Identify a corporation in the extractives sector (minerals, metals, precious stones, water, oil etc.) and evaluate its economic contribution and social and environmental damage to the local community where it operates.
Firstly, analyse the perspective of the corporation as expressed through its CSR report and evaluate it (you may do so using the guidelines of Lydenberg and Wood (2010) on How to Read a CSR Report: A User’s Guide). YOU MAY ALSO USE OTHER RELEVANT SOURCES EXPRESSING THE SIDE OF THE CORPORATION (E.G. STATEMENTS OF SENIOR MANAGERS IN THE MEDIA).
Secondly, discuss the key issues arising through the extraction process from the perspective of the local community and international organisations such as non-governmental organisations, the UN or a specific branch of the UN like the International Labour Organisation or the World Health Organisation.
Thirdly, analyse the issues through the prism and theory of distributive justice. Strong group reports generally not only deal with the first and second point, they use distributive justice theories as a lens
to analyse the issues.
A SOURCE OF IDEAS: http://www.corpwatch.org/
REPORT Important structure
The report aims to give the overview of your presentation & your main arguments.
1. Title page (including Author)
2. Introduction (what is the problem and its context –country/region & product/sector-why is it a problem/cause of controversy)
3. Main Body
A. what is the perspective of the corporation, how do you evaluate it, what is the perspective of the local community, NGOs etc., how do you evaluate it, what are the dilemmas involved in this particular case, what is a possible way out
B. Consider the controversy over the rights of extracting the good/the wealth produced as an outcome of the good/the burdens generated as an outcome of extracting the good and discuss how these seem to be distributed at the moment and how they should be distributed. Refer to at least one theory of distributive justice; you may also refer to two to show competing views
4. Conclusions and Recommendations (summarize the dilemmas/controversies involved in this particular case, and what are your conclusions)
5. List of References
Plan your report
Consider, think about, plan the overall structure of your report—that is, what sections it should have, and what the function of each section is. Roughly what should go in each section?
Create an outline
Create an outline for your report that consists of a list of contents and/or a paragraph explaining what each section will be about. Clarify how each section relates to all the others.
Decide roughly how long (how many words or pages) each section should be.
Allow time to:
• work on improving the grammar, overall style and consistency of the report
• read the report carefully and correct spelling errors, references etc.
• tidy up the report (presentation, formatting and layout etc.)
Towards the finished draft, think:
• Is the purpose clear?
• Are the conclusions clear?
• Do all the sections fit together well?
• Does the report address the assessment criteria?
• Are all the required components covered adequately?
• Have I kept within the required word limits?
• What do I like about the report?
• What could I do to make it better?
As a final step, it can be useful to put yourselves in the role of the marker—make comments, give the report a mark for various sections and overall, and check it against the marking criteria.
