Stakeholder Analysis of Adani Mining Operations in Queensland

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Adani Mining project in Queensland, Australia, examining it through the lens of stakeholder theory. It begins with an introduction to the Adani Group and the controversial Carmichael Coal Mine, highlighting the economic and environmental debates surrounding the project. The report then explains stakeholder theory, emphasizing the importance of considering the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders, for long-term sustainable growth. A detailed table illustrates the impact of the mining operations on various stakeholders, including the indigenous community, employees, local communities, and government authorities, assessing the economic, environmental, and social impacts. The report further explores the ethical management of stakeholder and indigenous community interests, emphasizing the need for transparency, cultural sensitivity, and adherence to regulations. Finally, it applies stakeholder theory to analyze how the interests of key stakeholder groups (employees, community, and regulatory authorities) have been and should be managed, offering recommendations for improved practices to ensure sustainable development and address the controversies associated with the project. The report concludes by reiterating the significance of stakeholder engagement for the long-term success of the Adani Mining project and underscores the importance of balancing economic benefits with social and environmental considerations.

Cotemporary Accounting Issues

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Explanation of Stakeholder Theory.............................................................................................3
Impact on stakeholders................................................................................................................4
Management of interest of the Stakeholders and indigenous community...................................8
Management of interest of Stakeholder group.............................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Adani Mining is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Group. Adani Mining proposed
Carmichael Coal Mine in Queensland, Australia. It has been stated by Adani Group that this
mine would produce significant amount of coal, and it would be one of the largest coal mines in
Australia. However, the mine leads to immense controversy because of its claimed economic
benefit (Smith, 2017). The given study is based on evaluation of controversial Adani coal mining
operation in Queensland by considering this stakeholders interest supported by concept of
stakeholder theory. Further, community, employees, and government or regulatory authority are
three important stakeholders of company, how they affected by operations of Adani Group is
prescribed in this report. In addition to this, by considering the ethical viewpoint the manner of
management of interest of stakeholders and indigenous community is given in the report
supported by application of stakeholder theory.
Explanation of Stakeholder Theory
According to the Stakeholder theory, the main objective of the organization is to build value for
stakeholders, rather than shareholders. Stakeholders are anyone who is affected by interest of
organization (Jones, Harrison, and Felps, 2018). In other words, it can be said that any activity of
company which make impact on any person are considered as stakeholder of company such as
employees, supplier, political group, customers, competitors, trade association, communities and
many others (Jones, Wicks, and Freeman, 2017). In order to achieve the long term sustainable
growth of company, it is essential that company should consider the interest of its stakeholders.
Further, it assists in generation of productivity throughout the organization, such as if the
workers of company feel that they are being valued, then they work in a more productive

manner, which ultimately leads to the success of company (Miles, 2017). In addition, it provide
benefit of retention of employees as well as customers.
Moreover, investors also want to make investment in the sustainable company, which assists the
inflow of capital. Since, this theory is more focused on ethical consideration as compared with
financial benefit, by which reputation of company increases. Moreover, in the competitive
environment, by following stakeholder theory a company can remain in the industry by availing
several competitive advantages. It is the responsibility of company to treat all stakeholders in an
equal manner. (Andriof, and Waddock, 2017) The management of company should be in such a
way which provides benefit to all its stakeholders. Overall, it can be said that management of
company should take decision by considering the interest of stakeholders in the activities of
company.

Impact on stakeholders
Table 1 Impact on stakeholders1
Affected Group Values Economic Impact +/-/0
Impact
Environment Impact +/-/0
Impact
Social Impact +/-/0
Impact
Indigenous
Community
For the benefit to
the indigenous
community,
government
made several
rules and
regulation which
is required to be
followed by
company.
It assists in the
involvement of
indigenous people
in work.
+ There is no such
impact.
0 Consider and
honour distinct
cultural practices
and requirement of
indigenous people.
Specifically, it
improves quality
of water and
waterways. By this
indigenous people
can access the
+
1 (+ positive impact) (– negative impact) (0 neutral impact)

country by which
they can reconnect
with their
tradition.
Employees The success of
the company is
based on
employees. A
qualifies, skilled,
and expert
employee
increases the
effectiveness of
operations of
company, by
which company
can achieve their
Cost of living
would rise, which
is a positive
financial impact on
employees. A
further
requirement of
labour also
increased, which is
a positive impact
on employees
(Andrews, 2018).
+ There is no such
impact.
0 Separation from
families may put
mental pressure on
the workforce,
which affect
productivity.
Further risk of fire
increased, which is
considered as
negative impact
(Gleeson, 2018).
-

goals.
Local or
regional and
community
Local or regional
community
provide support
to the business,
therefore it is
essential that any
activity of
business should
not negatively
impact society.
Demand of goods
or services cannot
be satisfied if labor
draw from native
business to the
mining business.
Problems
connected with
availability and
affordability of
house may arise,
due to the higher
cost of living (Wu,
and Tsai, 2018).
- Environment is
adversely affected
due to mining
operations which
create negative
impact on health of
local or regional and
community.
- Safety problem
may arise because
of enhanced traffic
on the local road.
Requirement of
maintenance of
roads may arise.
There is
possibility that
rate of crime may
increase along
with antisocial
behavior by
workers in camp,
which may affect
social value of the
-

society. However,
it also enhances
the employment
and training
opportunity for
people, which is
positive benefit to
the community
(Gleeson, 2017).
There is
prescribed code of
conduct which
must be followed
by workers, by
which unethical
practices can be
prevented. Further,

health and safety
programs started
by the company,
which wellbeing
of employees
(Hindmarsh, and
Alidoust, 2019).
Government and
regulatory
authority
Government and
regulatory
authority play an
important role in
running the
activities of
business. They
made several
rules and
regulation for the
For the
landholders, the
process of land
acquisition is time-
consuming and
difficult. The
budget problem
may be faced by
government as if
government spend
- From the business
activity such as mine
or rail, emission of
dust or noise are
within the acceptable
level as specified by
environmental
safeguarding policies
by the state
government. It
- There is no such
impact.
0

benefit of people
as well as
company, which
is required to
comply by
organization.
on mining
infrastructure then
spending on other
areas such as
hospital or school
would become
lower (Adani
Mining Pty Ltd,
2013).
assists in protection
of environment.

