Bp oil spill midterm presentation

Crisis Communication & Social Media – A Simulation Game Learning Experience

(International Summer University Program 2013 – Copenhagen Business School)

Crisis Communication:

The BP Oil Spill

The Crisis – Explained & Analysedo Overview of the Crisis – Timeline p. 4o Stakeholdermap p. 6o Results/outcomes of the crisis p. 7o BP’s Crisis Plan p. 8o Aftermath for BP p. 9

The Crisis Simulation Gameo Q&A Questions p. 11

• White House Representatives p. 11• BP Media & Social Media Representatives p. 12• Sierra Club & Greenpeace Representatives p. 13• Local Representatives p. 14

o Our Experience of the Q&A-Session p. 15o Social Media Training p. 16o Learning Outcomes p. 18o References p. 20

Table of Contents

Explained & Analysed

The Crisis

20 April: An explosion at aboard the Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon kills 11 workers.22 April: the Deepwater Horizon sinks into the ocean.26 April: BP’s first effort to stop the spill, by activating the blowout preventer. – effort failed28 April: The spill is claimed to become the worst in US history.30 April: Despite efforts to stop the oil from reaching the shore; oil starts washing ashore at

the coast of Louisiana. Obama names BP America responsible for the damages.2 May: Obama’s first trip to the Gulf Coast.8 May: BP’s second effort to stop the spill, using a giant metal box to contain the oil. – Effort

failed10 May: BP’s third effort to stop the spill, pumping debris/junk into the well in order to clog

the wellhead. – Effort failed11 May: BP, Transocean and Halliburton blames each other for the disaster.14 May: The amount of oil leaking from the well is proved to be much greater than first

estimated. -Continued...

Timeline 2010

26 May: BP’s fourth effort to stop the spill, using the method ’Top Kill’. – Effort failed

2 June: The US announces a criminal inquiry into the BP oil spill.4 June: BP places a cap atop the leaking wellhead. Which allows them to

pipe most of the oil and gas onto ships on the surface.17 June: BP announces it will place $20bn in a fund to compensate victims

of the oil spill and says it will not pay a shareholder dividend this year.6 July: Oil from the spill reaches Texas, meaning it has affected all five US

Gulf Coast states.4 August: The US government says three-quarters of the oil spilled in the

Gulf has been cleaned up or broken down by natural forces.19 September: The ruptured well is finally sealed and "effectively dead“.

Timeline - Continued

Stakeholder Map

BP (Deepwat

er Horizon)

BBC

The White House

The Sierra Club

GreenpeaceLocal

Communities

BP Media

BP Social Media

• Ongoing negative effect on the environment and wildlife

• Ongoing negative effect on the local communities vis a vis economy and health

• Reputation of BP impacted negatively

• Expenditures of $40 billion in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon.

• 11 deaths caused by the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

Results/Outcomes of the Crisis

• The original BP Crisis plan was out of date

• The original BP Crisis plan was needlessly complicated (582 pages)

• The ‘Deepwater Horizon’-part of the crisis plan was only 52 out of the 582 pages

• The BP Crisis plan was not as accessible as it should have been, or as well understood by everyone involved as it should have been.

BP’s Crisis Plan

• BP won the Consumerist ”Worst Company in America” award in 2011

• Three Years Later: 43% of Americans have an unfavourable view of BP (another 43% claimed to have a favourable view of BP) according to a Huffington Post / YouGov poll

• BP has spent billions of dollars on recovery after the Deepwater Horizon disaster

Aftermath for BP

From BP America Stakeholder: BBC’s Point of View

The Crisis Simulation Game

• The reason we asked this was to find a relevant question as to how the White House could have helped prevent a disaster such as the Deepwater Horizon. This kind of question might open up possibilities for debate about big business and regulation in America.

Reason for, and Analysis of Question:

• ” Is this the kind of disaster

which must take place in

order for the United States to

pass more laws on regulation

of big business, and oil

companies in particular?”

For the White House Representatives:

Q&A Questions

• We asked this question of BP Media because of the poor initial handling of the crisis, including the somewhat unlucky statement by then CEO Tony Hayward about wanting his life back.

• The social media department of BP seemed to be faring better in interactions with angry consumers. We wanted to know if activism staged on the social media had any effect on BP.

Reason for, and Analysis of Question:

• “Was BP properly prepared to interact

with the media in an event such as the

Deepwater Disaster? How could BP

Media have handled the situation

better?”

