Leadership in Crisis Situation

On April 20, 2010 off the Gulf of Mexico, there was a blowout of the Macondo well which is owned by British Petroleum also known as BP. When the blowout took place it got immediate media attention because aspects of the event were known over the world. Within events transpiring it was discovered how limited the resources and reaction to the disaster was going to be. This paper will detail aspects of the event from symptoms of the problem, the root cause, important unresolved issues, roles of the organization’s key players and stakeholders, and explain the focus of specific ethical systems. Also discussed in this paper are relevant strategies and alternatives, the effect of globalization

In order to explore how a crisis worker would approach, assess, and treat a crisis situation, this paper will focus on the story of Melody, the victim of a brutal rape. Melody Swanson is a 50 year old, divorced teacher who has been living alone since her children went to college two months ago. Melody came home from a short vacation to the casino and was met in her driveway by an armed man in his twenties. She was abducted at gunpoint, beaten, raped, robbed, and left abandoned several miles from her home. Melody was able to find help and was

An analysis of presidential leadership during times of crisis and disaster reveals that the presidential role of leadership is tested in different aspects. These aspects range from natural disasters to other federal funded emergencies. The outcome of that disaster is depended on the president’s leadership capabilities.

On April 20, 2010, the petroleum industry suffered the largest maritime disaster oil spill in its history known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig that had been working on a well for BP in the Gulf exploded and went up in flames. Subsequently, massive amounts of oil spilled out into the water, threatening the marine life and those living on the shore. The fire burned for 36 hours before the rig sank into the ocean, leaking dangerous chemicals into the water. Hydrocarbons and oil continued to leak into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days before they managed to seal the well. “The Gulf spill, which left 11 workers dead and 17 injured, is about the size of Rhode Island, running across the northern Gulf of Mexico between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Florida. It runs wide, threatening the coastlines, and deep, traveling beneath about 5,000 feet of water and 13,000 feet under the seabed,” (Emami, 2010). BP faced an angry uproar from the media, consumers, and environmentalists all over the world. The economy and the environment suffered greatly because of this incident. As investigations began, speculations quickly arose about the morals and capability of the company. The one positive image of BP had been shattered. Customers lost faith in the company and criticized the actions of its executives. Tony

environment had changed and that there is a critical leadership problem in leader competencies. As the

1. Leadership: Tough catastrophe leadership to prepare worthy management and decision making throughout times of turbulences, as well as nonstop assessment of policies and work programs against organizational objectives.

MEJRI, Mohamed, and Daniel DE WOLF. 2013. "Crisis Management: Lessons Learnt From The BP Deepwater Horizon Spill Oil". Business Management And Strategy 4 (2): 67. doi:10.5296/bms.v4i2.4950.

One of her working goals is to train local people eventually to take over her duties. This proved that she wanted to give to people rather than

On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred aboard BP contracted Transocean Ltd Deepwater Horizon oil rig stationed in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers were killed instantly. Unfortunately, the BP management did not wake up that morning (or countless mornings before) expecting the event to occur for it took them almost 4 months to clean up the spill. The first month was spent forecasting the rate of the spill and having President Barack Obama tour the site. Only on May 26, 2010 did BP initiate the first form of clean up procedure known as "top kill". Needless to say, this attempt failed. Thus, well over into the second month after the incident, oil remained leaking and BP had not yet figured out how to contain it. Finally on July 10, 2010 BP removed a timeworn containment cap from the well to install a new one. At last, on July 15, the oil stopped flowing freely. Noting that it took BP over 4 months to replace a timeworn containment cap just to stop oil from contaminating the Gulf of Mexico, it is readily questioned why such a well-established mega giant never considered the chance of having a blast at an operating site. On the bright side, due to this incident and similar others, numerous organizations have been formulating and establishing emergency or disaster plans and policies to respond to a variety of disaster scenarios. Thus, suggesting that contingency planning is imperative for an organization in the long run in order to avoid massive instant loss since there

British Petroleum Company (BP) is among the major international gas and oil companies in the world. It provides clients with energy for light and heat, fuel for transportation, lubricants, and other petrochemical products that are used in manufacturing various items. The company’s primary goal is to deliver value to its customers by utilizing its distinctive capabilities, managing the quality of its portfolio, and setting clear goals. However, an unprecedented explosion of BP Deepwater Horizon oil well occurred in April 2010, causing the largest oil spill disaster in the history of the United States. Besides being the worst oil spill disaster, it also affected the company’s profits and reputation (Wolf & Mejri, 2013). BP utilized a wide range of tools and tactics to communicate during and after the incident with its key stakeholders. Despite the use of the tactics and tools, crisis management and communication experts significantly differed on the correctness of the way in which the company conveyed information about the crisis.

What BP did to alleviate growing fears made the controversy. They said there were no problems initially, then denied there were problems then they could not fix the problem. BP executives were flabbergasted regarding the intense media attention and upset after being

Recently, oil spill management has become a serious concern and subsequently, it has become a big issue as it takes a large, specifically trained team effort to solve the devastating problem. It also requires consistent efforts of the workforce. The Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico was perhaps another major contributing factor to highlighting the need for Oil Spill Management to be addressed. The director of the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement, Michael Bromwich stated that this oil spill proved that oil and gas organizations were not prepared to deal with oil spills. (Merolli, 2010).

This case study report examined a public relation management problem that British Petroleum (BP) faced since the oil spill accident happened in April, 2010. In addition, this thesis recommended possible solutions and implementation plans for BP to deal with the public crisis.

In the month of April 2010, Deepwater Horizon exploded, killing 11 workers and releasing oil from the well into an ocean. This paper will discuss BP management, ethical and social behavior. BP along with a few of its partners Transocean and Halliburton was involved in the gulf oil spill. The explosion of the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon was the root cause of the oil spill. This paper will focus on BP organization behavioral issues that caused the economic, environmental, and human losses. The research further focuses on what BP leadership could have done as a precautionary measure using highest ethics and management behavior.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 resulted in considerable damage to the environment, economy and human livelihoods. While BP, as one of the parties involved in the operation of the oil drilling on Deepwater Horizon rig, suffered huge financial loss and reputation loss, it was found to be the one to be mostly blamed due to its lack of risk management. As poor risk management can lead to an astonishing disaster like this, it appears to be necessary for every business to learn from BP’s mistakes and try the best to prevent such disaster from happening again. This report studies this case, focusing on two issues identified in BP’s risk management practices, namely its sloppy preparation for risks and its inappropriate communication strategy after the crisis happened. No evidence showed that BP had a sufficient emergency plan for the worst-case deep-water oil spill although the depth of the oil drilling was one of the deepest. BP’s unseriousness towards safety was also indicated in their attempt to shift blames to its contractors and the unaccountability shown by the words of BP’s executives during interviews. Based on the examination of BP’s deficiency in risk management, the lessons that can be learned from it are discussed. In brief, firstly, accurate risk assessment and appropriate emergency plan should be available before the operation is started. Secondly, post-crisis communication should show the world that the company cares and is accountable