ACC620 Research Project: Adani Coal Mine Stakeholder Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Adani coal mine operations in Queensland, focusing on contemporary accounting issues and stakeholder management. It begins with an overview of stakeholder theory and identifies key stakeholder groups affected by the mine, including the indigenous community, shareholders, employees, and the government. The report then examines the ethical considerations in managing the interests of the indigenous community, emphasizing the importance of environmental impact mitigation and respecting ancestral lands. Furthermore, it applies stakeholder theory to evaluate how the interests of the various stakeholder groups have been and should be managed, considering the company's actions and future strategies. The analysis highlights the conflicts and controversies surrounding the mine, particularly concerning environmental concerns and the rights of indigenous communities, and assesses the ethical responsibilities of the company in balancing economic interests with social and environmental impacts. The report concludes by summarizing the challenges and ongoing efforts to manage stakeholder interests ethically and sustainably within the context of the Adani coal mine project.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Contemporary Issues in Accounting
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Executive Summary:
The paper intends to bring forth the management of interest of indigenous communities and the
stakeholders by Adani coalmine right when it was surrounded by controversies on the grounds of
imposition of environmental harm and destruction of ancestral lands of the indigenous people.
The assignment attempts to focus on the way the company is managing the interests of the
stakeholders using stakeholder theory and also the interests of the indigenous communities with
the determination of continuing to manage such in future.

2CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.......................................................................................................................................3
Stakeholder Theory:.....................................................................................................................3
Stakeholder Groups Affected by Operations of Adani:...............................................................4
Management of the Interest of the Indigenous Community:.......................................................7
Management of Stakeholder Groups:..........................................................................................7
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................8

3CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Introduction:
Adani coal mines is one of the world’s biggest coal mines and came into the news
surrounding too many conflicts regarding the impact it was making on the environment and other
indigenous community. There have been many campaigns to stop this coal mine company which
is situated in Queensland, keeping in mind the aspiring future at a safe climate without the wrath
of the Global Warming. However, there is a number of stakeholder groups as well as some local
indigenous communities that are either dependent on the company or being directly affected by
it. In spite of all the conflicts surrounding the work of Adani, the company has an ethical way of
handling the interests of the groups of both indigenous and stakeholder (Reed 1999). This paper
intends to highlight affect of Adani Operation on the stakeholder groups in addition to the
indigenous groups. The paper will also show the ethical ways in which the company tries to
manage the interests of the local indigenous communities and the future management process.
Discussion:
Stakeholder Theory:
Ian Mitroff was the person who defines the theory of Stakeholder in his book. However
Mitroff described the theory in 1983, after which around in 1995, there were arguments
regarding the description given by Mitroff (Blackburn, 2019). Thomas Donaldson, being an
ethicist, has brought the descriptive, normative and instrumental aspect of the Stakeholder
Theory. In the terms of project management, a stakeholder can be an individual or a group that
has a direct impact by the outcome of a project that they are interested in. These stakeholders are
important for any company or business or even a project since they are the ones that sponsor or

4CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
invest in them to have a successful result. The stakeholders do not just hold their involvement till
the investment and sponsoring, they have often an active involvement in the project/business.
This involvement can either cause a positive or negative impact on the company or business or
project they invested in; including the senior management, customers, project leaders and others.
Stakeholder theory thus addresses the ethics, morals and the values of a business while
managing the stakeholders that are involved with the organization. This theory aims to make the
relationship between the organization and the stakeholders optimistic which in turn improves the
efficiencies within the project. This theory notifies the importance of several interested parties
like the employees of the company, suppliers, communities, political groups, customers,
financiers, trade associations and even the competitors, since they fall under the category of
stakeholders and they impact the company in direct ways.
The definition of the theory is still having conflicts and the list of the stakeholders is not
agreed universally; moreover the literature considers Freeman as the father while citing this
theory despite the fact that Mitroff defined the term firsthand (Akers 2009). There are certain
obvious benefits of having stakeholders; however Adani operations implemented negative
impacts on its stakeholders and suffered negative consequences.
Stakeholder Groups Affected by Operations of Adani:
The burning of coal and mining is one of the primary causes that leads to climate change
and Adani Carmichael mine is actually contributing in such disastrous change. The mine, port
projects and more are destroying the ancestral lands of the indigenous communities residing
nearby, and robbing off their rights (Currell et al. 2017). The Wangan and Jagalingou indigenous
community have set up a campaign to stop Adani and have been fighting for their rights since
2012 (Wangan & Jagalingou People, 2018). The natural springs that emerge from the Great

5CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Artesian Basin feeds the Carmichael River. This river runs through more indigenous lands like
Belyando and Burdekin, is on the verge of drying up, which is why the communities are fighting
in the courts to bar the company from the country. The company not only affects the land of the
community, it is also demolishing the Great Barrier Reef along with the aquifers of the Great
Artesian Basin.
The environmental impacts made by the Adani coal mine are hindering the interests of its
own stakeholders. That is one of the prime reasons why the company is losing its position in the
business and suffering loss. Among all stakeholders, the shareholders of the company hold a
significant position. The campaigns evolving around Adani is holding back its earning capacity
thus the company is not able to earn to cope up with the investment that the shareholders spend
on its projects. In turn the shareholders like Universal Trade & Investments Ltd. and Worldwide
Emerging Market Holding Ltd. are incurring heavy losses resulting in monetary loss.
Similarly, the employees, who are also important stakeholders of the company, are
having terrible consequences for working in the company. Not only is the work that they have to
do unethical and harmful to the environment, there are cases of fraud and corruption
controversies that the company is wrapped resulting in the loss of interest of the employees to
work in the coal mine. Employment issues are rising since the employees are being the victim of
the ethical mismanagement of the coal mine. Government being one of the stakeholders is also
in the queue of the suffering since Adani promised employment to the local communities, which
in turn is rising issues not only in the field of employment, also impacting the environment. The
government also has to face the revolts and campaigns to ban the company off the country.

6CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Affected
Group
Values Impact
Economic +
/
-
Environment +
/
-
Social +/
-
Indigenous
Community
A socially
responsible
community which
looks forward to
environment-
friendly approach
The coalmines
destroyed the
ancestral lands
making them
suffer huge loss.
- The groundwater
resource is
destroyed along
with Great Barrier
Reef and other
aquifers.
- The society is
facing
challenges on
the grounds of
such
environmental
destruction as
well as the
project’s
contribution in
climate change.
-
Stakeholder
Group1:
Shareholders
Shareholders
have direct
influence on the
company and its
monetary issues.
It impacts the
company’s
approach to other
stakeholders.
+ None None
Stakeholder
Group2:
Employees
Employees carry
on to help the
company acquire
and maintain a
good relationship
with other
stakeholder-
customers.
The livelihood is
dependent on the
job as well as
economic growth
will lead to a
better
performance.
+ None None
Stakeholder
Group3:
Government
collects tax which
may be put to
good use for the
Collection of
taxes which is
invested for the
development of
+ None None

7CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Government society. the community.

8CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Management of the Interest of the Indigenous Community:
The issue that is concerning all the indigenous people is the threat and harms those Adani
posses to their ancestral lands (Smyth 2016). Therefore it is evident that in order to manage the
interests of these indigenous communities in an ethical manner, the company has to be careful
about the environmental impact that this coal mine is implementing and destroying the nearby
lands including the over usage of groundwater.
Under the Federal environmental approval, Adani was given permission that it can drain
the aquifers by 20 centimeters, however Queensland Environment department and the minister
insisted that the company should identify the source of the aquifers first, for all the springs
(Robertson, 2019). Since the Adani has its environment approvals including usage of river water-
though to some extent, in order to avoid over usage- it has decided to reduce its output initially to
around 10-15 million tons per year (Robertson, 2019). Along with a careful attitude towards the
environment and the ancestral lands of the indigenous communities, Adani also tries to manage
the interest of the indigenous people by providing jobs which counts around 1,400 posts
(Robertson, 2019). The mine has actually become a source of cultural war in Australia which
roams around climate change that Adani has failed to prevail unlike the battles surrounding
finance, regulation of its projects and politics (Arnautovic 2017). If Adani is not careful in its
management of the interests of the land which actually belongs to the Indigenous residents, the
traditional owners who have always opposed the projects regulated by the mine, might win a
pending appeal in the Federal Court about the usage deal of Adani over Indigenous land.

9CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Management of Stakeholder Groups:
The management of the interests of a stakeholder or any stakeholder group requires
systematic identification, planning and implementation of the actions and well framed analysis
designed in such a way that will help to engage with the stakeholders. Since, it is evident that the
stakeholders are an important asset for any company, thus their engagement becomes a vital
action for the company. Adani has tried to solve the problem with the instrumental uses of the
stakeholder theory (Hörisch, Freeman and Schaltegger 2014). It has maximized the return on the
investments of its shareholders, along with establishing morality and fair economic opportunity
for the practices of the society where their company stands ground (Williams and Adams 2013).
In order to manage the interests of its employees, Adani has formed basic structures and policies
that can be agreed by all; it has also provided employment to a vast section of the indigenous
society (Australia 2017). It has started taking in concerns that is concerning the society and
managing responsibilities helping the government with the burden it posed upon beforehand.
A shareholder expects legitimate political equality with no conflict for the smooth flow of
the business it is investing in and also so that the profit that is earned is received without any
hindrance (Carroll 2014). Adani was involved in such a conflict that made it difficult for not only
its shareholders also other stakeholders such as employees, government, customers, citizens and
more to trust and work with the company (Harrison, Freeman and Abreu 2015). However, the
ethical overview of the company has changed and it has started managing the interests of its
stakeholders in an authentic way and continues to do so for efficient running of the projects.

10CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
Conclusion:
Adani coal mine in Queensland has faced a lot of revolts on the grounds of environmental
safety and thus stayed in conflict for years. However, after a lot of struggle it gained the approval
of using the natural resources provided to a limit. The gaining of trust of the indigenous
communities continues to be unfulfilled, yet the company is trying to manage its interests in an
ethical way along with having continuous endeavor to keep its stakeholders engaged.

11CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
References:
Akers, R. (2009). Social Learning and Social Structure. 1st ed. London: Transaction
Publishers, pp.15-24.
Arnautovic, K., 2017. Resources, race and rights: A case study of Native Title and the Adani
Carmichael coal mine.
Australia, E.J., 2017. The Adani Brief: What governments and financiers need to know about the
Adani Group’s record overseas.
Blackburn, M. (2019). What Is Stakeholder Theory? - ProjectManager.com. [online]
ProjectManager.com. Available at: https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/what-is-stakeholder-
theory [Accessed 19 Aug. 2019].
Carroll, A.B. and Buchholtz, A.K., 2014. Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management.
Nelson Education.
Currell, M.J., Werner, A.D., McGrath, C., Webb, J.A. and Berkman, M., 2017. Problems with the application of
hydrogeological science to regulation of Australian mining projects: Carmichael Mine and Doongmabulla
Springs. Journal of Hydrology, 548, pp.674-682.
Harrison, J.S., Freeman, R.E. and Abreu, M.C.S.D., 2015. Stakeholder theory as an ethical
approach to effective management: Applying the theory to multiple contexts. Revista brasileira
de gestão de negócios, 17(55), pp.858-869.
Hörisch, J., Freeman, R.E. and Schaltegger, S., 2014. Applying stakeholder theory in sustainability management:
Links, similarities, dissimilarities, and a conceptual framework. Organization & Environment, 27(4), pp.328-346.