Crisis Communication Failures: The British Petroleum Case Study (Done by Jakhongir Ubaydullaev)
Summary
TLDRThis presentation covers the case study of British Petroleum (BP) and its crisis communication failures, focusing on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. The speaker discusses key events in BP's history, the company's crisis communication strategies, and its failures in managing public perception and stakeholder relationships. BP's lack of preparedness, failure to express empathy, and inadequate crisis management are highlighted. The presentation concludes by emphasizing the importance of transparent and timely communication during crises to protect a company's image and maintain trust with stakeholders.
Takeaways
- 📑 The presentation covers the 'Bridge Petroleum Case Study' with a focus on crisis communication.
- ⛽ The Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20, 2010, marked the largest oil spill in the maritime history of the petroleum industry.
- ⚠️ Crisis communication is critical, defined as the organization's response to sudden events that impact its performance and potentially its survival.
- 🧠 Various researchers define crisis communication differently, but it generally involves managing outcomes, public perception, and organizational response.
- 📉 British Petroleum (BP) has a history of major accidents, including a 1965 oil rig collapse and a 2005 refinery explosion, both resulting in fatalities.
- 🌍 In 2000, BP rebranded itself as 'Beyond Petroleum,' focusing on environmental awareness and renewable energy to fight climate change.
- 📊 The presentation analyzes BP’s crisis communication failures, particularly in handling the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
- 👎 BP’s CEO admitted the company was unprepared for the Gulf oil disaster, lacking a crisis communication plan and failing to manage media scrutiny effectively.
- 💔 BP also failed in expressing empathy towards victims and in maintaining strong stakeholder relationships during the crisis.
- 📝 The conclusion emphasizes the importance of communication before, during, and after a crisis, as it greatly impacts the company’s image and stakeholder trust.
Q & A
What is the focus of the presentation?
-The presentation focuses on crisis communication within the context of the British Petroleum (BP) case study, particularly during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and other crises.
What was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and why is it significant?
-The Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred on April 20, 2010, and is significant because it was the largest maritime oil spill in history. The explosion killed 11 people and led to significant environmental, financial, and reputational damage for BP.
How does the presentation define crisis communication?
-Crisis communication is defined as a response to an unexpected event that requires quick reaction and can impact an organization’s performance, image, profitability, and possibly its survival.
What are some key historical crises BP faced before the Deepwater Horizon spill?
-BP faced several crises, including the collapse of an oil rig in 1965, killing 13 crew members, and the explosion of its Texas City refinery in 2005, which killed 15 workers and injured over 1,000 people.
How did BP try to differentiate itself after previous crises?
-BP attempted to differentiate itself by rebranding as 'Beyond Petroleum' in 2000, promoting environmental awareness and renewable energy efforts, including biofuels, hydrogen, solar, and wind power.
What were some key communication failures by BP during the Deepwater Horizon crisis?
-Key communication failures included not having a prepared crisis communication plan, inadequate media responses, lack of empathy towards victims, and poor stakeholder relationship management.
What role did NGOs play in BP’s crisis communication strategy?
-BP had previously built strong relationships with NGOs, giving donations and working with environmental groups like the Nature Conservancy. However, these relationships did not prevent negative NGO reactions during the Deepwater Horizon crisis.
What does the presentation suggest is crucial in managing a crisis effectively?
-The presentation emphasizes the importance of early and effective communication, timely and transparent reporting, and maintaining dialogue with stakeholders before, during, and after a crisis.
How much did BP spend on public relations efforts to improve its image after crises?
-BP spent $200 million on advertising and public relations campaigns to improve its image following environmental and safety-related crises.
What are some theoretical frameworks used in the analysis of BP's crisis communication failures?
-The presentation references the SCCT (Situational Crisis Communication Theory), which suggests that a company's past performance can intensify the impact of a crisis and influence its crisis management and communication decisions.
Outlines
👋 Introduction to the Bridge Petroleum Case Study
The speaker introduces themselves and outlines the key topics of the presentation, which include an introduction to the case study, history, analysis, and discussion of Bridge Petroleum's communication failures. The presentation begins by referencing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20, 2010, which marked the largest maritime oil spill in history. The disaster resulted in the death of 11 people and caused major financial and reputational damage to the company.
⚠️ Defining Crisis Communication
This section defines crisis communication, described as an event that demands quick organizational response to avoid disruption and long-term damage. Several researchers' definitions of crisis communication are referenced, including Gray's view that it's about managing public perception and outcomes, and Weick’s theory, which sees crisis communication as an organizational response aimed at reducing harm to its image. Hail's theory also frames it as a structured process for sharing vital information with stakeholders during critical situations.
