A Portrait of Corporate Social Responsibility in an Oil and Gas Corporation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

At present, a debate on the nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its positive and negative impacts is taking place from various theoretical and practical perspectives. The purpose of this article is to reveal the contributions of Marathon Oil Corporation’s CSR by exploring “the good, the bad, and the ugly” face of CSR and to examine whether the oil and gas corporation is contributing positively to the environment and society of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. A qualitative approach was employed by identifying the important effects of CSR activities on the environment and society, such as economic development, human rights protection, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and employment. Furthermore, the contextual meaning of the CSR reports on the performance from 2011 to 2015 was studied by using content analysis. The article finding Marathon Oil Corporation has portrayed a good and strong impact, but it does not have visible contributions to the environment and society in Kurdistan.