Die Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der Definition von Corporate Social Performance im ersten Teil. Hierbei wird zuerst geklärt, weshalb eine Definition notwendig ist und ob in empirischen Studien verwendete Maße die verwendeten Definitionen abbilden. Nachfolgend wird ein Definitionsvorschlag aus bekannten Definitionen entwickelt. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wird geklärt, welche Faktoren dazu führen, dass Unternehmen eine soziale Berichterstattung haben und ob diese Art der Berichterstattung auch zur finanziellen Leistung von Unternehmen beitragen kann.

Wissenschaft und Praxis stimmen darin überein, dass Status eine hohe organisatorische Relevanz besitzt. Angesichts dieser Bedeutung und gleichzeitig existierender Defizite in der organisationswissenschaftlichen Erforschung des Phänomens ist es das Ziel der Dissertation, Auswirkungen von Status auf das Verhalten von Organisationsmitgliedern zu erklären und zu bewerten. Es wird untersucht, wann Organisationsmitglieder nach höherem Status streben und wann Organisationsmitglieder mit unterschiedlichem Status ihre Zusammenarbeit aufgrund von Statusdifferenzen einschränken. Die theoretisch-konzeptionellen Analysen indizieren dabei einen Trade-off zwischen dem Nutzen einer Statusdifferenzierung, in Form zusätzlicher Möglichkeiten zur Motivation und Steuerung von Organisationsmitgliedern, und den Kosten der Statusdifferenzierung, die vor allem durch Einschränkungen der Zusammenarbeit aufgrund von Statusdifferenzen entstehen. Eine Untersuchung des Einflusses ausgewählter organisatorischer Prozesse und Strukturen bestätigt diesen Trade-off.

The work of an engineer is closely intertwined with safety. An engineer’s perception of the “safety” task is traditionally inherent in his or her design. However, in the technical world most machines and systems designed by engineers contain a human element, which engineers have to consider in their work. In the oil and gas upstream industry – especially drilling, production and workover operations – petroleum engineers (including drilling and production engineers) are responsible not only for design but also for operational and organizational aspects. The human factor becomes more important in complex offshore operations. Incorporating safety into a sys-tem design requires identifying, analyzing and evaluating risks and ensuring that any not accounted for are taken into consideration. This process requires communication among everyone involved in the process. Analysis of accidents in the oil and gas industry shows that often a lack of that communication led to incident triggering events. In this thesis, the author proposes a novel communication model that improves this exchange of information and supposedly makes the process of risk assessment more effective. In addition, the new model also incorporates factors such as emotions, feelings, needs and imagination into the risk assessment process. This broadens the information base for the risk identification and analysis and creates an atmosphere of psychological ownership for the stakeholders in the process, which leads to a perceived safety climate in the organization where the new model is applied. The innovative communication or consultation model, as it is also referred to in risk assessments, is based on a structured process used in conflict resolution called mediation. Mediation is an alternative conflict resolution process that is centered on mutual under-standing and listening to each other’s needs. The process is composed of elements that characterize it. These elements of mediation are used to assess other communication processes and to develop new communication models. The application of the elements of mediation and the safety-mediation consultation into the risk assessment process enables this process to be enhanced with human factors such as emotions, feelings, intuition and imagination. The inclusion of all stakeholders creates psychological ownership, improves communication, enables organizational learning and expands the knowledge base for risk analysis. The applicability of the safety-mediation consultation process for a human factor-based risk assessment is presented and tested using illustrative examples and field cases from the international oil and gas industry. Possible concerns and limitations are also discussed. This thesis shows that mediation and elements of the mediation process can be applied to improve communication in the international oil and gas industry. This is facilitated by educated safety mediators, who help the petroleum engineer and operational crew on a drilling rig to achieve a better understanding by ensuring that they hear and fully register each other’s needs.