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WHEN Sir Eric Mensforth — now, appropriately, President of the Institution of Production Engineers — presented the 1964 Lord Sempill Paper of ‘Background to the Production of Helicopters and Hovercraft’ in April of that year, he remarked on the hovercraft being still in its infancy and on the ‘state of constant and exciting advance’. Sir Eric, at that time, was able to refer to the in‐service achievements of the 27 ton SR.N2 and the 37 ton SR.N3, the beginning of manufacture of the 7 ton SR.N5, and the projected 160 ton SR.N4 — all in the five short years since the advent of the original 4 ton SR.N1 research vehicle in 1959.

Global/national policy planning is guided by economic methods and predictions of growth, where indicators of success are measured according to a dominant view of progress and sustainable development. Yet, despite widespread ratification of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples remain unrepresented in this dominant view. The structural and historical forces informing global policy thus inadvertently produce a pathway of development that is characterized by political, economic, and social exclusion where Indigenous Peoples’ agency, heritage, and culture remain marginalized. I argue that socio-cultural nuance (“the complete story”) is critical to policy planning if we are to honor the principal aim of the Sustainable Development Goals – “leave no-one behind”. This and other policy frameworks need an approach that is neither framed by Eurocentric objectives nor bound by measurable indicators. This requires consideration of Indigenous Worldviews in a way that mediates diverse social, economic, and political factors. In this chapter, I examine the limitations in current policy consultation practice, with a specific focus on the extractive industries sector, and examine the ways in which engagement with Indigenous Peoples’ “complete story” might inform policy in the pursuit of a sustainable development that leaves no-one behind and creates a bridge between dominant and marginalized forms of knowledge.

This paper aims to highlight blind spots in the discourse of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stretch the boundaries of existent CSR frameworks within the particular context of resource extraction and with regard to the particular stakeholder group of Indigenous peoples in Canada. This context is important in light of the recommendations from the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as they relate to initiatives that businesses may take towards reconciliation with Indigenous people.

This paper brings together a disparate body of literature on CSR, Indigenous spiritual values and experiences of extractive practices on Indigenous ancestral lands. Suggestions are offered for empirical research and projects that may advance the project of reconciliation.

CSR may not be an appropriate framework for reconciliation without alteration to its managerial biases and ideological assumptions. The CSR discourse needs to accommodate the “free prior and informed consent” of Indigenous peoples and their spiritual values and knowledge vis-à-vis the land for resource extractive practices to edge towards being socially responsible when they occur on Canadian ancestral territories.

Canadian society exists in a post-TRC world, which demands that we reconcile with our past of denying Indigenous values and suppressing the cultures of Indigenous peoples from flourishing. This paper aspires to respond to the TRC’s recommendation for how businesses in the resource extractive industries may engage meaningfully and authentically with Indigenous people in Canada as a step towards reconciliation.

The study investigates the role of corporate social responsibility initiatives and employee support in promoting sustainable livelihood among indigenous communities in India.

The study has conducted personal interviews with 326 beneficiaries of Tata Steel Foundation, residing in East Singhbhum and Saraikela Kharswan districts in Jharkhand, India. Structural equation modelling is used to empirically examine the effect of CSR initiatives and employee support on sustainable livelihood development.

The findings underscore the importance of employee support in ensuring the effective execution of CSR projects and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods for its indigenous beneficiaries. CSR initiatives significantly contributed towards the achievement of sustainable livelihood, in which employee support acts as partial mediation.

Government agencies must collaborate with corporations to promote projects focusing on the sustainable livelihood of vulnerable communities. Livelihood-generating activities like entrepreneurship and self-employment must be encouraged to foster a sustainable and reliable structure of wealth creation, employment and survival.

This paper enriches existing literature on CSR communication by emphasising the importance of employee support in CSR projects towards organisational performance. The philosophy of external CSR communication and CSR theory has also been extended in addressing the issues of sustainability and equality in livelihood development.

We develop a conceptual framework as a basis for thinking about the impact of extractive industries and emancipatory potential of alternative accounts. We then review selected alternative accounts literature on some contemporary issues surrounding the extractive industries and identify opportunities for accounting, auditing, and accountability research. We also provide an overview of the other contributions in this special issue.

Drawing on alternative accounts from the popular and social media as well as the alternative accounting literature, this primarily discursive paper provides a contemporary literature review of identified issues within the extractive industries highlighting potential areas for future research. The eight papers that make up the special issue are located within a conceptual framework is employed to illustrate each paper’s contribution to the field.

While accounting has a rich literature covering some of the issues detailed in this paper, this has not necessarily translated to the extractive industries. Few studies in accounting have got “down and dirty” so to speak and engaged directly with those impacted by companies operating in the extractive industries. Those that have, have focused on specific areas such as the Niger Delta. Although prior studies in the social governance literature have tended to focus on disclosure issues, it is questionable whether this work, while informative, has resulted in any meaningful environmental, social or governance (ESG) changes on the part of the extractive industries.

The extensive extractive industries literature both from within and outside the accounting discipline makes a comprehensive review impractical. Drawing on both the accounting literature and other disciplines, this paper identifies areas that warrant further investigation through alternative accounts.

