Discuss about the Royal Blind Society Student and Transcriptions.
Both the incidents of British Petroleum deepwater horizon and Queensland flood are noteworthy. The two different incidents led to severe consequences to many people’s lives and destruction to the resources. In the year 2012, the oil rig of British Petroleum deepwater horizon exploded tremendously and killed eleven people, approximately. Moreover, in between December 2012 and January 2011, the government officials declared over three quarters of the state as disaster prone area because of the catastrophic floods. The contractors as well as the corporations were accountable for the oil spill and explosion of British Petroleum. Around, thirty five people lost their lives and some disappeared (John Gleeson 2014). On the other hand, Queensland flood was being considered as the ‘Act of God’ and as a result, none was held responsible for the disaster.
In case of British Petroleum, the public of the tragic event were;
The public of the Queensland disaster were;
On prioritizing and segmenting the publics of two different incidents, it is immensely important to take the extent of the disaster and its initiatives into consideration, along with the responsibilities of the organization. The company’s management team took the discharge of methane gas into consideration and therefore, utilized this technique to clear the menace that approached with toxic dispersant. Moreover, the publics got connected with the destructive effects of dispersed toxic and this in turn, resulted into severe consequences to the nearby population and localities (Gleeson 2013). The individuals who lived at those areas suffered from injuries, severe chest pain, headaches, vomiting and more. In addition to this, several reports were being released later, by the health department on these issues. This was considered to be the top most priority. The devastating flood in the Queensland caused severe damage to the people but however, the matter did not have the same level of concern as it got declared as the ‘Act of God’. The strategy diverted the overall population and additionally, oversight approvals of the regulatory and leadership remained in full control (Gleeson 2012).
The catastrophic incidents caused greater trouble to the external and internal publics of British Petroleum and Queensland Flood. It is immensely important to take the internal parts and external periphery of the organization, while prioritizing the segments of the British Petroleum. Typically, it includes the deceased employees, financial institutes, dependent family members, front line employees, fishing community, ecosystem where the whole incident took place, administration officials, business associates, media, federal and local government, stakeholders, top project management teams, customers, general public, affected coastline, action groups and more (Kitchen 1999). On the contrary, the disaster of Queensland flood was being regarded as the ‘Act of God’ or natural. However, the government officials of the place could have easily ensured safety by conducting on-time operations and implementation of proper plans to combat with the terrible incident. The residents of the place got affected hugely, local markets, communities of the farmers got shattered and also the infrastructures broke down. The top most priority was to provide the impacted citizens with accommodation facilities, foods and medical assistance as well (Philip 1997).
Organizational leaders are known for their qualities and skills to combat with any type of crisis moment. They way they encourage or motivate their team members, present an overview of their abilities or disabilities (Kent 2011). The leader of British Petroleum, Hayward utilized a specific approach, which is being discussed in this part of the assignment;
Former premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh used another approach for the entire crisis;
The two incidents mentioned about ineffective and inappropriate measures that led to the deterioration of the company’s image.
The corporate image can be viewed as a mental picture, which is created keeping the organizational success into consideration. It completely depends on an individual’s overall insight that is what he/she feels about the corporation. The reputation of a corporation is considered to be the public picture, which clearly defines the competencies, in-competencies, qualities, skills, abilities and disabilities of a company (Lattimore et al. 2004). However, an organization’s image can be good but its reputation might be bad among the publics. According to public relations management, the companies can use conscious methods like updating on social or mass media, for their corporate image maintenance (Quarles, Davidson and Rowlings 1997). Moreover, the inception of digital media has enabled several organizations to utilize the media form and maintain a better image. These initiatives ensure good corporate image as well as reputation (Seitel 2013).
The companies build good image and manage it, which helps them in creating and maintaining a better impression on their target customers’ minds. Moreover, such methods help them in associating with the customers, in an appropriate manner (Heath 2013). However, it is important for the companies to maintain the image by building good rapport and reputation with its publics. The customers’ expectations and satisfaction are directly proportional to the company’s goodwill. The sales and positive image of any organization might take time to get produced. Additionally, the reputation of a corporation may get impacted as it is fragile in nature (Hendrix, Hayes and Kumar 2012). For instance, the acts of companies like utilizing hazardous chemicals in their products can mar their reputation.
