On April 10, 2010, a tragedy occurred that challenged the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1986
On April 10, 2010, a tragedy occurred that challenged the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1986. This crisis is referred to as the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill. The oil spill happened following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which led to oil seeping out via the cracks created. It is assumed that close to 60,000 oil barrels were spilled on the Gulf Coast each day. It is therefore significant to comprehend the sternness of this crisis. This reflection will examine the impact of the oil spill, the correct and incorrect things done by BP during the crisis while incorporating the aspects of crisis communication learned in the course such as ethical values of responsibility, as well as accountability, and humanistic care.
Analysis of the Crisis
In handling the crisis, BP’s actions comprised of both unethical crisis responses and effective practices of crisis communication. The unethical responses form a textbook paradigm of how organizations should not do crisis management. The unethical responses consisted of fudging of responsibility, as well as denial, and scapegoating. For instance, BP executives stated the crisis was not their accident, as well as directed blames to their contractors and even made the organization appear insensitive and arrogant. BP indicated that the leaking oil belonged to the drilling organization (Gerstein, 2010). Tony Hayward the CEO of the organization frequently made insensitive remarks in public, for example, he stated that no one wanted the crisis over than he did. Moreover, he indicated that the environmental effect of the spill would be modest.
The effective crisis communication aspects that BP implemented in handling the crisis consisted of updating the public concisely as well as compensating the affected persons. The company originally informed the public that 1,000 barrels of oil leaked from the rig on a single day. However, a later discovery confirmed that the actual figure was 5,000 barrels. For instance, BP handled the damage claims by paying $399 million to the individuals who were affected by the spill. However, this later changed when a different official independent administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility by the name Kenneth Feinberg drew criticism for this response.
There are various ways through which BP should have handled the crisis. They include; a) preparing in advance (always develop a plan); the failure by BP’s management to quickly respond to the tragedy indicates that crisis plan, as well as ethical guidelines, must be part of an organization’s culture; b) acting with a PR team; Tony Hayward cut financial support for a public relations panel, regularly depending on outside consultants for advice on how to handle a crisis (Kanso et al. 2019). The consultants persistently allowed Hayward to conduct every day gaffes despite frequent insensitive statements and his deficiency of comprehension about the public. Acting with a PR team would help an organization like BP to develop public relations tactics and to communicate important information to the public.
According to Jervis, & Jones, (2010), the oil spill affected the environment to a great level. The oil spill created an impact to more than 400 species also scarred 25 million birds. Furthermore, it did not only affect the bird’s population but also the underwater population as well. The oil plumes choke underwater species by blocking their respiratory system with oil. This could as well as affect the whole food chain and ecosystem in the affected waters affected.
Conclusion
BP oil spill crisis offers a broad set of information about the importance of communication during a crisis, as well as how organizations should handle crisis and how they should not solve the crisis. Moreover, it depicts both unethical crisis responses and effective practices of crisis communication. The Company’s denial and scapegoating form the unethical practices while a frequent update to the public and compensation to the affected individuals present the effective practices of crisis communication aspects.