...Knowing Your Audience: Chilean Copper Mine Annmarie Ocampo BCOM 275 Business Communication and Critical Thinking Professor: Nat Apihunpunyakij May 29, 2013 Communication is designed to relay messages, thoughts, ideas, and information to a targeted audience. The relation or involvement of that audience will determine the appropriate channel of communication as well as what the communication will entail. However, during a crisis, the underlying thread of communication is that an unexpected event requires immediate response. The content, form, and timing of the communication can either help or worsen the situation. In addition, because all crisis evolves in different phases, communication, too, must evolve through each phase and with each targeted audience. A well-planned and well-executed response will ensure that appropriate and necessary issues are addressed, are being managed well, and support at all levels is available. On October 3, 2010, Minera San Esteban Primera (MSEP), owners of the San Jose mines were faced with a crisis when 33 of their employees became trapped 2,300 feet underground after the entrance of one of their mines collapse. (Hatch, 2010)The objectives during the initial phase of a crisis include rapid communication to affected groups. In this situation, the affected groups would include, the families of the 33 miners, the employees and staff of the mining company, as well as the general public. In considering the potential needs for the families of...
Words: 1033 - Pages: 5
...people with a fragile situation and fragile people involved. If a company portrays, through their messages, that the situation is not under control or that they do not care there will be consequences for that company and anybody affiliated with the company. When there is information regarding an accident or disaster, it's important for the company know their audience. For instance, the San Esteban Mining Company needed to know how to respond to each of the audience (families, employees, and the stakeholders) in the case of the Chilean copper mine in South America. It was on Thursday, August 5, 2010, a shaft collapsed in the Chilean copper mine trapping 33 miners 2,300 feet below ground. Immediately, a rescue mission was underway, however, another collapse in the mine stalled the efforts of the rescue crews for hours (Weik, 2010). The 33 miners remained trapped in the mine for more than two months; during this time the world kept watch as the government upheld a communications strategy that focused on openness, solidarity, and cooperation (Yaxley, 2010). The San Esteban Mining Company chose not to communicate and because of that it became a media frenzy. The owners should have taken an active role when the accident happened. Instead, they chose to remain silent which made matters even worse. Companies can take steps to avoid a delay in communications. "There are no...
Words: 1079 - Pages: 5
...organization or a group of people it is imperative the company knows their audience. When information regarding a accident or disaster, it's important for the company know their audience. For instance, the San Esteban Mining Company needed to know how to respond to each of the audience (families, employees, and the stakeholders) in the case of the Chilean copper mine in South America. It was on Thursday, August 5, 2010, a shaft collapsed in the Chilean copper mine trapping 33 miners 2,300 feet below ground. Immediately a rescue mission was underway, however, another collapse in the mine stalled the efforts of the rescue crews for hours (Weik, 2010). The 33 miners remained rapped in the mine for more than two months; during this time the world kept watch as the government upheld a communications strategy that focused on openness, solidarity, and cooperation (Yaxley, 2010). The San Esteban chose not to communicate and take the leadership role, and because of that it became an all out media frenzy that eventually. The owners should have taken an active role when the accident happened. Instead chose to remain silent which made matters even worse. Companies can take steps to avoid a delay in communications. "There are no recipes that can assure success in dealing with crisis. However, the use of simple methods can help avoid a stalemate in communications. Before the event happens-organizations possess certain characteristics that hinder communications. These include, inadequate accident...
Words: 1025 - Pages: 5
...October 9, 2011 UoP Instructor Knowing Your Audience Communicating effectively in a time of crisis is crucial to informing every body of the incident and contributes to a successful outcome of an already stressful event. The Chilean copper mine collapse is a classic example of an incident requiring multiple levels of communication, particularly to the families of the miners and the company’s employees. To start with, developing the communication requires a consideration for the people in the audience and their respective roles as either family members or employees. Ensuring they understand the gravity of the situation and addressing the needs of both parties through communication is challenging. The key to answering the challenge is the preparation prior to message delivery and understanding the goal of the communication will ensure proper receipt of the intended communication. Validation of the audience receiving the message is last part of ensuring the communication was effective. The method of accomplishing this validation is pursuing feedback from the miner‘s family members and the company’s employees. Completing this last piece of the communication process will ensure effective communication took place between the messenger and receiver. First, the most important consideration in delivering this message to the Chilean miner’s families and company’s employees would be to accept responsibility, be transparent in communication, and...