The corporate reputation is being considered to be the overall collection of ideas, which are hold by the organization’s publics. The reputation of the corporation can be considered as the concept, which covers the perspectives of the communities, customers, regulators, employees and partners regarding the businesses (Hinson 2012). This might extend beyond the way, where the customers accept their favorite brands and choose from them. For instance; the reputation of the company can affect their capital costs and financial stability. On the other hand, the image of the corporation is more concerned with the marketing factors like consumers’ feelings, experiences and recognition of the brand (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg 2012).
The tragic explosion was being considered as the integration of the mistakes committed before the occurrence of the incident. It was highly crucial for the company’s Public Relations personnel to take the matter into consideration and handle the whole situation, without any mistakes (Olasky 2013). If I was the CEO of British Petroleum, I would have undertaken some proactive measures in order to combat with the situation. Being the CEO of the company, I would have been more attentive and vigilant about the confidential data, getting leaked. I would have taken appropriate care of the external and internal organizational publics. Concealing or hiding any fact from the media never yields positive outcomes (Austin and Pinkleton 2015). Thus, it is totally my responsibility to inform the stakeholders, company’s employees and administration about the crisis situation. Moreover, it falls under my duty to notify the rescue teams, beforehand. Additionally, the independent media plays an important role in any crisis moment (Coombs and Holladay 2013). Therefore, for saving the reputation of the company, informing the media personnel would have been my primary responsibility.
Other than these, being the CEO, I would have made the announcements in a compassionate and apologizing way. The company made a silly mistake of confusing the public with incorrect information. The leader of the company should have kept in mind that arrogance never solves the crisis; rather it worsens the situation (Culbertson and Chen 2013). In addition to this, it was important for the leader to take care of the cultural nuances in the most sensible way (Cutlip 2013). Therefore, being the company’s CEO, it falls under my responsibility to take full care of the entire management team in a responsible manner, while dealing with these sensitive issues. It is my duty to be more and more conscious regarding such crisis situations, taking the image of the company into consideration. If the company was more concerned regarding the issue, the crisis would not have taken place. It was important for them to take sensible initiatives and build a trustworthy or vigilant team, prepared and equipped for dealing with emergencies. The companies must come up as warriors, instead of running behind like cowards (Cutlip 2013).
Both the corporate image and corporate reputation has barely any main differences between them. The image of a corporation is regarded as more cognitive that an individual portrays regarding the enterprise. This is done on the basis of the available data, which the individual gathers from the public. On the other hand, the corporate reputation can be regarded as the abilities as well as qualities of the company. In order to maintain a good corporate image, it is crucial for the public relations manager to utilize social and mass media, in a conscious manner. These images sum up and results into the corporate reputation. However, it is evident from these facts that both the corporate reputation and image has a thin line of difference (Dozier, Grunig and Grunig 2013).
In modern days, the digital media has been a very strong mode that portrays a positive side of the company. In addition to building good images, the organizations can form positive perceptions in the public’s minds. Non-paid measures are mostly used in these cases to publicize the company. These particular measures include; video clips, house journals, press releases that can be uploaded at portals like Facebook, YouTube and others. Adoption of these measures can improve and increase the company’s publicity. Moreover, it can be stated that from all these promotional activities, organizations can get hugely benefitted with higher returns and outcomes (Cutlip 2013).
A company’s reputation can be referred to a play of all these images of the corporation. If all these images are merged together in an appropriate manner, it can attract many. However, if it goes wrong, the entire situation has the power to spoil the whole business. Basically, it is regarded as the pragmatic operational model. Taking the British Petroleum case into consideration, it is evident that the overall publicity was running in the wrong direction. This resulted into the devastating outcomes. The reputation of the company was marred in just few seconds. After years of consistent services, the company managed to gain the attention of its target customers, having a good corporate image. However, the catastrophic event changed the perception of the common people, regarding the company. It takes several years to bring back what is lost (Coombs and Holladay 2013).
In this scenario, the example taken into consideration is the case of Odwalla Foods Company, at Washington State. The state however, got linked with the e-coli outbreak, which led to the company’s worst nightmare, during that time. Rumors were spread regarding Odwalla’s unpasteurized juice, which was affected by the bacteria and the company still kept on producing it. The whole incident caught the attention of the independent press, which resulted into severe outcomes. Stephen Williamson, the organization’s Chief Executive Officer promised the impacted ones with medicinal and medical compensations. In the next few weeks, the company basically spent their time in building good corporate image and reputation. Their main focus was on organizing press conferences, giving positive advertisements and others. Due to the company’s ineffective public relations managers, all the measures went in vein (Olasky 2013).