This paper and other contributions to this special issue provide a basis and an agenda for accounting scholars seeking to undertake interdisciplinary research into the extractive industries.

“FORMAL classes on how to use a library would be an insult to the intelligence of the student.” This was an extreme reply mentioned in the Report of the Committee on Libraries, with reference to a questionnaire to academic staff about instruction in library use. This view of the teaching activities of librarians with students must be familiar to all librarians whether they are concerned with formal teaching activities or not. Nevertheless it is suggested that, in the current climate of change in the nature of sixth form studies, and the need for bibliographic training as part of a general education leading to informed library users in the academic and professional world, there is now a strong case for an examined course of study at “A” level G.C.E. incorporating the principles of bibliographical knowledge for users.

African countries are endowed with both human and natural resources. These resources constitute integral components for any economic development due to the long-lasting relationship with all sectors in an economy, yet there is an obvious disagreement between growing economy and employment generation in Africa. Though there has been a growing pattern of economic size, particularly the gross domestic product (GDP) among African countries, most of these economies are low in human development. The disagreement between economic growth and employment generation in Africa despite abundant natural resources located on the continent calls for public discourse among scholars. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine the peculiar drivers of unemployment intensity in a region characterized by endowed resources.

The paper adopts two approaches; the authors employed the pooled mean group (PMG) estimator and utilised stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to generate a government efficiency index between the period 1991 and 2017 among sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries.

The empirical results through the single output-multiple inputs framework indicate that on average, there is a low level of government efficiency towards increasing the objective of human development in Africa. However, in the long run, natural resource endowment has a positive and significant relationship with employment generation for SSA. Hence, the study established that a low level of government efficiency has a long-lasting effect on low human development experienced in Africa.

The need to improve the level of government efficiency towards economic development by making both human and physical capital more effective will spur the exploration of natural resources.

The paper provides an empirical study of the effectiveness and efficiency of government through PMG and SFA in establishing the relationship between government approaches and employment level in selected SSA countries.

Background: Amid increasing leadership failures in the global business context, the mining industry is one of the industries with many adverse incidents, affecting employee safety, the environment, and surrounding communities. Emerging economies tend to have unique socio-economic challenges and greater relative economic dependence on mining, presenting unique challenges to leaders. The purpose of this research was to study the realities of responsible leadership in the mining industry in an emerging economy.

Methods: A qualitative research study, consisting of semi-structured interviews was conducted. Nine senior mine managers were selected to represent perspectives from different operations and mining houses. Data was gathered from August to October 2020 in South Africa, an emerging economy with significant mining operations. A thematic analysis of interview transcripts was conducted through the use of software, rendering five themes, with 12 sub-themes.

Results: The research found that requirements on mining leaders in emerging economies demand consistent balancing of a complex set of competing risks, whilst attending to paradoxical requirements among operations, and internal and external stakeholders. Leaders face several competing requirements from stakeholders, the environment, mining practices, and time frames. Responsible leaders must navigate a paradoxical maze of needs and time horizons, with several conflicting forces and dilemmas, and dichotomous relationships. Responsible leadership in the mining industry of an emerging economy is a proverbial minefield of paradoxes and dilemmas between responsible intentions and practical realities. These paradoxes and dilemmas are specifically acute in the context of emerging economies due to the dire socio-economic situations. A total of 10 competencies emerged as essential responsible leadership requirements in this context.

Conclusions: The study provides an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of responsible leadership in the mining industry of an emerging economy. This understanding will contribute to capacitating leaders in the mining industries of emerging economies to act responsibly.

The purpose of this paper is to canvass the views of villagers from a remote region of Papua New Guinea (PNG) on food security issues in their community and their level of satisfaction with food security initiatives provided by the extractive company that operated on their land.

Qualitative design: data gathered through 14 semi-structured, face-to-face interviews and a discussion forum with 20 villagers from Pawa. Purposive sampling. Snow-balling method of recruitment.

Food security was identified as a growing concern among the villagers, who also expressed dissatisfaction with the food security projects offered through the corporate social responsibility (CSR) program offered by the company operating on their land. Communication problems between company and community and lack of trust were evident.

Possibility of self-selection bias among participants. The perspective of the company was under-represented.

The study highlights the need for CSR practitioners to be mindful of the importance of effective communication with local communities.

The study reveals the importance of meaningful dialogue between company and host communities, which can lead to a more efficient allocation of resources and empowerment of host communities.

The study bridges a research gap in the field of CSR in developing countries because food security, as a CSR issue in PNG communities, is under-researched. The study contributes to a better understanding of company –community relations in PNG and how these relations can be improved through a more normative approach to CSR. It also highlights the importance of empowering host communities through meaningful dialogue.

This viewpoint aims to discuss some potential problems of institutional approaches such as social value creation in India and China.

In this viewpoint, institutional approaches as social value creation in India and China have been discussed and compared.

Government-driven institutional approaches may not be efficient because the involvement of political interests would prevail in countries with low institutional quality, firms focusing on international markets need to adopt global guidelines and regulatory guidelines set by governments and private sectors could ignore the differences and needs of various stakeholders.

This viewpoint argues the importance of communications and collaborations among governments, private sectors and other stakeholders in creating social values.