Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil is listed as one of the worldÐ''s largest fortune 500 companies according to Fortune Magazine, 2006. Because of its size, I became interested in this company for my research paper on corporate social responsibility.

Exxon Mobile has a rich history that dates back to 1859. It all started when two individuals drilled an oil well in Pennsylvania. In 1870, Rockefeller and his associates formed the Standard Oil Company. Many businessmen, such as Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers began to depend on oil for their inventions. In 1926, Standard Oil Company changed its name to Esso. In 1959, the company developed a famous slogan Ð'"put a tiger in your tank.Ð'" In 1972, the company changes its name to the Exxon Corporation (www.exxonmobil.com).

On March 24 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince Williams sound, Alaska. This was a tragic accident that the company deeply regrets. It all began when the Valdez was traveling towards California when it hit a coral reef. As a result, of this accident, significant quantities of oil began to seep into the waters. According to most, the action to contain the spill was slow. As a result, the media blamed Exxon for not responding fast enough to the crises. Many of the wildlife including birds, fish and other mammals were killed because of ExxonÐ''s slow response to the spill. This spill became the l

largest spill ever in U.S waters. The company unfortunately had to pay an estimated amount of

$2.1 billion dollars in clean up operations for the spill (Business Ethics, Exxon Valdez pages 396-405).

After the Valdez incident Exxon Mobil realized that something had to be done if they were to shine in the publics eyes once again. They realized that they had to take on the worlds toughest energy challenges and develop a mindset of corporate citizenship. The term Ð'"corporate citizenshipÐ'" according to dictionary.com can be defined as: The extent to which businesses are socially responsible in meeting legal, ethical and economic responsibilities placed on them by shareholders. The aim to create a higher standard of living and quality of life in the community in which it operates, while preserving the profitability of the company for itÐ''s stakeholders both within and outside the company. The 6 areas of corporate citizenship Exxon chose include: education, health, community development, environment, safety and worldwide giving. Exxon Mobil believes that the key to progress is education. When it comes to the communities they operate in they strive to be a responsible partner. In the area of education, their most important subjects are Math and Science. These subjects play an important role in the energy business. Exxon has a variety of higher education programs to encourage minorities and women to pursue degrees in these subjects. They also host a summer job program for college students which consists of an 8 week paid internship where the student s participate in non-profit work. (exxonmobile.com)

Another corporate citizenship program that Exxon Mobil offers is the Green Team. This is an employment program for youths where jobs range form construction

projects to environmental projects for economically depressed neighborhoods and public parks. (CSR report)

When it comes to health, Exxon Mobile believes that good health is a good path toward development, opportunity and achievement. They also support programs concerning worldwide health issues. They began the African Health Initiative in 2000 where their goals were to fight the spreading of Malaria. The company spent over 40 million dollars with this project.(CSR Report)

Another campaign they started is called Ð'"Stop AIDSÐ'". The goals of this campaign were to keep their employees and contractors safe from the AIDS virus. And, to educate HIV positive workers how to live safely with this illness. (CSR Report)

ExxonÐ''s idea of community development is to gain mutual trust and respect of the partnerships they create. This is an important aspect of corporate citizenship. Some of the other things that Exxon does involves participation in human rights and capacity building. They promote respect for human rights in the communities in which they operate. They promote economic and social development by providing people with the knowledge and skills necessary to do so. (CSR report)

Save The Tiger Fund was started as a partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The main purpose of these fund is to address the threats that tigers are facing and to promote tiger conservation by educating the Ð'"next generationÐ'".

Exxon support the Leuser Ecosystem which is located in Indonesia. This foundation helps preserve the most biologically diverse ecosystem in the world. When it comes to safety

their motto is Ð'"Nobody Gets Hurt.Ð'" This motto provides for an incident

free workplace. To further assist in the safety of their employees and contractors, they have safety teams and safety surveys to address this issue. They also have emergency response teams on all major sites that are specially trained in spills, fires, explosions as well as other things that could endanger their employees and contractors. (CSR report)

Worldwide giving is very important to the Exxon company, they support worldwide programs in health, education and biodiversity. They donate cash goods and services to communities all around the globe. The examples that I have given above demonstrate how Exxon Mobile is serious about its corporate citizenship. (CSR report)

The Exxon company is a 125 year old company that started out as a regional marketer of kerosene. They are the worldÐ''s largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. Their brands around the world include Exxon, Esso, and Mobil. Exxon Mobil is a leader in many aspects of business. They market there products in many countries around the world, they are also exploring in six continents for natural gas and oil. They have 50 facilities in which they operate in the petrochemical operations