Q-Sort Your understanding/ point of view on the social licence to operate Job title: Department: Industry: Years of working in the energy/ resources sector:

This study is conducted to assess your understanding/ point of view on the social licence to operate. Note that this is not a test and there is no right or wrong answer to the way you undertake your assessment/ the ranking of the statements. To complete this study successfully please follow the instructions below (note that instructions are also included in comment boxes in the subsequent slides): 1. Check that you have filled in your details in the slide before – this is necessary to facilitate data analysis; 2. Read through all the statements on the next slide; 3. Sort the statements into three groups of indeterminate size ‘more like how I think’, ‘somewhat like how I think’ and ‘less like how I think’; 4. Focusing on the statements that you placed under ‘more like how I think’, copy and paste all the statements that you placed in this category into slide 4, then drag each statement into the individual boxes on the right hand side of the table, starting with the box on the extreme right of the table for the statement that most reflects the way you think and working your way to the middle of the table for statements that are less like how you think; 5. Go through the same procedure as stated above for the statements you placed under ‘less like how I think’ - copy and paste all the statements you placed in this category into slide 4, then drag each statement into the individual boxes on the left hand side of the table, starting with the box on the extreme left of the table with the statement that least reflects the way you think and working your way to the middle of the table for statements that reflects more of how you think; 6. Now using the same procedure as stated in ‘4’ and ‘5’ above, go through the statements you placed under ‘somewhat like how I think’. Place them in the individual boxes in the middle of the table in slide 4, working your way to the right of the table for statements that reflect more like how you think and to the left of the table for statements that reflect less like how you think; 7. Ensure that all statements have been placed only once in the table on slide 4; 8. Feel free to shift your statements around at any time; 9.Check that your details has been filled in the first slide; 10. Provide comments/ feedback on why/ how you sorted the statements the way you did and identify the column where the statements to the right are more like how you think compared to the statement to the left– this is important to facilitate data analysis; 11. Once you have completed the sort and the details requested, please forward the completed sort powerpoint to mark.i.johnson@ucl.ac.uk. Note that Mark is not involved in this study and will therefore assist with filtering all participants contact information to ensure anonymity of this study. Thank you for your time and input.

Somewhat Like How I Think 1. Contributing financially to local communities is of utmost importance in gaining a social licence to operate (SLO) 2. Developing stakeholder trust is a key to our SLO 3. Providing jobs to surrounding communities will ensure that my organisation is granted a SLO 4. The most important stakeholders with regards to our social licence to operate are those living near our operation sites 5. The benefits that my organisation delivers is more important than how we engage with stakeholders 6. What I do in my role in the company influences my company’s SLO 7. The media magnifies the actual level of protest towards my industry 8. The internet has revolutionised the way we interact with stakeholders 9. Building a SLO requires meeting with stakeholders regularly 10.Trained communications experts are needed to deal with stakeholders effectively 11. Building a SLO requires understanding our stakeholders 12. Communities have as much power as governments to stop projects 13. Talking to communities before firm plans are in place risks developing unreasonable expectations 14. Stakeholder discontent can translate into delays and costs for my organisation 15. Employing liaison officers from the local community is the key to developing a SLO 16. Social licence matters most when operations are disrupted 17. To develop a SLO, businesses need to dedicate significant resources towards community engagement 18. Acknowledging prior issues and the current problem is important 19. Obtaining a SLO may require allowing stakeholders to participate in some of my organisations decision-making processes 20. Social media is an effective engagement tool for companies to engage with stakeholders 21. Given government approvals, a SLO is often not as important as people sometimes claim 22. Grievance mechanisms are a useful way of resolving conflict between my organisation and stakeholders 23. There is no question about our SLO in communities where my organisation has been operating for a long period of time 24. The conditions demanded by stakeholders may be tougher than those required by law 25. A SLO is a perception which is variable across time and amongst stakeholder groups Somewhat Like How I Think Less Like How I Think More Like How I Think

Less Like How I think More Like How I Think -4 -3 -2 -1 1 3 2 4 4 Feedback: (Please provide comments on why and how you sorted the statements the way you did especially why you placed the statements in the extreme right and extreme left of the table and identify the column where the statements to the right are more like how you think compared to the statement to the left) -