...Exxon Valdez and Tylenol Case Study DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY - DASMARIÑAS Communication Arts Department Lawrence G. Rawl, chairman and chief executive of the Exxon Corpoation was in his kitchen sipping coffee when the phone rang and received the news regarding the spilling of crude oil into the frigid waters of Prince William Sound, just outside the harbor of Valdez, Alaska. What was about to happen was the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States. These were the documented facts that media had portrayed across the United States and to the world: Exxon Valdez, a 978-foot tanker piloted by a captain whom later revealed to be drank, ran aground on a reef 25 miles southwest of the port of Valdez. The results caused a spill of 250,000 barrels, the largest spill ever in North America. The devastating results affects, 1,300 square miles of water, damaging some 600 miles of coastline and murdering as many as 4,000 Alaskan sea otters. The disaster also enshrined the name of Exxon in the all-time Public Relations Hall of Shame. (Seitel, 2000). According to the book, Exxon’s dilemma broke down into five categories. First was the hesitation of Mr. Rawl if he is going directly and personally to Alaska. In an interview Mr. Rawl has said, “We had concluded that there was simply too much for me to coordinate from New York. It wouldn’t have made any difference if I showed up and made a speech in the town forum. I wasn’t going to spend the summer there;...
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...Rawl, chairman and chief executive of the Exxon Corpoation was in his kitchen sipping coffee when the phone rang and received the news regarding the spilling of crude oil into the frigid waters of Prince William Sound, just outside the harbor of Valdez, Alaska. What was about to happen was the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States. These were the documented facts that media had portrayed across the United States and to the world: Exxon Valdez, a 978-foot tanker piloted by a captain whom later revealed to be drank, ran aground on a reef 25 miles southwest of the port of Valdez. The results caused a spill of 250,000 barrels, the largest spill ever in North America. The devastating results affects, 1,300 square miles of water, damaging some 600 miles of coastline and murdering as many as 4,000 Alaskan sea otters. The disaster also enshrined the name of Exxon in the all-time Public Relations Hall of Shame. (Seitel, 2000). According to the book, Exxon’s dilemma broke down into five categories. First was the hesitation of Mr. Rawl if he is going directly and personally to Alaska. In an interview Mr. Rawl has said, “We had concluded that there was simply too much for me to coordinate from New York. It wouldn’t have made any difference if I showed up and made a speech in the town forum. I wasn’t going to spend the summer there; I had other things to do”. Secondly, Exxon failed to establish media control. Exxon, wanted to take charge of the news flow and...
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...Bioremediation Methods for Oil Spills Contents I. Introduction II. History of Bioremediation 1. ‘Courtship’ Period (Pre-1989) 2. ‘Honeymoon’ Period (1989-1991) 3. ‘Establishment’ Period (since 1992) III. The Biological and Chemical Processes of Bioremediation 1. Biodegradation a. Biological Process b. Degrading Species c. Chemical Process d. Need for Bioremediation 2. Bioremediation a. Seeding with Microbial Cultures b. Environmental Modification IV. Recent Applications of Bioremediation Techniques and their Effectiveness 1. Amoco Cadiz 2. Exxon Valdez 3. Mega Borg 4. Apex Barges 5. Arabian Gulf War V. Conclusion Bibliography Bioremediation Methods for Oil Spills Abstract. The increasing number of marine oil spills asks for effective solutions for the environment. Bioremediation techniques have become a major mechanism for removing oil residues on the affected shorelines. Among the different techniques to enhance natural biodegradation by indigenous microorganisms, seeding of new bacteria and fertilizing the indigenous populations have attracted the most interest. The application of nutrients as nitrogen and phosphorus in the form of fertilizers have shown to be most effective in accelerating the biodegradation process and at the same time to be environmentally safe. I. Introduction Since the freighter Pallas caused the worst oil pollution of the tidel shallows in the North Sea...
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...Modification IV. Recent Applications of Bioremediation Techniques and their Effectiveness 1. Amoco Cadiz 2. Exxon Valdez 3. Mega Borg 4. Apex Barges 5. Arabian Gulf War V. Conclusion Bibliography Bioremediation Methods for Oil Spills Abstract. The increasing number of marine oil spills asks for effective solutions for the environment. Bioremediation techniques have become a major mechanism for removing oil residues on the affected shorelines. Among the different techniques to enhance natural biodegradation by indigenous microorganisms, seeding of new bacteria and fertilizing the indigenous populations have attracted the most interest. The application of nutrients as nitrogen and phosphorus in the form of fertilizers have shown to be most effective in accelerating the biodegradation process and at the same time to be environmentally safe. I. Introduction Since the freighter Pallas caused the worst oil pollution of the tidel shallows in the North Sea last November, thousands of sea birds and probably numerous other species lost their lives in the polluted water. The responsible parties have not yet taken any measures to mitigate the damage, neither have they provided for the prevention of a similar catastrophe in the future. This is especially striking as the first devastating oil spill occurred no less than ten years ago, when the tanker Exxon Valdez ruptured in Prince William Sound. The...
