Dr. Javier Fadul, who earned a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences in 2004, was awarded Walden University’s Frank Dilley Award for his dissertation: Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Firm Value in the Oil and Gas Industry.

Fadul is a market and business analyst in Halliburton’s well-logging division. (Well-logging in this instance refers to a technique used for recording rock properties to locate oil and gas.) His dissertation examined the relationship between four key social responsibility areas—ethical behavior, environmental performance, diversity and employee relations, and community service—and firm value, as indicated by several financial measures, in a random sample of 55 companies in the oil and gas industry.

“Oil and gas companies are generally thought of as ‘bad guys,’ from a social viewpoint. Their product, while essential to our way of life, is messy, and the work can be dirty,” says Dr. Ruth Maurer, a faculty member in the School of Management who nominated Fadul for the award and sat on his dissertation committee. “To improve their public image, these companies have undertaken socially responsible actions. Dr. Fadul’s work was measuring the effect these actions have on the bottom line.”

Fadul’s research, which was detailed and explored multiple sectors in the industry, showed that corporate social responsibility was distinctly correlated with firm value. “But it was at different degrees and different levels,” Fadul says. For example, a positive relationship did exist between diversity and firm value; however, no significant relationship existed between a company’s environmental performance and firm value. "But overall, the results of the study corroborated the economic importance of managers leading a socially responsible business operation," Fadul says.

Dr. Robert Aubey, a faculty member in the School of Management and winner of the Rita Turner Award for chairing Fadul’s dissertation committee, says: "The oil and gas industry has been under increasing pressure to ... become more socially responsible in terms of the environment, employees and general society. The work that Dr. Fadul has done will provide a base for the industry to make a rational analysis of their efforts that will appeal to their stockholders as well as the general public.”

In addition to Maurer and Aubey, Fadul’s dissertation committee members were Dr. Lilburn P. Hoehn and Dr. Reza Hamzaee, both in the School of Management.

The Frank Dilley Award is bestowed annually upon a Walden graduate whose dissertation is judged as meeting the highest standards of academic excellence. This award was created to honor the singular academic contributions to North American higher education and the particular dedication to Walden University’s academic programs of Dr. Frank Dilley. An active contributor to Walden’s academic innovation and avid participant in dispersed residency sessions, Dr. Dilley personifies Walden’s pioneering spirit, and he greatly contributed to the success of the university.

The Rita Turner Award is bestowed annually upon the faculty chair of the dissertation committee of the winner of the Frank Dilley Award. This award was created to honor the total commitment of Walden co-founder Rita Turner. Mrs. Turner’s shared vision of the university, careful attention to major organizational issues, supervision of complex operational details, and concern for fiscal accountability made it possible for the university not only to flourish during its first two decades, but to grow into the unique global institution it has become.

Winners of the Dilley and Turner awards receive $2,500.

—By Danielle Sweeney

Archived Features front page