Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social License to Operate

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management

  • 39 Accesses

Synonyms

Accountability; Community engagement; CSR, Corporate social responsibility disclosure; SLO; Sustainable environments

Description

Local communities in the developed economies realized that the operations of environmentally invasive industries would lead to certain benefits to their neighborhoods but increasingly needed persuading these were worth the negative consequences. Their concerns typically include but were not limited to: increased levels of pollution and the potential resulting impact on public and employees’ health, changes in the nature and composition of the community, the impact on existing local businesses and the economy in general, restricted access to services, and overall impact on their quality of life.

Bowen’s seminal work on corporate social responsibility (Bowen, 1953; Gond & Moser 2021; Cornelius & Wallace, 2023) and the later introduction of stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984) led to the realization of the need for greater accountability and compensation...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Acquier, A., Gond, J.-P., & Pasquero, J. (2021). Rediscovering Howard R. Bowen’s legacy: The unachieved agenda and continuing relevance of social responsibilities of the businessman. Business & Society, 50(4), 607–646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnaldo, A. (2011). Farmers heal the land: A social licence for agriculture in Iceland. In J. Williams & P. Martin (Eds.), Defending the social licence of farming: Issues, challenges and new directions for agriculture, technology & engineering (pp. 83–92). Clayton, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baines, J., & Edwards, P. (2018). The role of relationships in achieving and maintaining a social licence in the New Zealand aquaculture sector. Aquaculture, 485, 140–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barich, A., Stokłosa, A. W., Hildebrand, J., Elíasson, O., Medgyes, T., Quinonez, G., Casillas, A. C., & Fernandez, I. (2022). Social license to operate in geothermal energy. Energies, 15, 139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumber, A. (2018). Energy cropping and social licence: What's trust got to do with it? Biomass and Bioenergy, 108, 25–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, J., & Kennedy, A. (2011). American agriculture’s social licence to operate. In J. Williams & P. Martin (Eds.), Defending the social licence of farming: Issues, challenges and new directions for agriculture, technology & engineering (pp. 93–102). Clayton, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bice, S. (2014). What gives you a social licence? An exploration of the social licence to operate in the Australian mining industry. Resources, 3(1), 62–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, L. (2017). The social licence to operate: your management framework for complex times. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor Francis.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Boutilier, R. G., & Thomson, I. (2011). Modelling and measuring the social license to operate: Fruits of a dialogue between theory and practice. Available at: http://www.socialicense.com/publications/ModellingandMeasuringtheSLO.pdf

  • Bowen, H. R. (1953). Social responsibilities of the businessman. New York, NY: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brueckner, M., & Eabrasu, M. (2018). Pinning down the social license to operate (SLO): The problem of normative complexity. Resources Policy, 59, 217–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornelius, N., & Wallace, J. (2023). John gerard ruggie and the UN guiding principles on business and human rights. In S. Idowu, R. Schmidpeter, N. Capaldi, L. Zu, M. Del Baldo, R. Abreu, (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_452-1