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...I. SUMMARY/SYNTHESIS • The Exxon Valdez tanker tore itself open in a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and spilled more than 10 million gallons of crude oil on March 24, 1989. • Lawrence Rawl, the CEO of Exxon, stayed out of the public’s view for nearly a week which caused the publics to be antagonized and cause him to be seen as just an insensitive spoiler in the environment. • At the Exxon’s shareholder’s meeting on May 1989, he faced angry stakeholders and demonstrations that some demanded for resignation and suggested that he donate some of his $1.4 million annual salary to the clean-up. • Trying to limit the damage to its corporate image, the public relations staff of the company found itself playing catch-up with the press. They disseminated pictures showing Exxon volunteers rescuing sea otters and birds affected by the oil spill. • Exxon tried to win friends and influence but they were just criticized, which ended them to make life more difficult for the company because of the strategies. Networks also refused to at least create the impression of conflict of interest for the company. II. ANALYSIS The inappropriate and negative response Exxon did was that they did not take the full responsibility of the damage they have done. Exxon did not show compassion, as if the crisis was not important at all and just sent some other representative to speak for the company rather than the CEO. They failed to show a good public relations...
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...CRISIS COMMUNICATION The BP Oil Spill Abstract: The subject of my critique is regarding the analysis of British Petroleum's public relations strategy and its portrayal in the media during the 'Deepwater Horizon' oil spill that occurred on April 20, 2010. The author is anonymous and has laid out the importance of good communication during major crises. He gives examples of the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol product tampering and the Exxon Valdez oil spill and then compares them with the BP Oil Spill. He points out well the inadequacies of the BP's public relations team and how scholars address the importance of understanding media relations, framing and the public emotional response. The author has presented many examples of scholars' thoughts but according to me falls short of discussions and the perception of the public, their emotions and the manner in which they (the public ) could be affected during such huge crises and thus the importance of public relationsof organizations from the normal public perspective. The public who invests in such organizations shouldn't feel that they are being fooled/cheated. Further during his research the author has presented the importance of pre-crisis phase and how to analyze each crisis situation. The Critique: In the point of 'Public perception, framing and media relations' the author focuses on audience-centered perspective in crisis situations. Here I personally acknowledge the point made by Jim and Pang which explains that understanding...
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...original natural condition. This would include an environmental problem such as contaminated soil or groundwater. In a non-polluted environment, bacteria, fungi, protists, and other microorganisms are constantly at work breaking down organic matter. What would occur if an organic pollutant such as oil contaminated this environment? Some of the microorganisms would die, while others capable of eating the organic pollution would survive. Bioremediation works by providing these pollution-eating organisms with fertilizer, oxygen, and other conditions that encourage their rapid growth. These organisms would then be able to break down the organic pollutant at a correspondingly faster rate. In fact, bioremediation is often used to help clean up oil spills. Bioremediation of a contaminated site typically works in one of two ways. In the case described above, ways are found to enhance the growth of whatever pollution-eating microbes might already be living at the contaminated site. In the second, specialized microbes are added to degrade the contaminants. Bioremediation provides a good cleanup strategy for some types of pollution, but as you might expect, it will not work for all. For example, bioremediation may not provide a feasible strategy at sites with high concentrations of chemicals that are toxic to most microorganisms. These chemicals include metals such as cadmium or lead, and salts such as sodium chloride. Nonetheless, bioremediation provides a technique for cleaning up pollution...
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...Working Paper The BP Oil Spill as a Cultural Anomaly? Institutional Context, Conflict and Change Andrew J. Hoffman Stephen M. Ross School of Business University of Michigan P. Devereaux Jennings University of Alberta Ross School of Business Working Paper Working Paper No. 1151 October 2010 This work cannot be used without the author's permission. This paper can be downloaded without charge from the Social Sciences Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1706096 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN The BP Oil Spill as a Cultural Anomaly? Institutional Context, Conflict and Change Andrew J. Hoffman University of Michigan 701 Tappan Street, R4472 Ann Arbor, MI 48109 ajhoff@umich.edu 734.763.9455 and P. Devereaux Jennings University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R6 CANADA dj1@ualberta.ca 780.492.3998 Forthcoming in the Journal of Management Inquiry October 2010 The authors would like thank Marvin Washington and one anonymous reviewer from the Journal of Management Inquiry for helpful feedback and encouragement in the writing of this article. 1 ABSTRACT This paper argues that the BP Oil Spill is, potentially, a “cultural anomaly” for institutional changes in environmental management and fossil fuel production. The problem as defined by the spill’s context, the potential solutions provided by the competing logics in that context, and the selection of problem-solution...
