Corporate social responsibility in Latin America's petroleum industry: a national oil company's strategy for sustainable development

National oil companies (NOCs) now control the majority of globally proved oil reserves but formal research into their social and environmental performance is scant. In a region of the world where poverty, environmental degradation, unemployment, poor access to health care and infrastructure services are ongoing realities, corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Latin America offers potential for net positive impact. We examine the particular case of a Latin American NOC's efforts to improve its social licence to operate by engaging communities as part of a broader sustainable development strategy for its last large oil field. Organisational strategic bridging is explored as a vehicle for the NOC to embark on CSR strategies in Latin America. In this emerging field, there is a place for ethically oriented business researchers to act as CSR-sustainable development practitioners going beyond the purely observational role of management academics towards application of participatory action research methods.