Flaws in Communication Management: Deepwater Horizon, the British Petroleum Case

The British conglomerate’sreaction to the largest oil spill in U.S. History

byVerônicaBilyk

.

On April 20, 2010 the world watched with great concern the consequences of the worst environmental accident in U.S. history. BP (British Petroleum) – oil company of English origin with global presence and important operations in the U.S. – found itself constantly under strong inspectionscrutiny due toits fossil fuel extraction activities. For a reasonable period of time already, the company’s image was being vilanified by public opinion. A terrible accident involving human deaths, combined with a confused and ill-defined communication policy had a strong impact on the image and reputation of the company, consequently in its finance and market value.

When researching articles that covered the possible failures in communication management in this particular case, I ran into several texts and presentations on the subject. But one in particular called my attention and in face of the clarity of its analysis and I consider it very interesting to share with you.

Dois acadêmicos: Daniel De Wolf daUniversityofLittoralCôte d’Opale (ULCO)/Economia e Administração, Dunkerque, França e  Mohamed Mejri, da EcoleSuperieure de Commerce/Departamento de Administração, UniversityofManuba de Tunis na Tunisia, escreveram juntos o artigo: Crisis Communication Failures: The BP  Case Study, April, May 2013 (Falhas nas Comniicações na Crise) para a publicação no InternationalJournalofAdvances in Management andEconomics.

Two scholars: Daniel De Wolf from the University of Littoral Côte d’Opale (ULCO)/Economics and Administration, Dunkerque, France and Mohamed Mejri, from the EcoleSuperieure de Commerce/Management Department, University of Manuba from Tunis in Tunisia, wrote together the Article: Crisis communication failures: The BP Case Study, April, May 2013 published in the International Journal of Advances in Management and Economics.

Some theory:

What is aCrisis?(Lerbinger)

Crisis is an event that suddenly occurs, demands quick reaction and interferes with organizational performance because it brings, or has the potential for bringing, an organization into disrepute and imperils its future profitability, growth, and possibly its survival;

What is Crisis Communication? (Gray)

Crisis Communication is related to managing the outcome, impact, and public perception of a crisis.

Globalization and social networks have increased consequences and brought enormous impacts.

Crisis Communication should be considered as an integrated in, as well as a critical element of the overall crisis management process and effective communication during the crisis is essential to maintain a positive relation with key-stakeholders. 12].In particular, crisis communication directly affects how the public perceives the organization during and after the crisis.

Without forgetting that many specialists argue that organizations will be more prepared to manage and resolve a crisis if effective communication systems are in place before the crisis occurrence and stakeholder relationships and credibility have been built prior to the crisis.

What are the Best Practices in Crisis?(Covello)

❶Accept and involve Stakeholders as legitimate Partners

❷Listento People

❸BeTruthful, Honest, Frank and Open

❹Coordinate, Collaborate, and ally with other Trusted Sources

❺Aim towards meeting the media’s needs

❻Communicate clearly and with compassion

❼Planin a Clear and Careful manner

BP’s issues were being sowed much before the accident actually happened. What happened together with accident was the continuity of a poorly planned communication policy, without a truthful corporate liason.

If we review some facts:

• There had been the largest oil accident at sea of U.S. history, with 11 deathes and the leaking of 780 million gallons of crude oil;
• BP was involved in other environmental accidents, and the public, the regulatory agencies and independent organizations shouted to anyone who would listen that their practices could be classified as careless. Even so, BP sought to ally with various strategically important NGOs. The fact that the theory did not correspond to reality helped further decline the organization’s image within the general public;
• BP had begun a process of change in its brand positioning for ‘Beyond Petroleum’, selling the image of a company also in search of alternative sources of sustainable energy, a concept that actually was not aligned with the results of some of the business’ actions;
• BP is awell knownhigh ranklobbyist within the U.S. Government. Therefore, a player looked upon withsevere mistrust. Where there is a large amount of money being traded, there is always a bigger chance to be happening nonstandard negotiations

In face of all this BP had a clumsy reaction. And failures are described schematically forward. It all makes a lot of sense. It is simple and serves as learning experience for any event in the life of a person, corporation or any organization.

BP was steeped in pride, to ever consider having a communication plan for a dramatic situation, as the one that happened. After all, fossil fuel extraction carries a very high accident risk. A company like BP should be expert in this type of relationship since it qualifies as the real enemy sleeping right next to them.

Mas, ao que parece a soberba só fez pior ainda mais a situação. Não havia plano. Houve demora nos pronunciamentos iniciais da BP ao público. Não houve uma forte e explícita empatia com relação às perdas de vidas; e o Presidente da BP, indicado como Porta-Voz da empresa, se portou muitas vezes de forma inadequada, diante dos repórteres e em discursos à mídia. Não foi tão difícil, Tony Hayward se tornar rapidamente um dos homens mais odiados nos EUA.

But it seems that pride only made the situation even worse. There was no plan. There were delays in BP’s initial pronouncements to the public. There was no strong and explicit empathy with respect to loss of life; and the Chairman of BP, indicated as Spokesman of the company, often behaved improperly in front of reporters and during speeches to the media. Tony Hayward quickly became one of the most hated men in America.

Podemos adicionar também que a BP vinha realizando alianças `de fachada` com ONGs do setor ambiental; mas, que de fato não encontravam lastro nas práticas da empresa. Com o acidente essa fragilidade se tornou patente, uma vez que as próprias ONGs estavam exigindo respostas mais detalhadas e soluções imediatas.We can also add that BP was accomplishing fragile alliances with NGOs in the environmental sector, but which in fact found no ballast in company practices. With the accident that fragility became apparent, since NGOs themselves were demanding more detailed answers and immediate solutions.

O fato da BP ter se preocupado demasiadamente com seus investidores, num primeiro momento e não saber se utilizar da mídia para se colocar de forma clara e transparente, fecha a análise do caso.The fact that BP at first worried too about their investors, and did not know how to use the media in order to pronounce itself clear and transparently, closes the case’s analysis

The Flaws

❶Neglect andthe lack of existence of an Emergency Plan;

❷Absence of empathic statements by the company regarding the accident and deaths. The concern, first and foremost, to protect the corporation;

❸Delay inthe response to the public;

❹The choice of the Spokesperson;

❺Compromisedrelationships with key NGOs;

❻Greater concern with respect to shareholders and investors;

❼Lack of engagement with the media and attempted censorship.

This incident was a terrible shock for many people. BP and many organizations have learned, through a fatality, how important it is to take care of the way a company speaks its stakeholders, how important it iskeep your relations ‘lubricated’,  have your speech aligned, because at any time you will need your allies.

There is no use for a new logo and some other nonsense. The company has to have a personality and be faithful to it. And to represent it someone who has the ability to convey this concept and will be pleased to welcome new relationships.

How is BP treating its corporate communication issues after this lesson? I do not know, but it can be a great topic for a new article

Source: Crisis Communication Failures: The BP  Case Study, April, May 2013

International Journal of Advances in Management and Economics

Daniel De Wolf1, Mohamed Mejri2*

1University of Littoral Côte d’Opale (ULCO)/Management & Economics, Dunkerque, France.

2Ecole Superieure de Commerce/Management Department, University of Manuba, Tunis, Tunisia.

Available online:

www.managementjournal.info