The forces that shaped banking practices in the late 1970s and which fostered attempts by the banks to rapidly expand their markets are examined. Why, and to what extent, the Texas energy banks committed themselves to the oil industry in those years, as well as the effects of the oil industry's four-and-one-half year decline on the banks' financial strength is detailed. How banks structured loans to various energy borrowers and why these borrowers lost their ability to service their debts is analyzed. The changes that the Texas banks' painfully learned lessons will bring about in energy and other specialized lending is considered.

This research investigates the shifting political settlements between the Ugandan state and the Bunyoro and Buganda kingdoms after the discovery of oil between 2007 and 2018. It seeks to answer the following questions using a historically, theoretically, and empirically grounded investigation: What accounts for the Bunyoro kingdom’s failure to benefit substantially from the discovery of oil on its territory? What lessons can be learnt from the Buganda kingdom’s relative success in negotiating with the central government and developing its own political and economic capacity independently of the state? The Bunyoro kingdom, located in the oil-rich Albertine Graben region of western Uganda, has failed to access significant economic benefits from the country’s emerging oil sector despite its historical ownership of the land on which the resource is found. This dissertation combines political settlements theory and the concept of extraversion to explain this empirical puzzle. It finds that the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s imposition of an exclusive political settlement in Uganda, coupled with the Bunyoro kingdom’s limited holding power, accounts for the kingdom’s failure to derive financial benefits from the oil sector. The relative marginalisation of the Bunyoro from Uganda’s oil sector results from the NRM’s historical strategy of limiting the power of sub-state groups who are subsequently excluded from the governing coalition. The main beneficiaries of the oil industry in Uganda are political elites within the ruling NRM coalition and their close associates. The Buganda kingdom serves as a control case study and reveals the potential strategies and structural changes the Bunyoro kingdom could pursue to potentially bypass Uganda’s exclusive settlement and therefore benefit from the country’s nascent oil sector. This dissertation also engages with broader debates on the struggles between the state and traditional kingdoms since independence in sub-Saharan Africa and how this intersects with the politics of natural resource governance. Since the inception of the modern state in the colonial era, kingdoms have engaged in a complex and dialogic relationship of indifference, cooperation, and contention with successive governing regimes. Some of the kingdoms challenged and resisted, albeit unsuccessfully the colonial imposition of a central state primarily because it led to their loss of political and economic power. Ultimately, the state and the kingdoms represent dual forms of nationality forced to co-exist in the post-colonial era, and this produces a complex mix of cooperation, contestation and strategic coexistence. The management and exploitation of natural resources, including oil, is embedded in this political context, and is often associated with adverse outcomes, such as rent-seeking, authoritarian governance, and sectarian violence. Some of these dynamics have accompanied the emergence of Uganda’s new oil industry, with political contestation occurring between the state and the Bunyoro kingdom which has unsuccessfully attempted to capture a share of oil revenue.

El presente trabajo de investigación desarrolla una propuesta para mejorar el desempeño de la gestión de inventarios en el almacén de una empresa petrolera, considerando la presencia de demandas no suaves que no se ajustan para ser tratadas como si tuvieran una distribución normal. Una demanda no suave presenta alta variabilidad en la cantidad solicitada y la posibilidad considerable de tener varios periodos sin demanda. El objetivo es mejorar el nivel de servicio al cliente interno sin tener que incrementar el valor de inventario promedio. Se inicia indicando la importancia de la gestión de inventarios en una empresa y explicando cada etapa en la gestión de la demanda, para luego revisar más a detalle los modelos de inventarios tradicionales y así como los que son recomendados para demandas no suaves. En la siguiente parte se examina la situación actual de la gestión de inventarios en el almacén en estudio, obteniendo un diagnóstico de la misma, y exponiendo los aspectos que pueden mejorarse. Por último, se presenta la propuesta que incluye los métodos de pronóstico y los modelos de control de inventarios elegidos según criterios adecuados que consideran la naturaleza y el patrón de la demanda. / This research develops a proposal to improve the performance of inventory management in the warehouse of an oil company, considering the presence of non-smooth demands that do not fit to treat them like if they would have a normal distribution. A non-smooth demand presents high variability on the required quantity and the chance to have several periods without a demand. The objective is to improve the service level for the internal customer without needing to increase the average inventory value. It is started indicating the importance of inventory management in a company and explaining each phase of demand management, then proceeds to review in detail traditional inventory models, as well as, those are recommended for non-smooth demand. The next part examines the current situation of inventory management in the warehouse that is under study, getting a diagnostic of it, and exposing the aspects that can be improved. Finally, is presented the proposal which to include the forecasting methods and the inventory control models, these are chosen according to suitable criteria which to consider the nature and pattern of demand. / Trabajo de investigación