The organization, however, lost all the battles and suffered huge losses. Eventually, it was being overtaken by the Coca Cola Company with 186 million dollars, in the year 2001. The overall image of the company got so depleted that it became a challenge for them to restore their reputation. It can be said that due to the stupidity of public relations officers of the organization, the company lost their brand image even after consistent years of services. It was important for the company to take some innovative initiatives, without giving up. It could have helped them in regaining the customers’ trust. The companies need to keep their public relations officer always at place, no matter whatever the situation it is (Austin and Pinkleton 2015).
The company lost their battle due to the ineffectiveness of their public relations personnel. Be it small or big, it is crucial for any organization, to position their public relations manager at place, to deal with the situations. Odwalla Company could have taken easy steps in order to produce the original reports in front of the press. Tying up strings with the FDA could have benefited them to a large extent. In addition to this, they could have presented authentic reports in front of the press, without any further fabrication. Sticking to the truth always helps in crisis moments and therefore; the CEO could have dealt with the situation with more sympathy. It is true that sales did fall at such a crisis situation, but dealing with efficiency could have saved the company from drowning (Culbertson and Chen 2013).
To conclude, a company builds its reputation and image after offering its customers with several years of consistent and loyal services. Corporate branding, corporate communications, public relations and more, are considered to be of immense importance for the betterment or success of any company. These are the vital branches for which the company grows. The concept is fragile in nature as a slight mistake can malign their brand value anytime. A company might take several years to grow and build its image; however, wrong or inappropriate decisions can lead to its destructions, in just few seconds. Thus, it is important for them to handle the crisis situations with utmost sincerity and efficiency and appoint the skilled public relations managers in order to deal with these dangerous situations.
References
Austin, E.W. and Pinkleton, B.E., 2015. Strategic public relations management: Planning and managing effective communication campaigns (Vol. 10). Routledge.
Coombs, W.T. and Holladay, S.J., 2013. It’s not just PR: Public relations in society. John Wiley & Sons.
Culbertson, H.M. and Chen, N., 2013. International public relations: A comparative analysis. Routledge.
Cutlip, S.M., 2013. Public relations history: From the 17th to the 20th century: The antecedents. Routledge.
Cutlip, S.M., 2013. The unseen power: Public relations: A history. Routledge.
Dozier, D.M., Grunig, L.A. and Grunig, J.E., 2013. Manager’s guide to excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge.
Gleeson, D.J., 2012. George William Sydney Fitzpatrick (1884-1948): An Australian Public Relations ‘pioneer’. Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, 13(2), pp.2-12.
Gleeson, D.J., 2013. Undergraduate students’ perceptions of public relations: An Australian study.
Heath, R.L. ed., 2013. Encyclopedia of public relations. Sage Publications.
Hendrix, J.A., Hayes, D.C. and Kumar, P.D., 2012. Public relations cases. Cengage Learning.
Hinson, M.D., 2012. Examining how social and emerging media have been used in public relations between 2006 and 2012: A longitudinal analysis. Public Relations Review.
John Gleeson, D., 2014. Public relations education in Australia, 1950-1975. Journal of Communication Management, 18(2), pp.193-206.
Kent, M.L., 2011. Public relations writing: A rhetorical approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Kitchen, P.J., 1999. Marketing communications: Principles and practice. Cengage Learning EMEA.
Lattimore, D., Baskin, O., Heiman, S.T., Toth, E.L. and Van Leuven, J.K., 2004. Public relations: The profession and the practice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Newsom, D., Turk, J. and Kruckeberg, D., 2012. Cengage Advantage Books: This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations. Cengage Learning.
Olasky, M.N., 2013. Corporate public relations: A new historical perspective. Routledge.
Philip J. Kitchen, 1997. Public relations: Principles and practice. Cengage Learning EMEA.
Quarles, J., Davidson, C. and Rowlings, B., 1997. Practising public relations: A case study approach. Royal Blind Society Student and Special Transcriptions.
Seitel, F.P., 2013. The practice of public relations. Pearson Higher Ed.
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