Pink Waterbottle Mining Case Study
Assessment Context
You have taken on a fourteen week contract with Management Consulting firm BlueTin. This contract is covering one project cycle. All learning activities and assessment tasks will be tied to the overall project. While completion of all assessment items is not compulsory for this unit, non-completion of an individual element does not allow you to build on the feedback given on earlier elements of the task.
NOTE: all names, business entities and geographical areas used as part of this scenario are fictional, if you search for them online and find them it is an accident.
The Scenario
Pink Waterbottle Mining is looking to expand its operations into farmland in the Greyjoy Council area in the Northern Highlands Basin and is proposing a fracking operation to extract gas for export. There are multiple parties who have a stakeholder interest in this topic, the local council, the mining company, local indigenous people, environmentalists, the state and federal governments, and importantly, residents.
The Greyjoy Council area is well loved for its unique flora and fauna and has a thriving tourist industry. In recent years there has been a demographic shift occurring in the area with many city dwellers moving into the traditionally farming community to create “estate” like living. This has seen the area shift to include a growing number of millionaires, who live along-side those from a lower socio-economic background. There is a growing tension between these groups, as there is a view that those coming in from the city are pushing up property prices and locals are not able to afford to live there anymore.
Two years ago, the main employer of locals not involved in farming or tourism – the paper box production factory – was closed and the production was moved offshore. This site remains unused, and no other industry has stepped into this void.
Project Element 2 – Request for Research
The Greyjoy council has been approached by Pink Waterbottle mining company seeking support for the project, the council is currently split 7/9 against the proposal.
BlueTin Consulting has been contracted by city business leader Polly Parakeet to supply the council with communications assistance and research against the proposal. There is going to be a vote in eight weeks on supporting the issue and Polly wants to make sure there is a clear – and hopefully – unanimous vote against the mining company. There are two main deliverables in this project, the first of these is a research paper.
In seven weeks’ time Polly has a series of meetings set up with the council members and is looking for some strategies to assist her in persuading the council members to support her position. She has requested a research paper suggesting a strategy to assist her in persuading those who don’t support her views, to work with her. This paper should not include or focus on the specifics of the issue, but is to highlight and explain possible approaches and strategies to assist Polly in her task of persuading the stakeholders to support her position.
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