This study investigates the corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercised by the multinational oil companies (MNOCs) operating in the Niger Delta, and its impact on sustainable development (SD) in this important region of Nigeria. Particular focus is given to sustainable improvement in well-being and enhancement of socio-economic development for the local communities. To investigate these, archival from newspapers, magazines documents on CSR in Niger Delta from NGOs, documents from oil company’s websites and interview data from forty participants from the local communities, stakeholders and senior managers from the MNOCs were obtained. The MNOCs’ CSR and SD policies and practices were also inspected from the company’s website and photographs of the local environment around the MNOCs extraction suites and plant were also collected. These data were then analysed using: photo voice, document analysis, constructivist grounded theory, website-based content analysis, and covert participant observation. The study identified discrepancies between the MNOCs declared online CSR and SD policies and practices and those in operation in the Niger Delta region. Our findings also show that local communities are marginalised. To address this, it is argued that Ruggie’s frameworks, Sen’s capability approach for a full life, and Bowen’s list of social goals should be used as guiding principles by the MNOCs in the Niger Delta region. The study offers theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions to the studies of business ethics, international management and international business by offering new insights into CSR and SD. / Nigerian Government; Education Trust Fund (ETF) / On title page: Vol I of II. Only this file was provided.

[Truncated abstract] This thesis reviews the role that contract farming plays in the development process through an examination of the oil palm industry in Ghana and in the Philippines. It contributes to ongoing debates concerning agricultural liberalisation in developing economies. The general view is that while the private sector can provide access to capital, technology and markets, the transition to a market-led system will increase the financial vulnerability of farmers, particularly smallholder farmers, through unequal power relationships. Of particular concern is the capacity of the private sector to alleviate poverty and promote social equity amongst small rural landholders. At the heart of much of the debate is the issue of contract farming, which has increased rapidly in line with structural adjustment in the agricultural sector. One of the central difficulties in drawing any conclusion on whether contract farming should be encouraged or discouraged, is the lack of comparability between the large number of types of schemes, crops being contracted, the `actors' involved and the socio-economic, political and institutional environments in which contract farming schemes are nurtured. This study has focused on the role that contract farming plays in the pursuit of development through an analysis of the key socio-economic issues involved with the adaptation of contract farming in the oil palm industries in the Philippines and in Ghana. This analysis allowed for the identification of conditions under which the impacts of contract farming schemes can either be augmented or mitigated. The research found that cultivating oil palm has the propensity to reward outgrowers with increasing income and a better access to knowledge, information and technology, capital and credit, agricultural inputs, markets and other services. ... The two outgrower programs are presently successful and do not show signs of the major problems identified by researchers in other areas. However, both governments need to ensure that a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework for private sector agricultural development is put in place. A strong private sector could provide the vehicle for agricultural development and the reduction of poverty in the countryside, however, both governments and the various private sector companies engaged in oil palm production need to work in partnership with each other and the outgrower community towards the goal of a diversified and expanded agricultural production base.

This study looks at the economic, political and social history of women in the Yoruba area of south-western Nigeria in the 19th century using contemporary sources which have remained previously largely untapped for historical studies of women. The century encompassed many key historical developments which affected women; in particular, the decline of the Atlantic slave trade and the growth of an export trade in locally produced palm oil and kernels. Whereas the slave trade had been dominated by men, the processing, transport and trade of palm produce was dominated by women. The extent, nature and effects of women's role in this and other industries such as pottery manufacture, dyeing and food vending, which also expanded and developed during this period, are examined. As demand for palm produce and other goods increased, the labour of both free-born and slave women became more valuable since it was vital for industry at all stages. The study looks at changing labour demands and sources and alterations in the established pattern of the sexual and generational division of labour. Important changes in gender relations are evident and the study illuminates how tensions between men and women and between women themselves were manifest and how both men and women expressed and dealt with these problems. Economic changes were accompanied by largely internal political developments which favoured a few wealthy women. overall, many men perceived and/or experienced that increasing female autonomy posed a threat to the established patriarchal order. The evidence represented in the thesis clearly shows how men attempted to subordinate women in general, tap into their income and limit their political involvement, mainly through the development of exploitative and restrictive aspects of male-dominated politico-religious cults, which were directed specifically at women.