Management of interest of the Stakeholders and indigenous community
For sustaining connection among a group of individuals carrying their work for shared
objectives, it is essential that links among them should be based on faith and integrity. It is the
responsibility of company to manage the interest of stakeholders as well as indigenous
community. Employees who are engaged with working of indigenous people should possess
knowledge regarding their culture. Further, company should plan proper strategy by which long
term relationships based on faith can be built within a specified time frame (Engagement with
Indigenous communities in key sectors, 2013). Environmental and health issues should also
consider while running their activities. It has also been observed that government of Australia
also made several rules and regulation for benefit of indigenous community, therefore company
should comply with relevant norms and regulations, which provide advantages to indigenous
community. Along with above aspect, for managing the interest of stakeholders, company should
give full and proper disclosure of any information, which is essential for knowledge of
stakeholders. As the investor of company requires financial and other information for investment
decision, and employees, customers, and suppler also want to know any information, therefore
by disclosers company can protect the interest of their stakeholders. Moreover, requirement of
code of conduct and ethics should be identified and same must be complied by employees as
well as managers of company. In addition, company should have policies regarding fair dealing
with suppliers, provide actual information of their product, warn the consumers in case of any
problem in product, not engaged with companies that do not comply rules and regulation made
by government such as environmental rules, Child Labor Law and others.

Management of interest of Stakeholder group
In the present case, the three main stakeholders of Adani Group are employees, community, and
regulatory or government authority of the company. According to the stakeholder theory, if the
company does not care for their employees, then it may assist in failure of organization
(Brueckner, and Eabrasu, 2018). It has been observed that Adani Group is considering the
interest of stakeholders for success of project. Further, on the basis of above analysis, it has been
identified that some issues have been faced by employees of company. For this, company is
required to provide accommodation at reasonable rate, otherwise cost of living would be very
high, by which employee may face financial difficulty (Howlett, and Lawrence, 2019). At the
work location company should provide safety tools. Along with this, proper training and
knowledge should be given to employees, so that they can carry their work in an effective
manner. For managing the interest of community, company should try to develop innovative
technology so that use of natural resources can be minimized. Further, some emergency plan and
services should also be developed by company, by which people can get emergency services
when required. Along with this, company should set up proper plants and machinery, by which
emission of greenhouses gases can be minimized. This may assist in compliance with rules and
regulations along with welfare of community.
CONCLUSION
By considering the above analysis, it can be concluded that stakeholders play an important role
in success and sustainable development of company. Adani Company faces controversies for
operations of mining operation in Queensland. The main reasons behind such controversies are
non-consideration of stakeholder’s interests. It has been observed that government, community,

and employees of company are positive as well as negatively affected by operations of mining.
Further, for sustainable development, company is required to consider and manage stakeholder’s
interest on overall basis, by which it can carry its operations smoothly.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Andrews, M., 2018. Queensland fires up. Australia's Paydirt, 1(259), p.42.
Andriof, J. and Waddock, S., 2017. Unfolding stakeholder engagement. In Unfolding
stakeholder thinking (pp. 19-42). Routledge, London.
Brueckner, M. and Eabrasu, M., 2018. Pinning down the social license to operate (SLO): The
problem of normative complexity. Resources Policy, 59, pp.217-226.
Gleeson, M., 2017. More jobs in renewables than in new coal. Green Left Weekly, (1162), p.9.
Gleeson, M., 2018. Under pressure, Adani scales down its coalmine project. Green Left Weekly,
(1203), p.8.
Hindmarsh, R. and Alidoust, S., 2019. Rethinking Australian CSG transitions in participatory
contexts of local social conflict, community engagement, and shifts towards cleaner
energy. Energy Policy, 132, pp.272-282.
Howlett, C. and Lawrence, R., 2019. Accumulating Minerals and Dispossessing Indigenous
Australians: Native Title Recognition as Settler‐Colonialism. Antipode, 51(3), pp.818-837.
Jones, T.M., Harrison, J.S. and Felps, W., 2018. How applying instrumental stakeholder theory
can provide sustainable competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review, 43(3), pp.371-
391.

Jones, T.M., Wicks, A.C. and Freeman, R.E., 2017. Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. The
Blackwell guide to business ethics, pp.17-37.
Miles, S., 2017. Stakeholder theory classification: A theoretical and empirical evaluation of
definitions. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(3), pp.437-459.
Smith, K., 2017. Adani mine granted unlimited water access. Green Left Weekly, (1133), p.6.
Wu, J. and Tsai, C., 2018. Residents pressure labor over Adani. Green Left Weekly, (1205), p.13.
Online
Adani Mining Pty Ltd, 2013. (Online). Available through
<http://eisdocs.dsdip.qld.gov.au/Carmichael%20Coal%20Mine%20and%20Rail/SEIS/
Appendices/Appendix%20D/Appendix-D2-Draft-Social-Impact-Management-Plan.pdf>
[Accessed on 16 September 2019]
Engagement with Indigenous communities in key sectors, 2013. (Online). Available through
<https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/c3d74d39-0ded-4196-b221-cc4240d8ec90/ctgc-
rs23.pdf.aspx?inline=true> [Accessed on 16 September 2019]