Coal seam gas mining and stakeholder management

This paper discusses challenges presented to management teams of coal seam gas (CSG) companies as a result of undesirable social, environmental and cultural outcomes. In Australia, CSG mining is a developing non-renewable energy industry that impacts on air and water quality, landscape, community health and traditional sacred sites. Consequently, business management in CSG is becoming increasingly difficult due to clash of values between business outcomes, government policy and community ethics. Using stakeholder theory, the paper argues that managers in CSG must view the communities surrounding CSG sites as definitive stakeholders rather than business nuisances. The paper concludes that the negative impact of CSG mining has no limited extent and the true magnitude of its effects are not yet known, creating an unstable management environment and unpredictable legacy issues.