During the last decades, climate change studies have been focusing more intensely on its anthopocenic essence, as the consequence of production and consumption patterns that require the intensive exploitation of the environment. In line with this school of thought, and new generations of studies on environmental crime, this work aims to present the environmentally and climate-related issues arising from land degradation in the Peruvian Amazon; focusing on those casual mechanisms developed from the collusion between Peruvian-economic policies and new private actors such as transnational corporations (TNCs). Relying on the assumption that: the processes moving the issue of climate change overcome the global space, and can be observed from regional, national or local point of view; this work's purpose is to analyze how a single country as Peru, currently considered of low ecological footprint, could, by means of the definition of national laws (environmentally and economic-related) burden climate change. The analysis focuses on a single case-study identified with the territory within the Northern Ucayali and Southern Loreto regions in Peru, and builds on the theory of state-corporate crime developed in the 1990s by Ronald C. Kramer and Raymond J. Michalowski to define the role of state-corporate relationships in the production of social harms. To show how this relationship is today shaping the globally spread issue of climate change, the analysis of the palm oil industry in Ucayali is presented as main example of a broader phenomenon of transgression and partnership between private and public spheres in Peru. In this optic, the purpose is to give further contributions to the studies of climate change as state-corporate crime, focusing on the analysis of those territory, as the Amazon, whose preservation has been identified as mayor tool against global warming and which is instead harmed by the relation between private and governments interests.

The main body of this thesis is composed of four chapters: Chapter II is concerned with the development of the oil industry in Texas prior to the discovery of Spindletop; Chapter III deals with Spindletop; Chapter IV sets forth the later developments of the oil industry in Southeast Texas or Railroad Commission District No. 3; Chapter V is the concluding chapter, complete with summary, evaluation present status and future possibilities of the oil industry in Southeast Texas.

The rapid and continuous deterioration of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria in the last four decades has been a major source of concern for the government and practitioners. Hence, the region has been the subject of continuous conflicts and violence between the host communities and the oil producing companies. Despite the effort of the government and practitioners, none have looked at the relationship elements and/or the quality of relationship between these two key stakeholders within the context of the Nigeria oil and gas industry. This research study makes a new contribution to the field of relationship marketing in the area of relationship quality by providing a detailed understanding of relationship elements, and determinants and dimensions of relationship quality. The research study focuses on the oil producing company to host community relationship in the Niger delta region of Nigeria, which was investigated in detail. A qualitative approach was adopted as it is considered appropriate for the research focus, which was to investigate and assess the understanding of different community actors in respect to the quality of relationship between the oil producing companies and host communities in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. In addition, explore how these actors described both the relationship elements and relationship quality constructs, and related this to their understanding of the relationship between the oil producing company and host community. Semi-structured interviews, as the primary method of data collection were conducted with different community actors. The literature review, as the secondary method of data collection were primarily used as a tool to double check and validate the interview findings. Sixteen community actors provided their views and opinions of the relationship between the oil producing companies with the host communities in the region. This research study extended the application of relationship quality frameworks that were conducted in a developed economic environment such as the United Kingdom and United States of America to a developing economic environment such as Nigeria through the replication of these frameworks and re-testing their constructs and propositions in order to develop a detailed and comprehensive framework of relationship quality in the context of a business-to-community (B2Com) relationship in a unique commercial context. In addition, this research study uncovered the importance of mutual goal and culture of the community people in addition to pre-identified constructs (i.e. mutual benefit, communication, control mutuality) as the key determinants of relationship quality for the oil producing company when engaging the host community in the relationship building process. This research study also explored the research on dimensions of relationship quality subjecting its main constructs (i.e. trust, satisfaction and commitment) to a rigorous qualitative test. Doing this, the finding further emphasised some consensus between these dimensions of relationship quality. In addition, the developed framework highlighted the importance of including the relationship elements (i.e. actor bonds, resource ties and activity links) when assessing the quality of the relationship between business and its community. In conclusion, this research document recommendations (such as, the local community forming a complete and harmonious whole when relating with external bodies, the need for international oil and gas companies in Nigeria to gain adequate and appropriate insight and understanding into the role(s) played by each of the actors within the Niger Delta community, and the importance of oil and gas practitioners developing and maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship in the region) for various stakeholders within the NOGI.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries