روابط سازمانی - عمومی: اکتشاف اپراتورهای گروهپترولیوم Sundre

This study explored the organization–public relationship (OPR) within the context of the Sundre Petroleum Operators Group (SPOG) and the local community in Sundre, Alberta, Canada. A qualitative orientation was adopted because of the case study's focus on the individual experience of the relationship and the interest was to explore how the relationship was perceived by the people involved. Key relational elements such as trust, transparency, dialogue, control mutuality, commitment and satisfaction were examined in relation to the importance for relationship building and maintenance. In-depth interviews were conducted with both SPOG industry and community members (N = 18). The results indicated that after a crisis transparency was critical for rebuilding trust which was the foundation for the development of the industry–community relationship. Other relational elements were also considered important for maintaining healthy OPRs, but were considered secondary in relation to trust.

In the late 1990s public relations research increased its focus on the importance for organizations to build mutually beneficial relationships with their key publics, which had an impact on the organization's license to operate. This relational perspective in public relations was initially discussed as early as 1984 by Ferguson but was not taken up seriously as a research area until a number of key academics started publishing in this area (Broom, Casey, & Ritchey, 2000; Bruning & Ledingham, 1999; Grunig & Huang, 2000; Hon & Grunig, 1999; Huang, 2001; Ledingham & Bruning, 2000). Theory development and research into the area of organization–public relationships (OPRs) has continued. In 2003 Ledingham proposed the following theory of relationship management as the general theory for public relations which suggests that collaboration is necessary: “Effectively managing organizational–public relationships around common interests and shared goals, over time, results in mutual understanding and benefit for interacting organizations and publics.” (p. 190). Academic interest in OPRs mirrored the need in practice for organizations to understand, listen, and develop a dialogue with their important publics so that crises originating from organizational activities were reduced. This ‘cost reduction’ perspective can be linked with the ideas of sociologist Ulrich Beck (1992, cited in L’Etang, 2007) who proposed that alongside the benefits of industrialization and globalization there were also risks created by organizational activity. Whilst organizations reap benefits from their activities there are also negative as well as positive consequences which may impact their publics and in turn could have implications for the organizations’ social license to operate. Within the relationship management perspective the negative consequences of an organization's activity causes tension in the OPR that needs to be addressed in order for the relationship to continue. Much of the literature and research on OPRs is from the perspective of the organization and has a corporate bias. In this perspective publics that are not supportive of the organization's goals are viewed negatively and the organization is required to ‘win them over’ or placate them. However, if the OPR is viewed as a collaborative relationship where the parties involved participate in the decision-making processes the public involved is no longer viewed as being problematic but rather as a partner. The relational paradigm provides an opportunity to shift the perspective away from the organization being viewed as the central point in a stakeholder map and instead focus on relationships which are considered important for maintaining the organization's social license to operate and provide organizational legitimacy. OPRs have been categorized into different relationship types such as exchange and communal (Clark & Mills, 1993), as well as covenantal, exploitative, and contractual (Hung, 2005). Exchange relationships rely on the relational parties to exchange benefits with each other whereas in communal relationships the relational parties have no expectation of an exchange of benefits but merely provide benefits in an altruistic fashion. An exchange relationship often breaks down because it has degraded into an exploitative relationship where one party takes advantage of the other without the reciprocal exchange of benefits. Whilst communal relationships are an ideal state their existence is doubtful. Contractual relationships are similar to legal agreements in that both parties agree on their roles and responsibilities whereas covenantal relationships are based upon collaboration and cooperation for the common good, with the ‘win–win’ outcome in mind.

SPOG was considered to be a success by those involved in the OPR as well as by the EUB and has supported the development of other community groups throughout Alberta. SPOG was viewed as being a ‘real’ synergy group because it included both industry and community members, whereas some other groups only had community membership and were more akin to activist groups. With the increase in population growth in the Sundre area the pressures continue and there is a need for new residents to be informed regarding SPOG's role in developing and maintaining the industry–community relationship. SPOG will need to keep developing and educating new community members in order to keep the momentum going, especially as some of the community members start to ‘retire’ from their active roles, such as chairing committees, participating in the decision-making process and volunteering. On-going work with petroleum operators new to the SPOG region will also be required in order to ‘educate’ them regarding the community expectations otherwise the reputation of the SPOG industry members could be damaged by non-SPOG industry members and strain the relationship. The approach adopted by the oil and gas industry and the community in the Sundre region has developed a long-term relationship. SPOG's vision and goals were developed collaboratively and were heavily influenced by the work of Stephen Covey, meaning the approach to conflict resolution was ‘win–win’ where possible. A direct outcome and benefit of this relational approach has been the reduction in EUB hearings which provided industry with significant savings and improved community relations as families were no longer ‘torn apart’ during the hearing process which previously was acrimonious. This long-term approach to relationship building supported Ledingham's (2003, p. 190) theory of relationship management which emphasized that by managing relationships around “common interests and shared goals” the relational parties benefited. Transparency was identified as a critical condition for developing trust as community members could readily see that industry responded to their concerns with seriousness and commitment. Transparency enabled both collaboration and cooperation between the industry and the community which supported previous research (Parks and Hilbert, 1995, cited in De Cremer & Dewitte, 2002). It was because information was readily available for the community to access and opportunities for a dialogue with the industry existed that levels of trust, commitment and satisfaction increased whilst there was a decrease in the community's level of frustration. This supported Frombrun and Rindova's proposal that as information availability increased there was also an increase in trust and credibility and a decrease in the alienation of strategic publics (2000, cited in Christensen, 2002, p. 265). Other relational elements were considered important but it was clear that trust was of critical importance and thus transparency was viewed as an enabler for developing trust and the OPR. The OPR researched was an example of an exchange relationship which degraded into an exploitative relationship and led to a crisis. In rebuilding the relationship it developed into a covenantal/win–win relationship as the industry and community members realized that they needed to engage with each other in order for both to benefit with win–win outcomes. Both the SPOG industry and community members are interdependent within the OPR and the participative approach ensured the community felt it could influence the decision-making process. SPOG industry members thought the community's concerns were not motivated by the ‘not in my backyard’ (NIMBY) syndrome but rather their motives were concerned more with environmental preservation for future generations. An interesting and unexpected finding in the research was the impact and enduring influence of Covey's (2004)The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey's language was integrated into SPOG and both industry and community members referenced it. By integrating Covey's language SPOG's industry and community members created a shared system of meaning which supported their collaborative approach to finding ‘win–win’ outcomes. The Covey training also provided a framework for both industry and community members to use when resolving conflict, which aligns with having a covenantal relationship instead of an exchange or exploitative one. Whilst there is research on management gurus ( Jackson, 2001) there has been little research into how management fashions such as Covey's effectiveness approach are actually consumed and implemented in practice. Further research exploring the influence of management gurus and management fashions adopted or promoted by senior management involved in OPRs could illuminate how these approaches translate into practice and impact an organization's external relationships.