• “How did social media protests against

your organization pan out? Did the

protests influence BP and / or its modus

operandi in any meaningful way?”

For BP Media & Social Media Representatives:

Q&A Questions

• The first question was relevant in order to highlight some of the things BP might have done properly, as apposed to the constant criticism of BP’s actions. Furthermore, BBC had been accused of one-sided journalism, not showing BP’s point of view.

• The second question was relevant in order to have GreenPeace take responsibility for their sometimes violent plans of action.

Reason for, and Analysis of Question:

• “In the aftermath of this horrific

event, how has co-operating with

BP been?”

• “Do you feel that your involvement

in the Deepwater Disaster

aftermath reflects on the fact that

you signed an Accountability

Charter?”

For the Sierra Club & Greenpeace

Representatives:

Q&A Questions

• This question was relevant in order to uncover how well BP’s actions were received in the local communities that were affected by the disaster.

Reason for, and Analysis of Question:

• “How has BP handled the aftermath

of the Deepwater Disaster? Is the

support to local mental health

centres and the research group lead

by Associate Professor Stefan

Schulenberg helpful to the recovery

of the local community and

environment?”

For the Local Representatives:

Q&A Questions

Q&A-session in General:o Overall there were good, well-prepared

questions and good answers.o The variety of questions was greater than

expectedo It was clear that everybody’s focus had been

on preparing questions to other stakeholders, more so than answers to questions.

Q&A-session from BBC StakeholderPoint of View:

o As we were representing BBC it was most important for us to prepare answers about ethics and morality in journalism.

o The questions were more of a general nature, and not as in depth as the other groups’.

Our Experience of the Q&A-session

• BP America tries to frame ‘the Good Story’

• Their general approach is to inform the public of how great a place BP is to work

• BP America advertises their engagement in local communities

Social Media Training

• All mentioning of the Oil Spill is answered with links to their homepage about the Gulf Coast restoration process: http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/gulf-of-mexico-restoration.html – turning negativity into a positive progress.

Our Question to BP America:

Social Media Training - Continued

• To understand how crisis is experienced – how common and what types

• To explore the extent and need for crisis plans

• To examine how companies approach crisis management planning

• To understand crisis preparation in the context of growing impact of social and digital media

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes - Continued

• What to do during a crisis- Determine what has happened- Evaluate the impact- Deal with any conflicts of interest- Identify and prioritize actions required- Maintain control

• Communications with the media in crisis situation• Acknowledge the importance of Crisis Management and Crisis

Communication for organizations of public, corporate or civil sectors.• To learn how to make a situation analysis considering global and local

trends and issues• To understand how public opinion is formed and affects organizational

issues

• Anthonissen, P. F. (2008). Crisis Communication - Practical PR Strategies for Reputation Management and Company Survival. London: Kogan Page.

• BBC. (8. February 2012). NEWS BP Oil Disaster. Hentet fra www.bbc.co.uk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/oil_disaster/

• BBC. (19. September 2010). News US & Canada. Hentet fra www.bbc.co.uk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10656239

• Smith, D., & Elliott, D. (2006). Key Readings in Crisis Management. Oxon: Routledge.

• Ulmer, R. R., Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2011). Effective Crisis Communication - Moving from Crisis to Opportunity. London: Sage Publications.

• White, C. M. (2012). Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management. Taylor & Francis Group.

• Wikipedia. (2013). Journalism Ethics & Standards. Hentet fra www.wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_ethics_and_standards

• www.biasedbbc.org. (2010). anti-BP. pro-Obama. Hentet fra www.biasedbbc.org: http://biasedbbc.org/blog/category/anti-bp-pro-obama/

References

Anaab Begum, Stud. Global Business Engineering, DTU: Technical University of Denmark (@Anbe90 )

Iqrah Afzal, Stud. Global Business Engineering, DTU: Technical University of Denmark(@Iqrah01)

Maimona Afzal, Stud. Global Business Engineering, DTU: Technical University of Denmark(@Mona0601).

Mikkel Zangenberg, BA in English & International Business Communication,Copenhagen Business School (@MinitruDK)

Stine Kyhn, BA in English & Organisational Communication, Copenhagen Business School (@Stin3K)

Instructor: Betty Tsakarestou, Assistant Professor,  Department of Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University,Greece (@tsakarestou)

Academic  Director:  Patricia Plackett, Department of Operations Management at CBS (www.cbs.dk)

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