Bp and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
Business Communications
BP and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
04-71-100-05
Dr. R. Kobe
Meshal Mustafa
January 31th, 2013
An explosion took place on the Deep Water Horizon on April 20th, 2013. I will be discussing the main communication problem that BP faced. First I will discuss the causes of the problem, second I will talk about the symptoms. Thirdly, I will discuss the key stakeholder groups and the issues they are concerned about. Lastly, I will discuss how BP can use the communication model to deal with each stakeholder group.
The main communication problem that BP was facing is that Mr. Hayward, the chief spokesperson, was not very popular among the public. This was due to the fact that he was the one who was responsible for the safety of the Deep Water Horizon on April 20th. This caused the public to be very critical of him and did not trust him. The company also had many safety problems in the past under Sir John Brown, which caused BP to look even worse to the public eye.
The cause of the problem was that the public already wasn’t too fond of Mr. Hayward, thus he only made the company look worse than it was. He also wasn’t a very good communicator since he said “I would like my life back.” This made him seem like he was more concerned about his own comfort then he was about the tragedy that had occurred to people in the region.
The symptoms of the problem were that people did not have trust in the company anymore. BP’s shares lost fifty percent of their value, and over 220 lawsuits were filed against them. They were going downhill and the U.S government was interrogating them because of their past history on over looking safety problems.
The key stakeholder groups were the Fishery Industry, the Tourism Industry, and the people of the region where the oil spill occurred. The Fishery Industry had estimated a loss of 3 billion dollars. The Tourism Industry expected a drop of 70 percent in the future. The people of the region were going
BP and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
04-71-100-05
Dr. R. Kobe
Meshal Mustafa
January 31th, 2013
An explosion took place on the Deep Water Horizon on April 20th, 2013. I will be discussing the main communication problem that BP faced. First I will discuss the causes of the problem, second I will talk about the symptoms. Thirdly, I will discuss the key stakeholder groups and the issues they are concerned about. Lastly, I will discuss how BP can use the communication model to deal with each stakeholder group.
The main communication problem that BP was facing is that Mr. Hayward, the chief spokesperson, was not very popular among the public. This was due to the fact that he was the one who was responsible for the safety of the Deep Water Horizon on April 20th. This caused the public to be very critical of him and did not trust him. The company also had many safety problems in the past under Sir John Brown, which caused BP to look even worse to the public eye.
The cause of the problem was that the public already wasn’t too fond of Mr. Hayward, thus he only made the company look worse than it was. He also wasn’t a very good communicator since he said “I would like my life back.” This made him seem like he was more concerned about his own comfort then he was about the tragedy that had occurred to people in the region.
The symptoms of the problem were that people did not have trust in the company anymore. BP’s shares lost fifty percent of their value, and over 220 lawsuits were filed against them. They were going downhill and the U.S government was interrogating them because of their past history on over looking safety problems.
The key stakeholder groups were the Fishery Industry, the Tourism Industry, and the people of the region where the oil spill occurred. The Fishery Industry had estimated a loss of 3 billion dollars. The Tourism Industry expected a drop of 70 percent in the future. The people of the region were going