Abstract
Since 1990s, the mining sector has been one of the most important industries that contribute to the economic development of Peru. However, it has also led to the environmental disruption and social conflict. This situation has forced the companies to reconsider the development of social partnerships between businesses and the civil society in order to tackle social issues including social justice and the environmental protection. Consequently, the object of the study involves mining companies, peasant communities, government and non-profit organisations and seeks to answer: How institutional forces contribute to the development of Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) initiatives through social partnerships in the Peruvian mining industry?
Social partnerships require companies to understand not only the market but also the distinctive socio-economic, legal and cultural forces that represent social norms known as institutions. The theoretical framework of this study is based on the new institutional theory that establishes three pillars of institutional order; cognitive, normative and regulative. This framework represents a holistic approach that provides new lenses to understand CSR in a developing country.
This exploratory qualitative research consists of 53 interviews and a focus group during a communal assembly. In addition, indigenous methodology has been implemented in order to unleash the unheard voices from peasant communities based on observation and witnessing of verbal traditions. The fieldwork was carried out in August 2016 and from June to September 2017 in the regions of Lima and Ancash in Peru. The secondary research is based on the study of 25 sustainability reports and the analysis of three partnership agreements between peasant communities and mining companies. Some early findings have revealed that no compliance with communities has led to distrust towards mining companies, government and NGOs; and protests have been used by peasant communities as a legitimate instrument in order to manage an unbalance power.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balcázar, R. A. (2014). Obras Por Impuestos made in peru: El poder de los tributos sobre la inversión pública y la reputación. Retrieved from http://www.desarrollando-ideas.com/publico/140915_dmasi_Informe_especial_Obras_por_Impuestos_Made_in_Peru.pdf
Barnea, A., & Rubin, A. (2010). Corporate social responsibility as a conflict between shareholders. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(1), 71–86.
Bondy, K., et al. (2012). An institution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in multi-national corporations (MNCs): Form and implications. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(2), 281–299.
Campbell, J. L. (2004). Institutional change and globalization: Exploring problems in the new institutional analysis. Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Central Reserve Bank Peru. (2015). PBI real (var. %). Retrieved from https://estadisticas.bcrp.gob.pe/estadisticas/series/anuales/resultados/P01294IAA/html/2010/2015/
Clarke, D. C. (2011). ‘Nothing but wind’? The past and future of comparative corporate governance. American Journal of Comparative Law, 59(1), 75–110.
Comercio, E. (2012, March 4). Lo que hay que saber sobre la ley de consulta previa: esta semana se debate reglamento. Retrieved from http://elcomercio.pe/politica/gobierno/lo-que-hay-que-saber-sobre-ley-consulta-previa-esta-semana-se-debate-reglamento-noticia-1382716
Crane, A., & Seitanidi, M. M. (2014). Social partnerships and responsible business what, why and how? In M. M. Seitanidi & A. Crane (Eds.), Social partnerships and responsible business: A research handbook (p. 420). London: Routledge.
Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15(1), 1–13.
del Pueblo D. (2018). Defensoría del Pueblo - Conflictos sociales - reporte mensual. Retrieved from http://www.defensoria.gob.pe/temas.php?des=3#r
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.). London: Sage.
Desta, I. H. (2010). CSR in developing countries. In M. Pohl & N. Tolhurst (Eds.), Responsible business how to manage a CSR strategy successfully (p. 348). Chichester: Wiley.
Dienhart, J. W., & Ludescher, J. C. (2010). Sustainability, collaboration, and governance: A harbinger of institutional change? Business and Society Review, 115(4), 393–415.
Doh, J. P., & Guay, T. R. (2006). Corporate social responsibility, public policy, and NGO activism in Europe and the United States: An institutional-stakeholder perspective. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), 47–73.
Dowling, J., & Pfeffer, J. (1975). Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior. The Pacific Sociological Review, 18(1), 122–136.
Evans, P. (2004). Development as institutional change: The pitfalls of monocropping and the potentials of deliberation. Studies in Comparative International Development, 38(4), 30–52.
Franks, D. M., et al. (2014). Conflict translates environmental and social risk into business costs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(21), 7576–7581.
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?frbrVersion=2&tabs=moreTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=BLL01015602401&indx=1&recIds=BLL01015602401&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=2&dscnt=1&scp.scps=scope%3A
Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Retrieved from http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html
Hamann, R. (2003). Mining companies’ role in sustainable development: The ‘why’ and ‘how’ of corporate social responsibility from a business perspective. Development Southern Africa, 20(2), 237–254.
Hamann, R. (2004). Corporate social responsibility, partnerships, and institutional change: The case of mining companies in South Africa. Natural Resources Forum, 28(4), 278–290.
Hamann, R., & Boulogne, F. (2008). Partnerships and cross-sector collaboration. In R. Hamann et al. (Eds.), The business of sustainable development in Africa: Human rights, partnerships, alternative business models (p. 359). New York: United Nations University Press.