  • Dare, M., Schirmer, J., & Vanclay, F. (2014). Community engagement and social licence to operate. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 32(3), 188–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, E., Graham, R., & McManus, P. (2018). No one has even seen… smelt… or sensed a social licence’: Animal geographies and social licence to operate. Geoforum, 96, 318–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, P., & Lacey, J. (2014). Can’t climb the trees anymore: Social licence to operate, bioenergy and whole stump removal in Sweden. Social Epistemology, 28, 239–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, P., Lacey, J., Wyatt, S., & Williams, K. J. H. (2016). Social licence to operate and forestry – An introduction. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, 89(5), 473–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esteves, A. M., & Vanclay, F. (2009). Social development needs analysis as a tool for SIA to guide corporate-community investment: Applications in the minerals industry. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 29(2), 137–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, R. M., & Williams, K. J. H. (2016). How can social acceptability research in Australian forests inform social licence to operate? Forestry, 89, 512–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franks, D. M., & Cohen, T. (2012). Social licence in design: Constructive technology assessment within a mineral research and development institution. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 79(7), 1229–1240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Marshfield, MA: Pitman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garnett, S. T., Lawes, M. J., James, R., Bigland, K., & Zander, K. K. (2015). Portrayal of sustainability principles in the mission statements and on home pages of the world’s largest organizations. Conservation Biology, 30, 297–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gehman, J., Lefsrud, L. M., & Fast, S. (2017). Social licence to operate: Legitimacy by another name? Canadian Public Administration, 60(2), 293–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gond, J.-P., & Moser, C. (2021). The reconciliation of fraternal twins: Integrating the psychological and sociological approaches to ‘Micro’ corporate social responsibility. Human Relations, 74(1), 5–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gough, C., Cunningham, R., & Mander, S. (2018). Understanding key elements in establishing a social license for CCS: An empirical approach. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 68, 16–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunningham, N., Kagan, R. A., & Thornton, D. (2004). Social license and environmental protection: why businesses go beyond compliance. Law & Social Inquiry, 29(2), 307–341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, N. (2014). Can the “social licence to operate” concept enhance engagement and increase acceptance of renewable energy? A case study of wind farms in Australia. Social Epistemology, 28(3–4), 219–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, N., Lacey, J., Carr-Cornish, S., & Dowd, A.-M. (2015). Social licence to operate: Understanding how a concept has been translated into practice in energy industries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 86(1), 301–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurst, B., Johnston, K. A., & Lane, A. B. (2020). Engaging for a social licence to operate (SLO). Public Relations Review, 46(4), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendal, D., & Ford, R. M. (2017). The role of social license in conservation. Conservation Biology, 32(2), 493–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lacey, J., & Lamont, J. (2014). Using social contract to inform social licence to operate: An application in the Australian coal seam gas industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 831–839.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lacey, J., Edwards, P., & Lamont, J. (2016). Social licence as social contract: Procedural fairness and forest agreement-making in Australia. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, 89(5), 489–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luke, H., Brueckner, M., & Emmanouil, N. (2018). Unconventional gas development in Australia: A critical review of its social license. The Extractive Industries and Society, 5(4), 648–662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffat, K., & Zhang, A. (2014). The paths to social licence to operate: An integrative model explaining community acceptance of mining. Resources Policy, 39, 61–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, J. (2014). The social licence: How to keep your organization legitimate. New York, USA: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakes, L. E., Hennon, P. E., Ardoin, N. M., D’Amore, D. V., Ferguson, A. J., Ashley Steel, E., Wittwer, D. T., & Lambin, E. F. (2015). Conservation in a social-ecological system experiencing climate induced tree mortality. Biological Conservation, 192, 276–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ofori, J. J. Y., & Ofori, D. R. (2019). Earning a social license to operate: Perspectives of mining communities in Ghana. The Extractive Industries and Society, 6(2), 531–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, R., & Moffat, K. (2014). Constructing the meaning of social licence. Social Epistemology, 28(3–4), 340–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, R., Lacey, J., & Moffat, K. (2014). Maintaining legitimacy of a contested practice: How the minerals industry understands its ‘social licence to operate’. Resources Policy, 41, 83–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pirson, M., & Malhotra, D. (2011). Foundations of organizational trust: What matters to different stakeholders? Organization Science, 22(4), 817–1120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prno, J., & Slocombe, S. (2012). Exploring the origins of ‘social licence to operate’ in the mining sector: Perspective from governance and sustainability theories. Resources Policy, 37, 346–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richert, C. (2015). Measuring the extent of a social license to operate: The influence of marine biodiversity offsets in the oil and gas sector in Western Australia. Resources Policy, 43, 121–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth, G. (2011). Retaining the social licence: The Australian cotton industry case study. In J. Williams & P. Martin (Eds.), Defending the social licence of farming: Issues, challenges and new directions for agriculture, technology & engineering (pp. 69–82). Clayton, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saenz, C. (2018). The context in mining projects influences the corporate social responsibility strategy to earn a social Licence to operate: A case study in Peru. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(4, 554–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saniei, S., & Kent, M. L. (2021). Social license to operate in crowdfunding campaigns. Public Relations Review, 47, 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smits, C. C. A., Van Leeuwenb, J., & Van Tatenhoveb, J. P. M. (2017). Oil and gas development in Greenland: A social license to operate, trust and legitimacy in environmental governance. Resources Policy, 53, 109–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sonter, L. J., Barrett, D. J., & Soares-Filho, B. S. (2014). Offsetting the impacts of mining to achieve no net loss of native vegetation. Conservation Biology, 28, 1068–1076.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, I., & Boutilier, R. (2011). Social licence to operate. In P. Darling (Ed.), SME mining engineering handbook (3rd ed., pp. 1779–1796). Englewood: Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, D., Kagan, R. A., & Gunningham, N. (2009). When social norms and pressures are not enough: Environmental performance in the trucking industry. Law and Society Review, 43, 405–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Putten, I. E., Cvitanovic, C., Fulton, E., Lacey, J., & Kelly, R. (2018). The emergence of social licence necessitates reforms in environmental regulation. Ecology and Society, 23(3), 24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J., & Martin, P. (2011). Defending the social licence of farming: Issues, challenges and new directions for agriculture, technology & engineering. Clayton, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wüstenhagen, R., Wolsink, M., & Bürer, M. J. (2007). Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept. Energy Policy, 35, 2683–2691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyatt, S. (2016). Aboriginal people and forestry companies in Canada: Possibilities and pitfalls of an informal ‘social licence’ in a contested environment. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, 89(5), 565–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, A., Moffat, K., Lacey, J., Wang, J., Gonzalez, R., Uribe, K., et al. (2015). Understanding the social licence to operate of mining at the national scale: A comparative study of Australia, China and Chile. Journal of Cleaner Production, 108, 1063–1072.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, UK

    James Wallace

  2. School of Business and Management, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK

    Nelarine Cornelius

Authors
  1. James Wallace
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nelarine Cornelius
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nelarine Cornelius .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. London Metropolitan University, Guildhall Faculty of Business and Law London Metropolitan University, London, UK

    Samuel Idowu

  2. Cologne Business School, Ingolstadt, Germany

    René Schmidpeter

  3. College of Business, Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Nicholas Capaldi

  4. International Training Centre of the IL, International Labor Organization, Turin, Italy

    Liangrong Zu

  5. Department of Economics, Society and Politics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy

    Mara Del Baldo

  6. Instituto Politécnico da Guarda, Guarda, Portugal

    Rute Abreu

Section Editor information

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, University of Eastern Finland https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arto_Salonen2

    Arto O. Salonen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Wallace, J., Cornelius, N. (2023). Social License to Operate. In: Idowu, S., Schmidpeter, R., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Del Baldo, M., Abreu, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_451-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_451-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02006-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02006-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation