Eleven people were killed in the blast and oil began to leak from the ocean floor at a rate variously estimated to be between 5,000 barrels 790 m 3 and. In 1908 anglopersian oil company, the predecessor of british petroleum bp, made the first oil discovery in the middle east. Barack obama with tony hayward and the bp board of directors talking about cleanup of the oil. The present paper studies the bp crisis management of the deepwater horizon disaster which occurred on april 20th, 2010. Bp had the rights to explore the macondo well, located in the gulf of mexico in 2009. A bp contingency plan drawn up to deal with a catastrophic oil spill in the gulf of mexico was riddled with errors and miscalculations, including the naming of a longdeceased scientist as a. In bp, robert hortons and david simons leadership styles in the situation of the turmoil of the oil industry in the past 25 years and the roles the leaders played in the transformation procedure at british petroleum. When a call came last year asking her to drop everything to come texas to see the extent of an enormous oil leak in the gulf of mexico, u. Aug 07, 2011 the interior departments mineral management service bp plc and other big oil companies based their plans for responding to a big oil spill in the gulf of mexico on u. We are only part way into this crisis, but let me suggest a few initial lessons that seem warranted. Bps failures made worse by pr mistakes business world. The article, which is important and should be read in full, walks us through publicly known though not all well known data about the bp oil spill.
The deepwater horizon disaster of 2010 management essay. Bp oil spill blamed on management and communication failures bp. Leadership is a set of competencies for sure, but it also requires character and moral fibre which really show through in times of crisis. Sep 21, 2016 bp s leadership after the deepwater horizon disaster in the gulf of mexico is a manual of what not to do following a crisis. In bp, robert hortons and david simons leadership styles in the situation of the turmoil of the oil industry in the past 25 years and the roles the leaders played in the transformation procedure at. Jun 28, 2010 five leadership lessons from the bp oil spill. Critical discussion of crisis management and bp leadership. A 2010 oil spill that occurred in the gulf of mexico as a result of the explosion and sinking of the deepwater horizon oil rig. If you were not a business leader, what would you be. Oct 16, 20 the story of the 1973 oil embargo from memories in the bp archive. With each of these cases, there are a series of lessons about corporate responsibility and how companies should manage their behavior. On april 20 th 2010, the deepwater horizon oil rig off the coast of louisiana exploded, killing 11, injuring 17, and spewing at least 3 million barrels of oil into the gulf of mexico in what would end up being the greatest environmental disaster in american history.
The resulting oil spill was the largest in history. A thesis presented to the department of public relations college of communications and the honors program of butler university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation honors april 22, 2011 aubrey nichole villines. And in 2010 british petroleum and its disastrous gulf oil spill threatens to dominate all the others. Board and executive team who we are home bp global. This article explores the issue of organization crisis management within the british petroleum when the british petroleum deepwater horizon oil rig ruptured in the gulf of mexico with an explosion that killed eleven rig. Lessons in leadership spill from bp the globe and mail. The april blast aboard the deepwater horizon rig killed 11 people and caused one of the worst oil spills in history. In the latest oil spill, the leadership performance of bps ceo, tony hayward, was not well received.
In bps case, the easiest solution is to set up a search query for the petroleum giant by including industryrelated terms such as oil and gas or petroleum in the search. Mar 28, 2015 in the latest oil spill, the leadership performance of bps ceo, tony hayward, was not well received. This is an excellent example of crisis mismanagement by a previously recognized world leader. Deepwater oil spill a classic failure of bp management, court hears. Indeed, many of the details are known to me as an avid reader of. The disaster is a reminder about every 20 years, theres a major oilspill disaster. Our strategy allows us to be competitive at a time when. Before the 2010 deepwater horizon oil spill in the gulf of mexico, bp had. The biz coach bp crisis management, pr misfires a case study.
Bps oil rig disaster last weeks explosion and sinking of an oil rig was just the latest in a series of disasters that have plagued petroleum giant bp. The case of bp oil spill in 2010 provides an important example for understanding how these principles are valued by public opinion in a crisis situation, and how the communication actions by a corporation in this type of circumstances might have longterm effect on the brand image of the organization. A textbook example of how not to handle pr when an oil rig exploded in the gulf of mexico last april, bp was woefully underprepared to handle its public relations response. How to 3 steps to better crisis management in the oil. The authors contentanalysed a large amount of secondary data from various. Healed though still scarred, the gulf of mexico has demonstrated a.
And as senior management at bp struggles to find the solution to the daily discharging of thousands of gallons of oil, it also is struggling to deal. British petroleum bp is one of the largest oil and gas company worldwide. Jun 21, 2010 the crisis in the gulf keeps getting worse. Ever since, bp has been a leading player in the global energy market. The ads, which link to bps own oilresponse sites, typically appear above or to the right of other search results. Ps oil rig explosion being intentional or misfortune.
Site traffic information and cookies we use cookies and equivalent technologies to collect and analyse information on our sites performance and to enable the site to function. It is the thirdlargest energy company and fourthlargest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas supermajors. Dec 26, 2010 a failure in leadership this article is based on a historically important article in the new york times on the bp oil disaster. Jun 09, 2010 a bp contingency plan drawn up to deal with a catastrophic oil spill in the gulf of mexico was riddled with errors and miscalculations, including the naming of a longdeceased scientist as a. The results are a case study for worstpractices in crisis management. Society is demanding solutions for more energy, delivered in new and better ways for a low carbon future. According to case study bp is a transnational organization and need to be changed into transformational leadership. Petroleum deepwater horizon oil rig ruptured in the gulf of mexico with an explosion that killed. Bob bea, an expert in catastrophic engineering failures and a former bp consultant, said the disaster was a classic failure of leadership and. Case studies are all well and good, but the presidential groups reports of what went wrong with the decision making amid the governments response read like one of the most instructive business case studies ive seen in a long time. The londonbased multinational is the worlds thirdlargest energy company, behind exxon mobil and royal dutch shell. Estimates of the amount of oil escaping from bps damaged well in the gulf of mexico have gone from 1,000 barrels a day to as much as 60,000 barrels. Last week the chief counsels report of the national commission on the bp deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling was published.
