Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability at Saudi Aramco

Introduction

Saudi Arabia Oil Company or the Saudi Aramco is the most prominent company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has full ownership of the company. The Saudi Aramco primarily operates in Saudi Arabia but also has some affiliates or subsidiaries in America, Europe, and Asia. According to the company's Domestic PR manager, Saleh Assabti, since the discovery of oil in the region in 1938, Saudi Aramco has shown steady support to the local communities in which it operates. The revenues generated by the firm is essential in infrastructural, political and social development. Besides, the organization is aware of the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Hence, in 2009, the corporation created the department of CSR under the Public Relations (PR) Division.

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However, this does not imply that the company did not engage in CSR and sustainability initiatives before- Saudi Aramco was involved in communal progress even before the introduction of the term social corporate responsibility. Even so, it adopts the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) definition of CSR. Some of the features of the ISO characterization include the adoption of transparent and moral behavior that is maintainable, contribution to sustainable development, and adherence to the national and international laws. Through CSR, the company has realized many benefits including increased sales and rise in profit margins. That said, the primary goal of this essay is to examine and explain how the Saudi Aramco benefits from sustainability initiatives.

Saudi Aramco CSR Division

The establishment of the Saudi Aramco CSR Division took place in 2009. This unit operates under the PR Operations Department (Abro, Khurshid, & Aamir, 2016). Some of the primary objectives of this division are to amend and improve the existing CSR related activities and align them per the company's mission and vision. Also, the CSR division ensures that the impact of these actions is sustainable. Nevertheless, the firm identifies four fundamental dynamics of the CSR within the division. They include the economy, community, knowledge, as well as the work environment. Abro et al. (2016) asserts that before establishing the CSR division, the firm carried out its CSR actions through the Community Outreach Programs unit. The purpose of this unit is to reach out to the people in the communities through programs and initiatives involving charity works, public awareness campaigns, and donations.

CSR and Sustainability Initiatives at Saudi Aramco

Educational CSR at Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco adopts various strategies to promote corporate social responsibility and sustainability. The most notable initiative took place 31 years ago when the company opened its first Saudi Aramco Exhibit at the company's headquarters in Dhahran. The exhibit highlighted the history of the company since it began its operations. Today, the display draws over 150,000 foreign visitors annually. Apart from that, Saudi Aramco owns mobile libraries which help to impart literacy skills in children through reading. The library instructors also help the children to choose the most appropriate books to read regarding their age. The company currently owns more than seven mobile libraries which have visited more than 2500 schools in the kingdom. Additionally, the mobile libraries have loaned over 1 million books to various schools across Saudi Arabia.

Education for Employees

Consequently, the corporation provides training programs for the workers to improve their expertise and encourage invention and innovation. Saudi Aramco also offers pieces of training for the undergraduate interns and graduate trainees. Other employees are given a rare opportunity to study abroad in some of the world's top ranking training institutes to enhance their professional skills. The company has been providing training for its staff for the past 68 years. Initially, these practices encompassed teaching skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. However, today Saudi Aramco offers advanced training to their personnel and a four-week training programs for exceptional students (Khan, Al-Maimani, & Al-Yafi, 2013). Also, there is a training program for the local contractors of the firm. This program is aimed at imparting the necessary skills to help in improving the effectiveness of the contractors' work.

Education for Non-Employees

Similarly, Saudi Aramco also offers training programs for non-staff members. The purpose of these education programs is to attract auspicious young Saudis who dream of working for the company in future. Likewise, these educational initiatives help to strengthen the kingdom's labor force in readiness to any uncertainty such as shortage of skilled labor. The programs for non-employees include university or college degrees, apprenticeships, and cooperative programs. The latter imparts the students with the skills to overcome daily challenges in life. That said, Saudi Aramco sponsors gifted students through the College Degree Program for Non-Employees after they have completed their College Preparatory Program (Frynas, 2009). During the holidays, these students may obtain temporary employment in the company. Also, the company's Community Education program gives the members of the community a chance to study and teach. This program fosters and cultural and civic consciousness regarding matters like disease prevention, technological advancement and scientific discoveries among others.