Words: 837 - Pages: 4
...news of this collapse spread, every person around the world was captivated with the story. In early communications, it was unclear how long it would take to bring the miners up and was estimated to be approximately four months. The reaction to this communication brought a human frenzy as people pondered the thought of underground and buried alive. A total of 69 days had passed before the first miner saw the daylight giving the world a sigh of relief. The chances of survival for these miners were in the hands of those planning and strategizing over the rescue. It was the communication of the Chilean Government, who realized their limitations, to quickly recruit the assistance of organizations that could fill the gaps of those limitations to rescue the miners. NASA, who has experience in testing and training crews for extended periods of isolation, was called in to help. The Chilean people quickly learned the communication link between the miners and the outside world was of great importance. After 17 days with no way of knowing what was happening or how the miners were doing, a bore...
Words: 1157 - Pages: 5
...Inflation Rate 4 Export, Import and Balance of Trade 4 Government Budget Indicators and Government Debt to GDP 5 CPI and PPI 6 Specifics of the Country 7 Misbalance in the Economy 7 The Crisis of 1982 8 Investing in Chile 8 Future Economic Development 9 Trend Comparison of Indicators - Chile Chile is one of Latin America´s fastest growing economies, mostly due to rise in exports. Big chunk of Chile`s GDP contributes to mining (copper and other materials) 15.2% which is increasing with every year, thus; increasing the GDP. Second largest GDP by sector is business services which make 13% followed by manufacturing industries 11%. Values in Real GDP chart are adjusted for inflation and because of that, its Real GDP will appear lower as Nominal GDP. During the period from 1998 to 2005, Real GDP is higher than Nominal GDP which is an indicator of deflation. During 1999, Chile, like most of Latin America, faced a one-year downturn. Its domestic economy underwent a minor recession due to negative impact of the Asian crisis which triggered the crisis in Chile’s private sectors. This downside is reflected in the Nominal GDP. Another downfall of both Nominal and Real GDP are seen in 2009. During this time Chile suffered economical downfall which was caused by Global Financial Crisis. Chile Unemployment Unemployed persons are defined as those who are not currently working but are willing to do so and actively searching for work. Long-term unemployment has a large...
Words: 3067 - Pages: 13
... | Executive Summary This report first analyzes the economy of Chile in terms of strengths, which are the abundance in natural resources, and the weakness of heavy reliance on copper. Then identified two severe threats the nation was facing in 1998: Asian financial crisis and current account deficit. The two threats interact with the characteristics of Chilean economy which lead to the risks of currency crisis and a economic slowdown. The second section then investigates Chile’s current policies on inflation, trade and exchange rate. In terms of inflation, the central bank uses tight monetary policy and controls on capital inflows such as Unremunerated Reserve Requirement. For trade, the country relies on entering free trade agreements. For foreign exchange policy, Chile maintains a crawling peg system but is increasing the trading band. Facing the current challenges, we recommend that Chile should focus first on solving the potential currency crisis, then the economic slowdown. To avoid a currency crisis, the central bank of Chile should continue the tight monetary policy by raising interest rate. This practice can stabilizes the domestic currency value, attracts international capital and increases domestic savings. Focus directly at reducing current account deficit, Chile should also...
Words: 1533 - Pages: 7
...Chilean Mine Collapse Garret Rife BCOM/275 October 9, 2011 Randi Plante Chilean Mine Collapse On August 5, 2010 one of the worst things fathomable for the 121-year-old Copiapo copper mine located in Chile occurred. The mine collapsed on itself trapping 33 unfortunate miners in the process. They were trapped with no escape route open to them and were left to the perils of the unforgivable crawl space that they would now call home. "The buried men, who became known as "Los 33" ("The 33"), were trapped 700 meters (2,300 ft) underground and about 5 kilometers (3 mi) from the mine's entrance via spiraling underground service ramps"(“2010 Copiapo mining accident,” 2010). The mining company would now be faced with communicating the tragedy within not only the company, but with the trapped miner's families and loved ones. With such an audience at hand, careful consideration on delivery methods is of great importance. When a tragedy occurs, loved ones will often lose their cognitive and logical thinking abilities and essentially go into panic mode. One must collect data that will help to deliver the material at each level of understanding in an audience with such diverse roles. We are dealing with a different culture and background from our own with many different beliefs as well. The needs of the affected families involved with the "Chilean Mine Collapse" were assuredly sensitive and great caution was needed in communicating with them. Imagine a young...
