Analyzing BP's Crisis Management, Reputation, and Strategic Plan

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This assignment provides a detailed analysis of BP's crisis management following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, evaluating the effectiveness of their response and the resulting reputational damage. It explores whether BP could have managed the crisis more effectively, examining the company's strategic planning and implementation failures. The analysis also considers BP's communication strategies and public response during the crisis, highlighting shortcomings in empathy and transparency. Furthermore, the assignment includes a strategic plan for a hypothetical environment-friendly business facing profitability challenges, outlining key performance goals, strategies for convincing shareholders to invest in sustainable practices, and a five-year strategic vision focused on balancing profitability with environmental and social responsibility. The case study uses SWOT analysis and sets SMART goals to ensure long-term sustainability and growth.

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Contents
Assignment 1................................................................................................................................... 3
Assignment 2.................................................................................................................................. 5

Assignment 1
1. Do you think that BP could have managed the crisis more effectively? Why or why not?
The senior management of British petroleum (BP) committed that have developed global
strategies but they failed to implement it when it was needed. The company could have managed
to crisis more effectively if they had a policy on how to conduct deep-water drilling. This is a
process under which holes are created by drilling rig in deep sea for oil mining. In the strategy
statement of company of March 2010, the company promised that it will be a world leader in
deep-water drilling for oil and gas and shall be best at finding and exploiting reserves in deepest
recesses of Earth and under thousands of feet of water. This competency in deep-water drilling
shall be source of competitive advantage in sustainability. However, the company failed to
implement this global strategy in hour of need and the gap between global strategy and local
operating policies resulted in bad management of disaster (Wolf, 2013). The team of British
Petroleum failed miserably in implementation of global strategies and therefore it could be
concluded that they could have managed the crisis more effectively. The senior management of
the company must have put the fundamental standards of care in place and must have enforced
the execution of global operating strategies.
2. Could the reputational damage have suffered by the company been avoided by a
better/more adequate response?
British Petroleum spent years trying to establish itself as a brand which is environmentally
responsible. But all of its efforts were undone when Deepwater Horizon rig in Gulf of Mexico
exploded in 2010. In this disaster, 11 workers died, and an immeasurable damage occurred to the
surrounding wildlife, and tourism and fishing business was destroyed. Unsurprisingly, reputation
of BP was battered. This impacted its business in a significant way. The gas stations of BP
witnessed drop in sales and share prices and the company was reported to e facing a loss of $5
billion. BP became the butt of criticism from far to wide. As part of fixing the reputational
damage, BP started a multi-million-dollar ad campaign stating that “we’re sorry”. It further
promised to fund $500 million in scientific research. However, some believed that it was not
enough for the loss caused due to disaster. Further, the company showed little empathy towards
the victims of accident and the CEO of company also accepted that the company was slow to
communicate in the immediate aftermath of disaster and the company further attempted to pass

the blame of disaster on other parties. The company could have avoided this damage by
responding better to the situation. However, the company still remains to be one of the biggest
market players. The company could have saved itself from reputational damage through
communication and commitment to sustainability.
3. Do you recall when the crisis was happening? What do you recall hearing about it from
the media? Was the company doing enough to respond to the public at the time the crisis
was happening?
When the crisis happened, the company had two jobs in hand including stopping the spillage of
200,000 gallons of oil in Gulf of Mexico and convincing people that it is giving its maximum
efforts to stop this spillage of oil in Gulf. When this crisis was happening, BP was watching its
market value and reputation wither away. It was America’s worst environmental catastrophe. For
87 agonizing days, millions of gallons oil spilled over the ocean floor. Number of birds, shrimp
and fishes died, and thick brown oil washed ashore in marshlands and on white sand beaches of
Gulf Coast. The businesses of fishing and tourism were forced to shutter. At the time of crisis, it
can be said that the company was not doing enough to respond to the public. The company, in its
interview after the accident, blamed third parties for the disaster. The company however
attempted to communicate with the public through social media. The company failed to develop
a positive image in minds of public as it did not show enough empathy towards the victims of the
incident. The statement given by the CEO of company after his first visit to the accident site that
‘he wanted all this to end and want his normal life back’ backfired on the reputation of company
and its efforts for controlling the damage (Sherwell, 2015).