Environmental Sustainability at Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco also focuses its efforts to minimize the ecological impacts of the operations of the firm as well as conducting research aimed at decreasing the pollution caused by the usage of petroleum products. The company established its Environmental Protection Department 20 years ago (Hashmi, & Al-Habib, 2013). The department must ensure that the operations of the company are done in conformity with the ISO guidelines. That is, making sure the activities are conducted in an environmentally safe and economical manner. Moreover, this department has put forth specific operational requirement and performed guidelines to realize the firm's commitment. That said, this part of the essay will discuss the initiatives set by Saudi Aramco to promote environmental sustainability in three sub-headings: air and water quality at Saudi Aramco, waste management strategies, and oil spills preparedness in the company.

Air and Water Quality at Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco has installed modern air monitoring stations all over the Kingdom to assess the quality of air periodically. These stations have the mandate to monitor and evaluate the air condition to ensure conformity with the national or company standards. The information collected supports routine operations and is essential in the construction of a new facility of the corporation. Being that the kingdom is situated in a desert, it is necessary to protect and preserve the available underground water reservoirs. The company achieves this through periodic monitoring and assessment of these sources through scientific analysis. This process involves collecting water samples by the company's Protection Program from different locations harboring the facilities of Saudi Aramco. These samples are then taken to the lab for analysis and conclusions are made based on the findings. Hence, determine whether a land reclamation process is necessary or not.

Waste Management at Saudi Aramco

The company through its Industrial Waste Management Plan ensures that effluents are appropriately disposed to create a sustainable environment. Through this program, the company can manage some of the most toxic wastes that would otherwise remain airborne or infiltrated in the atmosphere and the soil respectively. Thus, leading to pollution of air and land. In that sense, Saudi Aramco waste management system incorporates various eco-friendly techniques to treat the emissions and overflows from the industrial reactors (Rahman, & Khondaker, 2012).

Oil Spill Alertness in Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco is known to conduct training concerning incidences involving oil spills. The company many a time sends experts abroad to learn from professionals from such countries about the procedures to consider in case of an oil spillage. Incidences such as the bursting of pipes and outbreak of fires are common among oil exporting nations. Therefore, the corporation has a vast quantity of the machinery necessary to remedy the problem in case of such events. Additionally, the company conducts regular surveillance on their pipeline system to detect any faults.

Benefits from the CSR and Sustainability Efforts by Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco has realized a lot of benefits from its efforts to promote corporate social responsibility and sustainability. So far, the company's initiatives have succeeded in achieving this vision. Firstly, some of the trainees who benefit from the Saudi Aramco educational programs end up working in the company. Some of these legatees are highly gifted and thus assist in reinforcing the current workforce to steer the firm to achieve its objectives (Ali, & AlAali, 2012).

Secondly, it is the Saudi government which has full control over the company, and their CSR efforts are linked with the overall development of the kingdom. The government has both ownership and authority over the corporation. Hence, this makes Saudi Aramco less relevant to evaluate whether or not their strategies are viable. Therefore, the issue of conflict of interest is less prevalent. The company also has a good reputation, and this helps to attract more buyers and importers of the primary product. Industrial analysts attribute this excellent name to the company's sustainability initiatives which are highly appreciated by the beneficiaries.

References

Abro, M. M. Q., Khurshid, M. A., & Aamir, A. (2016). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices: the case of Saudi Aramco. Journal of Competitiveness Studies, 24(1/2), 79.

Ali, A. J., & AlAali, A. (2012). Corporate social responsibility in Saudi Arabia. Middle East Policy, 19(4), 40-53.

Frynas, J. G. (2009). Corporate social responsibility in the oil and gas sector. Journal of World Energy Law & Business, 2(3), 178-195.

Hashmi, M. A., & Al-Habib, M. (2013). Sustainability and carbon management practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Journal of environmental planning and management, 56(1), 140-157.

Khan, S. A., Al-Maimani, K. A., & Al-Yafi, W. A. (2013). Exploring corporate social responsibility in Saudi Arabia: The challenges ahead. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 10(3), 65.

Rahman, S. M., & Khondaker, A. N. (2012). Mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon capture and storage in Saudi Arabia. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(5), 2446-2460.