Words: 1130 - Pages: 5
...Lexia Stiell March 24, 2014 San José, Chile - Mine Collapse When delivering any message to an audience it is important to take the gender, ethnic make-up, age and relation to the reason for the message into consideration. When it comes to the Chilean mine collapse, according to Yaxley, a reporter, the timely deliverance of the news concerning the situation was a triumph. She contributes the triumph to the leadership style of Chilean president Sebastian Pineda. His government took control after the mine’s owners were unable to respond to the mine collapse. The fact that they were able to provide open access to the family, shows that the Chilean government and public relations personnel were attempting to make the best of a not so good situation. The public relation team was able to deliver the types of information the families wanted to know in a timely manner. Families of the victims wanted to know the physical and mental condition of their love one. They wanted to know the likely hood of the miners surviving their ordeal. The press release to the family had to let the family know that everything humanly possible was being done to rescue the miners. In the example of the workers in the Chilean mine collapse, the families needed accurate information as soon as it became available. They also needed a message that showed genuine concern and empathy for those affected by the collapse. Not knowing if a loved one is dead or alive, for any amount of time is a stressful...
Words: 764 - Pages: 4
...Chilean Mine Collapse The events surrounding the collapse of the Chilean mine on the 5th of August 2010 captivated the entire planet. For 69 days, the world shared in the pain of the 33 miners, their families, and the country of Chile. The situation seemed so dire that many doubted if the miners would survive. At one point “miners in the area were already placing wooden crosses outside (the mine’s) entrance” (Yang, 2010). We all watched as so many attempts were made to reach the miners and all were overjoyed when they were finally brought to safety from the bowels of the earth. It was triumph for the human spirit, but created several communication issues for the Minera San Esteban Primera company. Because of the differences in the audience it becomes important to understand how much information to share and what exactly to share. The families of the miners would need communication that would comfort them and reassure them that the company was doing everything that was possible to save their loved ones. For many of the families, the miners were the primary source of income, so it would be important for the company to communicate the importance of their safety and that their needs would be taken care of during the situation. Any form of communication should be to calm the concerns of the families. The company must also ensure that there was some form of communication between the families and the miners. Any communication to the families should be done face-to-face. ...
Words: 937 - Pages: 4
...at all times. It is important to know what kind of audience your workers families would be and what kind of audience your actual employees are. When disaster strikes in a company, there are many measures that need to be taken. When the Chilean copper mine collapse occurred, there was a lot to take into consideration. The collapse happened on Thursday, August 5, 2010. A collapse caused a cave-in in the mine and trapped 33 of its workers 2,300 feet underground (Weik, J. 2010, August 6). A crisis of this magnitude calls for immediate attention before the story gets out and people get misinterpreted information about the incident. There are various ways to go about talking about an incident like this. The rescue mission would have gone in place right away. This would mean that communication within the company would have to occur. To effectively communicate a potentially fatal crisis you would have to go about it in a very careful way. The employees of the company would need to be notified. Mining is a dangerous job and anyone who works in the industry knows the potential risks of what could happen (LiveScience, 2013). That being said, no one ever expects it to happen to them or someone in their own company. The job of communicating the crisis to the rest of the employees at the company would need to be done in a very tactful way. The most effective way to do it would be to call a company meeting in a conference room or wherever there is enough space to fit everyone. The boss of...