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Assignment 2
Abstract:
This article provides the discussion in relation to the strategic plan and the performances goals
targeted by the company.
Introduction:
Strategic planning plays an key role in the development of the growth of the organisations. The
key performance goals set by the companies helps in the long term growth and the developments.
The discussion is provided in terms of the case study and the planning operations.
Facts of the case
The facts of the case states that a business was started that was intended to be environment
friendly and creating positive social impact. The company worked well for 3.5 years but during
4th year the company faced difficulties in winning bigger contracts as the competitors were other
bigger companies thereby limiting the reach. The company then decided to increase its
competitiveness and to guarantee long-term sustainability. For achieving this, it was decided to
take financial support from other individuals and organizations. The investors then became the
shareholders of the company with 75% of stake, and the owner of company was appointed as
CEO with expectations of increasing the profitability of company. The sole objective and focus
of shareholders were on profitability and they want the level of profitability to reach higher than
15% per year, failing which the CEO shall be replaced. The first business is to outlines a
strategic plan for next 5 years and the dilemma is to keep the shareholders satisfied on one hand,
with reaching maximum profitability and on other hand, to keep the company environment
friendly which may involve extra costs. The CEO must manage this dilemma.
Key performance Goals
The key performance goals for next five years shall include-
 Utilizing the strengths of company for solidifying competitive advantages
 Formulate strategies that would help the company in gaining such competitive advantage
resulting in increased profits

 Setting short term organizational goals which are SMART
 Creating such objectives which are customer-focussed so that the customer base can be
increased (Knowles, 2011).
 Aligning the financial objectives of company with social and environmental impacts
Convincing shareholders
The shareholders of company can be convinced for investing in strategies that are environment
friendly and have positive social impacts by mentioning their importance and benefits in long-
term which may include following:
 Enhanced image of company and its products
 Ease of attracting investment thereby lowering cost of investment in such strategies.
 The relationships with community can be improved thereby leading to easy and quick
approval of plans
 Better relationship with regulators and protecting the company in cases of violations
 Improved relationship with stakeholders and higher level of satisfaction of customers
 Improved morale of workers, resulting in higher productivity, less need of new
recruitments and less training costs.
5-year strategic plan
The strategic plan of company shall include following:
Vision statement
Provide the community with best product, along with causing no harm to the environment and
leaving positive social impacts.
Mission statement
Increasing the profitability of company by 15% every year.
SWOT Analysis
Conduct a SWOT analysis of company and using its strengths, weakness, opportunities and
threats to achieve growth and prosperity.

Strategic Goals
The goals of company includes increasing its profitability by accomplishing performance goals
and using the potential and applying best efforts towards achieving the profit targets. At the time
of performance of duties, ensuring that the environment is not impacted in any negative way.
Measuring success
Employing methods and making strategies for measuring the success of company at regular
intervals and ensuring that the company is achieving the progress and is not lacking in any key
areas (Leonard, 2018).
Conclusion
It is concluded from the above article that the planning plays a key role in the growth and the
development of the organisations. The plans set helps in the targeting the business goals.

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References Crowther, D., and Aras, G., (2008). Corporate Social responsibility. Bookboon.com.
 Knowles, G., (2011). Quality management. Bookboon.com
 Leonard, K., (2018). How Do I Write a 5-Year Strategic Plan? Chron. Available at:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/write-5-year-strategic-plan-4709.html [Accessed on 27
July 2018].
 Sherwell, P., (2015). BP oil spill: Five years after 'worst environmental disaster' in US
history, how bad was it really? The Telegraph. Available at:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11546654/BP-oil-spill-
Five-years-after-worst-environmental-disaster-in-US-history-how-bad-was-it-really.html
[Accessed on 27 July 2018].
 Wolf, D. D., (2013). Crisis management: Lessons learnt from BP Deepwater Horizon
Spill Oil. Business Management and Strategy, 4(1), 69-90.