Assessing stakeholders' salience transition effects on social practices in the resources industry in the Surat Basin, Queensland - empirical analysis

Assessing stakeholders' salience transition effects on social practices in the resources industry in the Surat Basin, Queensland - empirical analysis

Amidst the increased number of socio-ethical scandals that have hit the resource industry and created irreversible socio-economic and environmental damages, there is growing recognition for sustainable working models primarily focused on recoupling economic successes with social progress. Keeping in perspective the complexity of planning such a socio-economic system, the fundamental purpose of this research is to provide sufficient clarity on how stakeholder groups can acquire missing salience status, and the extent of salience effects on outcomes of social practices like partnership performance, stakeholder orientation strategies and CSR practices.

Following the aim of this study, this study follows the publication-based PhD thesis approach in its presentations of study outcomes. The research deals with five research questions (RQs), three key objectives, and eight research outputs (papers), which focus on salience transition effects on corporate social practices under consideration. The Surat Resource Region in Queensland, Australia, is the case study for the research. With regards to the research questions of this study, a mixed method approach which involved both qualitative and quantitative data collection (e.g. interviews, FGDs and surveys); deduction and induction reasoning; confirmation and discovery; theory/hypothesis testing and theory/ hypothesis generation; statistical analysis and thematic analysis; and explanation and exploration, were considerably used.

The findings of this research demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between stakeholder salience transition and corporate social practices outcomes. The study findings indicate three broad outcomes. Firstly, the salience transition effect can help restructure decision-making process within partnership systems, such that the process tends to be more articulating than imposing of corporate values. Secondly, with regards to corporate stakeholder orientation strategies, findings showed that the educational status of a stakeholder, one key underlying salience factor, is critical in determining whether a stakeholder will embrace or oppose a social practice of the firm. Thus, the need for awareness programs to be incorporated into social policies. Thirdly, it became evident that salience transition of a stakeholder does influence firms’ attitudes towards CSR practices. Findings showed that the role played by salient stakeholders within the vicinity of the firm encourages more robust managerial skills among managers in handling their social roles in society.

Findings from this study generate theoretical and policy implications, which aims to add to the stream of knowledge in the field of CSR, stakeholder and the partnership literature, as well as making suggestions and recommendations for resource policy planning future studies. Also, findings can practically impact corporate behaviour and strategies in resource development processes.