to the sustainable development of human society and the nature. It also helps to enhance their competitiveness and social influence, as well as corporate image. The issue of environmental protection is not only a legal issue but also a moral issue. In addition to complying with relevant laws, enterprises should take other measures to actively fulfill the responsibility of environmental protection. At the legal level, Chevron and Sinopec have attached importance to compliance with environmental laws and following laws to take measures to reduce environmental pollution. However, considering from the moral level, in the implementation of social responsibility for environmental protection, Chevron was more active than Sinopec, they took more measures to prevent the occurrence of pollution incidents, so Sinopec recently have a series of environmental pollution problems, and there was no such negative news on Chevron.#p#分页标题#e#
References
Buccina, S., Chene, D. and Gramlich, J. (2013). Accounting for the environmental impacts of Texaco's operations in Ecuador: Chevron's contingent environmental liability disclosures. Accounting Forum, 37(2), 110-123.
Caiado, R. G. G. et al. (2017). Towards sustainable development through the perspective of eco-efficiency - A systematic literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 165(1), 890-904.
Dong, X., Pi, G., Ma, Z. and Dong, C. (2017). The reform of the natural gas industry in the PR of China. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 73(6), 582-593.
Essah, M. and Andrews, N. (2016). Linking or de-linking sustainable mining practices and corporate social responsibility? Resources Policy, 50, 75-85.
Lv, G., Li, Q., Wang, S. and Li, X. (2015). Key techniques of reservoir engineering and injection–production process for CO2 flooding in China's SINOPEC Shengli Oilfield. Journal of CO2 Utilization, 11(9), 31-40.
Nekhili, M., Nagati, H., Chtioui, T. and Rebolledo, C. (2017). Corporate social responsibility disclosure and market value: Family versus nonfamily firms. Journal of Business Research, 77, 41-52.
Palazuelos, E. and Fernández, R. (2012). The importance of transnational corporations in the supply of oil to Europe: implications. Energy Policy, 47(8), 270-281.
Patlins, A. (2017). Improvement of sustainability definition facilitating sustainable development of public transport system. Procedia Engineering, 192, 659-664.
Raufflet, E., Cruz, L. B. and Bres, L. (2014). An assessment of corporate social responsibility practices in the mining and oil and gas industries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 256-270.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2007). Research methods for business students. Essex, Pearson Education Limited.
Śmiechowski, K. and Lament, M. (2017). Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting on pro-ecological actions of tanneries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 161(10), 991-999.
Wang, Z. and Sarkis, J. (2017). Corporate social responsibility governance, outcomes, and financial performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162(20), 1607-1616.
Wu, D., Lin, C. and Liu, S. (2016). Does community environment matter to corporate social responsibility? Finance Research Letters, 18(8), 127-135.
Appendix I Questionnaire
Dear participant!
We are implementing a study on CSR of Chevron and Sinopec. If you are from the two companies, please help use to finish the following questionnaire which may take you about 10 minutes.
Your participations subject to privacy policies and will be handled anonymously. We sincerely thank you for your collaboration!
In the following questions, please tick the option that can reflect your true opinion most.
Q1. What company do you belong to?
□ Chevron □ Sinopec
Q2. How long have you worked in the company?
□ 1-3 years □ 4-6 years □ More than 6 years)
Q3. What is your position in the company?
□ Front-line workers □ Administrative staff □ Technical staff □ Other positions
Q4. Does your company attach importance to compliance with environmental laws?
□Yes □ No
Q5. Does your company focus on the prevention of environmental pollution accidents? (Yes/No)
Q6. Does your company work with other organizations or institutions to deal with environmental pollution?
□Yes □ No
Q7. Is your company willing to offer more environmentally friendly products?
□Yes □ No
Q8. Is your company willing to invest a lot of money to improve equipment to reduce pollution? □Yes □ No
Q9. Do the management and employees of your company have a strong sense of environmental protection?
□Yes □ No
Q10. Will your company assess the impact of a project on the ecological environment in the early stages when the project is conducted?
□Yes □ No
Thank you for your cooperation!
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