Miscommunication in BPs Messages Regarding Its Handling...

Miscommunication in BPs Messages Regarding its Handling of the Deep Horizon Oil Spill Overview Late summer of 2010 saw one of the biggest environmental disasters in American history. In a region already plagued by the affects of Hurricane Katrina, a massive oil leak exploded just off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. For three months, oil gushed out of the broken well and flooded delicate swamplands with crude oil. The owner of the well, BP tried to take action and effectively communicate their solution strategies to both the public and to government, but ultimately failed tremendously based on massive miscommunication of how their efforts were actually faring in the region. Organizational Message The overall message that was trying to be communicated by BP was that they were working as hard as they could to contain the massive leak. BP wanted to ensure public confidence that the spill was being addressed in the timeliest and safest manner. However, this message was clouded with a series of major miscommunications that only seemed to make the situation worse. There was actually very little communication BP provided to the public, with miscommunications that ran rampant without an honest and tailored organizational message to handle the massive public outcry of the disaster. According to reports from the time, there have been repeated instances in which BP has tried to limit or delay the flow of information to the public on what is clearly now theShow MoreRelatedHbr When Your Core Business Is Dying74686 Words   |  299 Pagesenergy-producin ity of countries rely on g nations that won the geological lottery, ble ssing them with abunda nt hydrocarbons. And yet , eve of raw resources import n regions with plenty some form of energy. Saudi Arabia, for examp le, the world’s largest oil exporter, imports ref ined petroleum produc ts like gasoline. So if energy independence is an unrealistic goal, how does everyone get the fuel a world of rising demand they need, especially in , supply disruptions, nat ural disasters, and unstable regime s