Shell in Nigeria

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group forms one of the world's largest businesses. It has a complex corporate organization which consists of more than 2,000 companies worldwide ultimately controlled by two parent companies. The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company, a U.K.-registered company, has a 40% interest in the group, and the remaining 60% is owned by the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, a Netherlands company. Collectively, the group is involved in oil and gas exploration, production, refining, transportation, and marketing. It has large interests in chemicals--it was probably the world's ninth, largest chemicals business in the late 1980s--and diversified activities in coal and metal mining, forestry, solar energy, and biotechnology. MOSOP campaigned against the environmental damage caused by oil extraction in the Ogoni region of Nigeria and for increased autonomy for the Ogoni ethnic group.  

Should Shell continue its operation in Nigeria given the various human rights violations and environmental deterioration related to its business operation?

There are strengths and weaknesses to this scenarios mainly :
Strengths 

1. Shell is the largest in size and revenue in the global oil industry. It is a leader in the LNG(Liquefied Natural Gas) where a portion of resource some from Nigeria. 
2. Due to the strong exploration capability in Nigeria, there is a guarantee of continued activity and increase in financial growth over the decades.

Weakness 

1.  Human Rights and Environmental Issues can degrade the image of the company due to different regimes and policies. Due to its strong presence in Nigeria, the company might be forced to withdraw because of security problems and attacks on production.
2. Shell’s ethical code of conduct has become under scrutiny due to different allegations of corruption. Employees were involved in various deals to pay bribes to the Nigerian military and other foreign citizens. The company also hid the nature of the payments to avoid suspicion.

In our opinion, Shell should continue business but operation will be based on international regulations and ethical considerations due to the following reasons:

1. It will ease the tension between Shell/Military and the Ogoni Tribe and build a relationship of trust
2. Promotes better culture on ethics and a higher sense of social responsibility amongst the employees. Employees produce best in an open and ethical environment.
3. Shell will gain public acceptance, improve its branding and most likely gain customer loyalty
4. Shell will gain investor confidence
5. Company leaders and their employees can take genuine pride in their accomplishments knowing that they abided all the rules or hurt people by accomplishing their goals.