are lyc sovereign risks fully understood?, page-31

In answer to this thread heading "are LYC sovereign risks fully understood?" I would say yes but it has been a very very steep learning curve.

Source


Many Australian mining companies would like to consider themselves astute operators in the Asia-Pacific region, but according to cross-cultural communication specialist Tamerlaine Beasley, there remains a lot to learn.

She has worked for companies including Kingsgate Consolidated, Sino Gold and Orica Mining Services and found that effective communication with local staff on the ground is often a bigger challenge than companies think.

Because many Asian cultures are hierarchical, she says staff are often unwilling to give honest feedback for fear it will reflect badly on them or, even worse, their Australian managers. That means potential problems are less likely to be raised until the situation gets out of control.

Safety issues and community opposition to projects are among the issues that are often not given significant emphasis in employee discussions with Australian executives.

The operations in Malaysia of rare earths miner Lynas Corp are a high-profile example of what Beasley says can be another pitfall: a false sense of security from the country’s British rule of law. Australians assume the law is universally applied in a fair manner, but the concentration of powerful interests in Malaysia means citizens may not view legal judgements in the same manner.

Beasley recommends that companies operating in Asia ensure they are receiving multiple channels of information from employees, local partners, community organisers and politicians. Her consultancy, Beasley Intercultural, sends Australians fluent in the local language to help extract more frank feedback than would often be received by English-speaking executives on a brief visit.

When it comes to issues such as bribery, which famously reared its head with Rio Tinto’s Shanghai office in 2009, Beasley says fellow employees are often the best source of information on whether colleagues are acting corruptly.