📜 British Petroleum's Crisis History
This section provides a historical overview of major crises faced by British Petroleum (BP), including a 1965 oil rig collapse and a 2005 refinery explosion, both resulting in fatalities. The company faced lawsuits and charges of criminal violations. In response, BP rebranded itself in 2000 as 'Beyond Petroleum,' launching a $200 million campaign to position itself as an environmentally conscious company promoting renewable energy sources such as biofuels and solar power.
🌍 BP's Environmental Initiatives and Crisis Failures
British Petroleum’s efforts to address climate change earned it top scores in global corporate rankings in 2006. The analysis and discussion section of the presentation highlights that trustworthy sources were used to validate the data. The speaker references the SCCT theory, noting that the company’s history of negative performance could have influenced its crisis management decisions. It’s noted that BP failed to have a crisis communication plan in place and struggled with public relations after the Gulf oil disaster.
💬 BP's Crisis Communication Failures
The presentation discusses several key communication failures by BP. These include a lack of preparation for the Gulf oil disaster and CEO Tony Hayward admitting that BP's contingency plans were inadequate. BP also failed to communicate empathy towards victims and maintain strong relationships with NGOs and other stakeholders. Despite having established partnerships with environmental groups, BP's crisis response remained insufficient and uncoordinated, contributing to a loss of public trust.
🔚 Conclusion: Lessons from BP's Crisis Communication
The conclusion emphasizes that BP ignored essential principles of crisis communication before, during, and after the disaster. The importance of timely, transparent, and consistent communication with stakeholders is highlighted, especially in the first hours of a crisis, when public perception can significantly impact a company's reputation. The conclusion reinforces the role of communication in crisis management, noting that perception often matters more than reality in such situations.
🙋 Final Remarks and Invitation for Questions
The speaker concludes the presentation, thanking the audience for their time and attention. They invite the audience to ask questions if they have any, signaling openness to further discussion or clarification.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Crisis Communication
💡Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
💡British Petroleum (BP)
💡Tony Hayward
💡Reputation Management
💡Stakeholder Relationships
💡Environmental Awareness
💡Crisis Preparedness
💡Media Scrutiny
💡Public Perception
Highlights
Introduction to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest maritime disaster in petroleum history.
The explosion resulted in 11 deaths and caused significant financial and reputational damage to BP.
Definition of crisis communication as an event requiring quick reaction to prevent organizational disruption.
Crisis communication is essential for managing public perception and organizational image during crises.
Researchers such as Gray and Hail define crisis communication as a process of information management, decision-making, and stakeholder engagement.
BP has a history of multiple disasters, including the 1965 oil rig collapse and the 2005 Texas refinery explosion.
BP was subject to lawsuits and criminal violations following these disasters, leading to reputational harm.
In 2000, BP rebranded itself as 'Beyond Petroleum' and launched a $200 million advertising campaign.
BP positioned itself as a leader in environmental awareness and renewable energy efforts like biofuels and solar power.
BP's environmental and climate change strategies were highly rated by the Coalition for Environmental Responsible Economies in 2006.
The analysis suggests BP was unprepared for the Gulf oil disaster, as admitted by former CEO Tony Hayward.
BP failed to effectively communicate during the early stages of the crisis, leading to intense media scrutiny.
BP was criticized for lacking empathy and concern for the victims and stakeholders affected by the disaster.
Despite strong relationships with NGOs prior to the disaster, BP failed to leverage these partnerships effectively during the crisis.
The conclusion highlights BP's failure to follow crisis communication principles, stressing the importance of open, timely, and trustworthy communication.
