Corporate Social Responsibility for Engineering: Home
Librarian
Quick Links
- Towards Sustainable Mining - The Mining Association of CanadaResources related to the TSM program from the Mining Association of Canada.
- Canadian Assoc. of Petroleum ProducersEnvironmental Action and Conservation from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
- CSR Checklist for Canadian Mining Companies Working AbroadGovernment of Canada checklist for mining companies that are active in other countries.
- Natural Resources Canada: Responsible MiningNatural Resources Canada page with responsible mining resources.
- GRI - Global Reporting InitiativeWebsite for the international Global Reporting Initiative, which sets out standards and guidelines for CSR reporting.
Engineering Library Learning Commons
Engineering Library Learning Commons Homepage
Location
The Engineering Library Learning Commons can be found on the first floor of the Engineering Building, directly beyond the Main entrance.
Map of the Engineering Building
Campus map to the Engineering Building
What is Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility?
In 1987, the United Nations defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". (accessed November 29, 2016, at http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/65/issues/sustdev.shtml)
According to Natural Resources Canada:
"Corporate social responsibility (CSR)... can be defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company, over and above legal requirements, to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner... [and] is an industry response to managing social risk." (p. 5) [Accessed August 1, 2023]
Information about companies CSR efforts can be found in a variety of places. Companies report on and refer to their activities that fall within CSR in a number of ways. Sometimes their are specific CSR or sustainability reports or sections of their website. They also report on these activities in their annual reports and information sheets. There is also media coverage of companies that includes information about their CSR-related activities.
Online Resources
Many companies' produce reports that outline their environmental, community, and charitable programs. These can be stand alone reports, like the example below from the Saskatchewan Research Council, or websites with sections for each of their programs, like the example from PotashCorp. Sometimes it takes some investigation to find the information, which is also commonly under the heading of "sustainability" or "risk".
- SRC Corporate Responsibility Report 2011-2012SRC CSR report example.
- PotashCorp SustainabilityLink to the Sustainabilty section of PotashCorp's website.
- Cameco Sustainable Development Report, 2016Interactive Sustainable Development report, in GRI Index format, by Cameco for 2016.
- ABI/INFORM CollectionBusiness collection includes articles from journals, magazines and newspapers (Wall Street Journal); business/economics dissertations, country profiles, Business Monitor and First Research market research reports etc. The Economist articles (text only) are here.
Formerly ABI/INFORM Complete.
Access Note: Browse option features market research/country report series. - Academic Search Complete (ASC)
A comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database indexing journals, including thousands of peer-reviewed journals. Abstracts and indexes are also included for monographs, conference proceedings, and reports.
- Business Source EliteA full text database of business publications dating back to 1985. Features company profiles from Datamonitor. Updated daily. Also searches Regional Business News, which provides full text coverage for regional business publications from all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States.
- ScopusA very large abstract and index database of research literature and quality web sources covering the science, technology, and medicine (STM), and social sciences.
- Google Scholar
You can find the Library's full text holdings in Google Scholar. Just look for the "FindIt!" or "FullText" links on the right side of the screen, beside each search result.
Access Note: To enable "FindIt!" on your home computer: On the Google Scholar page navigate to "Settings" > "Library links" > Search for University of Saskatchewan > Ensure all two checkboxes are marked > Save.
- SEDARCanadian Securities Administrators (CSA) provides access to most public securities documents and information filed by public companies and investment funds. Documents such as annual reports, quarterly reports and announcements.
- ABI/INFORM CollectionBusiness collection includes articles from journals, magazines and newspapers (Wall Street Journal); business/economics dissertations, country profiles, Business Monitor and First Research market research reports etc. The Economist articles (text only) are here.
Formerly ABI/INFORM Complete.
Access Note: Browse option features market research/country report series.
Reference Books
The Rise of Global Corporate Social Responsibility by
Combining insights from international relations theory with institutional approaches from organization theory and public policy, this book provides a complete explanation for the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), showing how global norms influenced CSR adoption in the mining industry. Global normative developments have clearly had an important influence on major mining companies: by the mid 2000s the majority had adopted sustainable development as a normative frame for their CSR policies and practices. However, there is significant variation between firms in terms of the timing, degree of commitment and the willingness to assume a leadership role in promoting global standards for the mining industry. The author finds that attributes internal to the firm, including the critical role of leadership, and the way in which management responds to the institutional context and operational challenges faced in different countries are important influences on CSR adoption and important factors explaining variation.
Call Number: HD9506 .A2D37 2012ISBN: 9781107015531Publication Date: 2012-08-23
Community Futures, Legal Architecture by
How are indigenous and local people faring in their dealings with mining and related industries in the first part of the 21st century? The unifying experience in all the resource-rich states covered in the book is the social and economic disadvantage experienced by indigenous peoples and local communities, paradoxically surrounded by wealth-producing projects. Another critical commonality is the role of law. Where the imposition of statutory regulation is likely to result in conflict with local people, some large modern corporations have shown a preference for alternatives to repressive measures and expensive litigation. Ensuring that local people benefit economically is now a core goal for those companies that seek a social licence to operate to secure these resources. There is almost universal agreement that the best use of the financial and other benefits that flow to indigenous and local people from these projects is investment in the economic participation, education and health of present generations and accumulation of wealth for future generations. There is much hanging on the success of these strategies: it is often asserted that they will result in dramatic improvements in the status of indigenous and local communities. What happens in practice is fascinating, as the contributors to this book explain in case studies and analysis of legal and economic problems and solutions.
Call Number: K3904 .C66 2012ISBN: 9780415518215Publication Date: 2012-04-12
Corporate Social Responsibility in the Mining Industries by
Based on the concept of corporate social responsibility, this book analyses modern approaches adopted by mining companies that could minimise negative impacts of mining and enhance positive benefits to corporate stakeholders. Using a case study of two mining sectors (gold and diamond mining) the book evaluates policies and practices of mining companies within four key areas of corporate social responsibility: environmental protection, health and safety, employee relations and community development. Also included is an assessment of three models for community development that are developed within the mining industries: company-led approach, establishment of corporate foundation and tri-sector partnership. The study analyses management of corporate social responsibility issues with specific reference to mining in the Russian Federation and provides a comparison with global mining companies.
Call Number: HD60 .Y34 2005ISBN: 0754642682Publication Date: 2005-08-28