Words: 1386 - Pages: 6
...Knowing Your Audience Paper and Communication Release When a tragedy takes place news, information and misinformation travel rapidly in the surrounding areas near the crisis. Most of the times depending on the magnitude of the issue, word will quickly travel around a country and in certain cases the world. Word traveled quickly around the world when the San Jose mine collapsed in the Atacama region of Chile back on August 5, 2010 occurred. When communicating an incident like this you must realize feedback can differ from culture, religion, social class, ethnicity, or for many other reasons. It is crucial when sending a particular message to diverse audiences that one prepares all messages to correctly converse about each matter. Overwhelming news can be complex to convey because of the emotional connection that may be at hand. The sender must comprise enough relevant information so the receiver can process the particular situation, but the sender cannot add in pointless information as that may raise too much emotion or direct the receiver into fictitious promises or expectations. Each message the mining company sent out had to communicate the same basic information, Weik, J. (2010) over 30 miners were trapped, but this information was required to be constructed in a different way for each audience listening. Pragmatics, the use and language between specific parties, and semantics, the meaning behind words, are the key areas to focus on when delivering this information to...
Words: 1283 - Pages: 6
...BUSINESS CASES COPPER, THE CHILEAN SALARY TOMAS ALBIÑANA - #51728 CYRIL RINGELING - #51911 EUROPA – UNIVERSITÄT VIADRINA FRANKFURT (ODER) 2014 Table of Contents Introduction 3 Reaction to the Crisis 4 Would prices recover and sustain the pre-crisis level? 6 Fiscal Policy in Piñera’s Government 7 Codelco, the Chilean Company 8 What would Piñera and his finance minister Felipe Larraín do once they were in office? 9 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 11 Introduction The Chilean economy faced a very important challenge when the price of copper dropped in 2008 cause of the global meltdown. Considering Chile is the largest producer of copper in the World, satisfying 36% of global demand, the fast fall down on the prices of the commodity put in alert its economy. Chile has the 28% of cooper reserves worldwide and represents a 14,2% of its GDP and also 57% of its exportations with an amount of U$D 49 billon. Codelco is a Chilean state owned copper mining company, it is currently the largest copper producing firm in the world and produced around 1.66 million tonnes of the metal in 2007, 11% of the world total. According to that situation, the Minister of Finance, Dr. in Politic Economics from Harvard University, Andrés Velasco, acted proactively looking for accurate solutions trying to prevent the effects of the international crisis. The economic crisis of 2008-2014 began in 2008 and it was originated...
Words: 2046 - Pages: 9
...from: Apollo Group User subject: The Trapped Workers date: May 22, 2013 ------------------------------------------------- Creating Watermarks in Microsoft Word The Chilean Cooper Mine cave in 2010 trapping 33 workers for 17 days 2,300 feet underground was a tragic accident that they could have been prevented if the company would have had a strategic business plan in place for this type of crisis ("Chile Mining Accident (2010)", 2011). A crisis management plan is crucial to have in a mining company, but every company large or small should have one. No business plans on encountering a situation that cause’s a disruption in their day to day business or laws suits against the company. However, that doesn’t mean businesses shouldn’t make a crisis management plan for if and when such incidents occur. A crisis management plan is a basic guide to providing a response system to how to handle these types of situations. This consists of step by step processes and policies for the company and the employee’s to follow. This will allow the employee’s to know what information they can and cannot release to the press, customers and employee family members regarding the crisis. This will also assist in how the company should address the issue in a timely efficient manner with minimal damage to the company. A crisis management plan consists of six steps; Predict, Position, Prevent, Plan, Persevere and evaluate (Miller, 2005-2011). Predict means to plan for the worst. Anticipate what types...
Words: 338 - Pages: 2
...shared with others will not lead to a misunderstanding. As we look at the Chilean copper mine disaster in South America, knowing the audience will help the company communicate effectively between the workers needs, the needs of the entombed family members and the mass media. This information has to be told to each group in a different way. As we can all remember, a small copper mine in northern Chile suffered a cave-in on August 5, 2010, leaving 33 workers trapped underground at a depth of around 300 meters (Weik, 2010). The Minera San Esteban Primera copper mining company, has a tough task ahead of them, to provide vital information to the families and coworkers of the 33 trapped miners. Dealing with this extremely sensitive subject matter, the mining company will have to pay close attention to the way it uses its approach to update its audience. Dealing with the employee How will the Minera San Esteban Primera copper mining company communication help its employees to pull through this heartbreaking event? The company must be decisively in charge, they should let their employees know that they are concerned and trying to do the very best with the situation at hand. Other things the company could do to comfort the employees are; ask for support from upper administration, and share facts with the employees as it becomes available. The cave-in was a terrible event that happened within this copper mining company. The company...
Words: 1285 - Pages: 6