Americas worst offshore oil spill was caused by a classic failure of leadership at bp, a court has been told, as prosecutors turned their fire on. Five years after worst environmental disaster in us history, how bad was it really. Bp case study of leadership during criss the writepass journal. The explosion triggered by methane gas that rocketed up from the sea floor to the rig through a mile of drilling equipment killed 11 deepwater horizon workers. The disaster is probably the second largest oil spill in history after the lakeview gusher that occurred between 1910 and 1911 in california. Cookies also allow us and third parties to tailor the ads you see when you visit our site and other third party websites in the same online network, including social. When crisis leadership results in reduced stress and a return to normality, people herald their true leaders. Bp inadvertently created a pr situation synonymous with herding cats.
As you might expect, the movie is a nightmare vision of the crew of deepwater horizon struggling. The interior departments mineral management service bp plc and other big oil companies based their plans for responding to a big oil spill in the gulf of mexico on u. An exploration of the british petroleum case nathan a. Jan 17, 2017 bob dudley became the chief executive of bp in 2010 in the immediate aftermath of the deepwater horizon disaster. If you want to know how to make a bad crisis worse, follow bps example. Jun 11, 2010 if you want to know how to make a bad crisis worse, follow bp s example. On 20 april 2010, an explosion occurred on the deepwater horizon oil rig, operated by bp. Of course engineers matter, when the task is stemming damage from the largest oil spill in u. It was also the most recent deadly and polluting industrial accident for bp. A failure of leadership and management on a massive. The sequence of missteps that resulted in 11 people killed and millions of barrels of oil gushing into the gulf of mexico was the result of a failure of leadership and management on a massive scale.
With several safety measures failing on their most hightech and safe rig, the company will face investigations and questioning from several different sources. British petroleum, leadership, crisis management 1. The rig was owned by an offshore drilling contractor. Instituting new procedures as a byproduct of the bp crisis, exxonmobils improved safety record since the valdez oil spill is winning belated praise. Bps leadership after the deepwater horizon disaster in the gulf of mexico is a manual of what not to do following a crisis. Gulf of mexico disaster caused by classic failure of leadership at bp. Bp deepwater horizon oil spill and its economic impact. We all know the story from there, the oil rig drilling at 1500 meters operated by bp explodes, prompting obama to halt new deepwater drilling. Bob dudley became the chief executive of bp in 2010 in the immediate aftermath of the deepwater horizon disaster.
One has to wonder where bps leadership was in the summer of 2010. Who needs harvard business school when youve got the bp oil spill commission. Bp contingency plan for dealing with oil spill was riddled. The well had great oil reserve but its depth, made drilling activities very challenging due to the nature of. Safety, corporate responsibility, and the oil spill. Bp crisis what should have been done from a pr perspective. Bob dudley who is the bp ceo and whats he done at the oil giant. Bp crisis what should have been done from a pr perspective the oil well explosion on the bp operated deepwater horizon oil rig in the gulf of mexico on 20 april, 2010 killed eleven crew members and begun the largest environmental disaster in american history to date. Jun 11, 2010 the ads, which link to bp s own oil response sites, typically appear above or to the right of other search results. Bp has been widely criticized for its management of the disaster, this post analyzes bps sequence of media statements to determine. The efforts to address leak can be treated as a project. After being grilled by congressional democrats on thursday, bps chief executive tony hayward is relinquishing his role as the head of daytoday.
An oil industry lifer, he is known for being steady, diplomatic and cool. Our strategy is designed to meet this dual challenge. Dec 18, 2012 in the latest oil spill, the leadership performance of bps ceo, tony hayward, was not well received. Geological survey director marcia mcnutt joked that she expected the trip to be so brief she packed like gilligan, the 60s sitcom character who set off on a threehour tour. As thousands of barrels of oil continue to spill daily into the gulf of mexico, bp plc s chief executive officer tony hayward is facing his own gusher of. Bps share price fell in 2010 after the deepwater horizon oil spill. A failure of leadership and management on a massive scale. The bp disaster provides important lessons in corporate leader ship, risk. He has played at least seven times since the deepwater horizon rig exploded on april 20, creating americas biggest environmental disaster. Bp says the idea is to help people on the gulf find the right forms and people.
An argument could be made that a disaster like the. The deepwater horizon disaster of 2010 management essay introduction. An oil industry lifer, he is known for being steady, diplomatic and cool under pressure. White house report labels bps safety lapses chronic and says fatal gulf of mexico blowout could have been avoided. Bps tony hayward and the failure of leadership accountability. President barack obama has been criticised for playing golf while the bp oil spill disaster continues barack obama has been criticised for continuing to play golf while oil spills into the gulf of mexico. A failure in leadership this article is based on a historically important article in the new york times on the bp oil disaster. Even more impressive was the leadership of bp america chairman. Aug 06, 2010 instituting new procedures as a byproduct of the bp crisis, exxonmobils improved safety record since the valdez oil spill is winning belated praise. It would cover an area from birmingham to the north sea to france and to southampton. Five leadership lessons from the bp oil spill key takeaways from the crisis unfolding in the gulf of mexico by gill corkindale it will be months, if not years, before the full impact of the deepwater horizon oil rig spill will be fully understood environmentally, commercially, and politically.