Haslam, P. (2004). The corporate social responsibility system in Latin America and the caribbean. Retrieved from http://commdev.org/files/1469_file_csr_04.pdf
Idemudia, U. (2011). Corporate social responsibility and developing countries: Moving the critical CSR research agenda in Africa forward. Progress in Development Studies, 11(1), 1–18.
INEI. (2015). Producción Nacional creció 2,35% en el año 2014. Retrieved from http://www.inei.gob.pe/prensa/noticias/produccion-nacional-crecio-235-en-el-ano-2014-8218/
Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática – INEI. (2017). Series nacionales. Retrieved August 2, 2017, from https://www.inei.gob.pe/buscador/?tbusqueda=pbi
Jamali, D., & Mirshak, R. (2007) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Theory and practice in a developing country context. Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/949/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10551-006-9168-4.pdf?auth66=1424890476_45658f2a5fb4c0805a963a593fa77c6e&ext=.pdf
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3, 3305–3360.
Marris, R. (1964). The economic theory of managerial capitalism. London: Macmillan.
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (Rev Exp ed.). San Francisco: Wiley.
Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340–363.
Meza-Cuadra, S. (2008). Corporate social responsibility in the peruvian mining industry. In D. Crowther & N. Capaldi (Eds.), The Ashgate research companion to corporate social responsibility (pp. 335–356). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Newell, P. (2005). Citizenship, accountability and community: The limits of the CSR agenda. International Affairs, 81(3), 541–557.
North, D. C. (1987). Institutions, transaction costs and economic growth. Economic Inquiry, 25(3), 419–428.
Palthe, J. (2014). Regulative, normative, and cognitive elements of organizations: Implications for managing change. Management and Organizational Studies, 1(2), 59–66.
Post, J. E., et al. (2002). Managing the extended enterprise: The new stakeholder view. California Management Review, 45(1), 6–28.
Potts, K., & Brown, L. (2005). Becoming an anti-oppressive researcher. In L. A. Brown & S. Strega (Eds.), Research as resistance: Critical, indigenous and anti-oppressive approaches (pp. 255–285). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press. Retrieved from https://occupyresearchcollective.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/research_as_resistance__critical__indigenous__and_anti_oppressive_approaches1.pdf
Powell, W. W., & DiMaggio, P. (1991). Introduction. In W. W. Powell & P. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (p. 478). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Robertson, D. C. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and different stages of economic development: Singapore, Turkey, and Ethiopia. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(4), 617–633.
Scott, R. (2008a). Approaching adulthood: The maturing of institutional theory. Theory and Society, 37(5), 427–442.
Scott, W. R. (2008b). Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interests (3rd ed.). London: Sage.
Seitanidi, M. M., & Crane, A. (2009). Implementing CSR through partnerships: Understanding the selection, design and institutionalisation of nonprofit-business partnerships. Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 413–429.
Selsky, J. W., & Parker, B. (2005). Cross-sector partnerships to address social issues: Challenges to theory and practice. Journal of Management, 31(6), 849–873.
Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. London: Zed Books.
Sociedad Nacional de Mineria. (2017). Boletín Estadístico Mensual Minería - Enero 2017. Retrieved from http://www.snmpe.org.pe/informes-y-publicaciones/boletin-estadistico-mensual/mineria/4513-boletin-estadistico-mensual-mineria-enero-2017.html
Solomon, F., et al. (2008). Social dimensions of mining: Research, policy and practice challenges for the minerals industry in Australia. Resources Policy, 33, 142–149. Retrieved from http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0301420708000251/1-s2.0-S0301420708000251-main.pdf?_tid=c077d256-a89c-11e4-b215-00000aab0f02&acdnat=1422635372_fdf79a2bb9f3e8a84364aa266c0fc313
Thornton, P. H., & Ocasio, W. (1999). Institutional logics and the historical contingency of power in organizations: Executive succession in the higher education publishing industry, 1958–1990. Education Publishing Industry American Journal of Sociology, 105(3), 801–843.
Visser, W. (2008). Corporate social responsibility in developing countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csr.212/full.
Waddock, S. A. (1988). Building successful social partnerships. Sloan Management Review, 29(4), 17. Retrieved from http://linker.westminster.ac.uk/sfx_wmin?frbrVersion=4&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2015-01-26T18:46:16IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-proquest
Watts, M. J. (2005). Righteous oil? Human rights, the oil complex, and corporate social responsibility. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 30(1), 373–407.
Yankah, K. (1999). African folk and the challenges of a global Lore. Africa Today, 46(2), 9–27. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/africa_today/v046/46.2yankah.html
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Espinoza-Ramos, G.R. (2020). ‘Unwritten Rules’ in Social Partnerships: Defining Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Through Institutional Theory in the Peruvian Mining Industry. In: Díaz Díaz, B., Capaldi, N., Idowu, S.O., Schmidpeter, R. (eds) Responsible Business in a Changing World. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36970-5_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36970-5_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-36969-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-36970-5
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)