Transcripts
good day
everyone my name is by the lifejack
hunger
and uh this is my presentation from
cruises communication families the
bridge petroleum case study
let me start my presentation
the first page is table of contents
in the first in the first part of our
presentation we will look
i mean we'll talk about i will talk
about the introduction
in
and the courageous communication data
and then it will be the part of the
bridge particularly
history and then
analysis and discussions
and
then
the bridge patrol increases
communication you fail yours
so the last one will be conclusion
so
introduction
uh
on the 20th of the april 2010 petroleum
industry has been marketed by the
largest maritime disaster oil spill in
its history
known as a deep water horizon
oil spill the accident was caused by an
outstanding
explosion
and has resulted in the killing of 11
people
the company was facing simultaneously
too many issues the biggest spill oil in
the usa history and the considerable
financial and the reputation losses
so
and the next one is cruising
communication defined
charisses is an event that they suddenly
occurs demands quick reaction
and interferes with organizational
performance because it brings or has a
potential for bringing an organization
into this distribute and impulses its
future and its future
profitability grows and possible
possibly its survival
so cruises communication was defined by
many researchers in different ways
the first i mean
here is some example according to gray
which is communication is related to
managing the outcome
impact and the public perception of
decreases
at the same time releasing through the
way the fighter cruises communication as
the organization's response to a
critical situation
in an attempt to diminish damage to the
cooperative image
and while hail considered that decreases
communication can be summarized as a
process of information collection
information processing decision making
the information distribution of the data
necessary to address
accuracy situation to internal and
external stakeholders
in the breach
petroleum creates history
oh yeah this is already time to talk
about the history here is the the
british petroleum cruises history
in the december 2 in december 1965 the
bridge petroleum oil rig
see
him
collapsing while it was being moved and
13 13 crew died
on the march 23 2005
bridge uh petroleum
uh bridge petroleum
texas city
refinery exploded and caught fire
fifteen workers have
died and more than one
more than thousand and seventy others
have been injured
bridge petroleum was then the subject
to
lawsuits
to lawsuits from the victims
families and was charged with
criminal violation of federal
and environmental laws
so consequently the group has
tired
tried to differentiate itself from its
competitors by displaying
a greater environmental awareness in
2000 the world both renamed itself like
a beyond petroleum instead of bridge
petroleum and adopted new logo featuring
in the queen
and the yellow
and the yellow
uh
sandbars like a logo the group launches
an advertising
public relations campaign that richard
200 million dollars
so bridge petroleum also tried to
position itself as a company fighting
the climate change by promoting the
renewable energy activities including
biofuels hydrogen solar solar and vine
power according to a report analyzing
the climate change
strategy of the top 10 global companies
published by the
coalition for environmental risk for
responsible economies
on
march 2006
british petroleum was a leader and they
had the top score in the reiki of the 10
global companies
so
here with the analysis and discussions
uh it's not worthy that in order to
issue the validity of the data we used
only trustworthy newspapers magazines
the collected data was contended where
lasted through uh
through a grid tune
uh from our theoretical framework as we
assume in accordance with
uh
with
scct theory then the company's negative
performance history intensely
uh the re-potential damage resulting
from decreases and could then affect the
creatures management and the
communication decision when decreases
officers
will be
decomposed into two subsections the
first describe was the british petroleum
service history
and while the second one listed the main
failures
and the bridge career creates
communication
so
uh here is a the the bridge squeezes
communication failures and the reasons
in particular it's clear that the bridge
petroleum was not prepared a crisis
communication plan
as a matter of the fact that the former
rich
petroleum ceo tony highway recognized in
interview to maui program on bbc2 that
bridge petroleum's
contingency plans were inadequate and
that the british petroleum was not
prepared for at the gulf oil disaster
and was making it up day to day
in the early stages he also said that
bridge petroleum was not prepared to
deal with
the intense media
uh scranton over the gulf oil disaster
and it
and that he failed he was demonized in
feel it
the second filler is related to
expressing concern
and empathy to the excellent victims as
well as other stakeholders
so the next failure uh concerned that
com companies share stakeholders
relationship and involvement in
decreases management
in fact prior to the disaster bridge
petroleum has successfully established
strong relations with some
ngos
it seems that the company was well aware
that
establishing such a relationship
relations could give it more
legitimacy as well as more
credibility to its environmental
discourse as this could also thanks to
such a strategy the group wanted
to hedge itself against ngo
reaction in the case of accidents
thanks to some bridge petroleum giving
the nearly
10 million dollars in cash over the
years
uh doesn't already ask the nature uh the
nature
conservancy listed british petroleum as
one of the business partners and give it
sit on its international leadership
council
so
and then
this is time to kind of collusion
so
a conclusion will be the bridge
petroleum seems to ignore the rule of
chris's communication
before uh
during and after the crisis specifically
bridge petroleum seems to ignore that
communication during the first hours of
the quizzes can have remarkable
implications for the company image and
brand
almost 80 percent of the careers
management consists of communication and
that the match of the quiz lies
not in its reality but in its perception
second and during increases stakeholders
want to feel in a format
safe and connected when a quiz occurs
then open timely and trustworthy
reporting as well as a regular
dialogue and communication with all
stakeholders should be insured before
during and after the quizzes
so
and this is all of my the presentation
thank you
for your time
thank you for your time and
thank you for your time and attention
if you have any questions
you are more than welcome
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