ABSTRACT
Most managers find community consultation a muddy and challenging aspect of their work. There are few legal requirements — or conditions imposed by project finance institutions — about community consultation other than that it must take place. Many managers hold off engagement with communities until they have to respond to specific problems or issues that affect the company's ability to operate. In the busy start-up clays, community consultation is not their top priority. When company staff regard engagement solely as a means of achieving a specific result, they engage with local communities in the same way they negotiate a business deal with another company. Managers are surprised when such negotiations become recurring events with progressively increasing community demands. When companies relate to stakeholders only when things go bad, it becomes almost impossible for both parties to soften their respective hard-line positions. Companies sometimes use government intermediaries to deal with local communities.
