ABSTRACT
Most companies contract out many of activities they previously implemented themselves such as seismic surveys, security, administration, transportation, community projects, and catering. Local business owners feel that outside: contractors, whether national or international, are unfairly awarded contracts when locals could have done the job. Companies regularly allocate contracts based on evidence of contractors' competence and competitiveness of their price, intending to show no preferential treatment for any group. When outside contractors are hired, their staff rather than company staff can be theiirst representatives of the company to engage with communities. This combination of community expectations with company and outside contractor incentives means that a company's contracting policies can have a much larger and more lasting impact on quality of company-community relations than most managers realize. The design of large projects often takes place at the offices of engineering companies located in faraway countries.