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...what is happening to the creatures that live in those waters, but sometimes we forget that it affects us, even those people that are living in land locked states. The recent disaster of Deepwater Horizon was devastating as people watched as the oil spilled into the Gulf waters for almost three months from April to July. Habitats for hundreds of thousands of animals are destroyed. Land is destroyed and we are expected to see effects of this for years to come. The Exxon Valdez spill was over 20 years ago and there is still evidence of that spill in Alaska. These and many other oil spills and leaks affect our drinking water, the fish and other water creatures we eat. It affects the livelihood of the fisherman. It affects the health of the people that live near these waters and the people that love to be in the water. Many health problems today are a result of oil spills/contamination in our water. It is expected that many health problems will continue to steadily increase due to these oil spills. Studies have shown exposure to certain hydrocarbons and other compounds found in oil are known to cause...
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...CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Oil spill is the leakage or discharge of petroleum onto the surface of inland or coastal water. It assumes disastrous dimension when an uncontrollable well blows out or pipeline ruptures. On water surface, spreading takes place immediately, which is very harmful to various types of aquatic lives as it prevents sufficient amount of sunlight from penetrating and also reduces the land-dissolving capacity in the water. The magnitude of crude oil pollution and damage occasioned by multi-national oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is incredible (Urhobo Historical Society, 2003). It is noteworthy that the devastating consequences of the crude oil spill in the region with its eventual hazards on both aerial and terrestrial environments is tantamount to an irreversible chain effect on both the biodiversity and human safety. Abbot (2007) in her article entitled “Think Jamaica is Bad? Try Nigeria” notes that the discovery of oil has been an ecological disaster for the Niger Delta where the oil is extracted. Oil and natural resources of a country are often considered to be national assets. Oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. Animals that rely on scent to find their babies or mothers fade away due to the strong scent of the oil....
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... by Peter Fischer A Paper Submitted in Fulfillment of the USD School of Law Writing Requirement Energy Law Professor Burleson Spring, 2009 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Background 3 The Need for CSR at Home and Abroad 7 Case Study Analyses: Four Critical Events in the Oil Industry and their Effect on CSR Case Study #1: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 9 Case Study #2: Occidental and the Piper Alpha Disaster 12 Case Study #3: A Two-Part Analysis of Shell in the Mid-1990s a) Shell’s Human Rights Violations in Nigeria 16 b) Shell’s Response—Outsource CSR 21 Case Study #4: BP’s Major Advances in CSR 24 Ethics and the Problem of the Public Relations Quick Fix 27 Analyzing the Current Corporate Culture: Failure to Meet the Triple Bottom Line 32 Conclusion 38 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………...…………41 Introduction Over the past twenty years an irrefutable shift in the oil industry has occurred—the shift to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).[1] The purpose of this paper is to analyze the motivation behind this shift and determine if these CSR practices are genuine. In other words, does the adoption of CSR denote a tangible change in the way oil companies operate, or is it merely an elaborate public relations exercise? To answer this question, the paper analyzes the motivation behind the shift to CSR through...
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...six-week-old spill can only spread. Here are some facts about effects of the worst ever U.S. oil spill, triggered by the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig: THE SCALE OF THE CATASTROPHE "This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country," top White House energy adviser Carol Browner said on Sunday. "There could be oil coming up 'til August." Browner told CBS's "Face The Nation," "We are prepared for the worst." Louisiana, the nearest state to BP's gushing undersea well that is 42 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, has been the most impacted by the spill so far. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said this week that more than 100 miles of Louisiana's 400-mile coast had so far been impacted by the spilled oil. State officials have reported sheets of oil soiling wetlands and seeping into marine and bird nurseries, leaving a stain of sticky crude on cane that binds the marshes together. Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, saw dying cane and "no life" in parts of Pass-a-Loutre wildlife refuge. "Oil debris", in the form of tar balls and surface "sheen", has also been reported coming ashore since the April 20 accident in outlying parts of coastal Mississippi and Alabama. In the week of May 17, Coast Guard officials found tar balls on some beaches in the Florida Keys, raising fears that the so-called Loop Current that runs from the Gulf of Mexico through the Florida Straits may have already brought oil from the spill far to...
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...Faculty of Economics Seminar paper on the subject: English 4 Crisis management June, 2012 Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a major event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public. The study of crisis management originated with the large scale industrial and environmental disasters in the 1980. Three elements are common to most definitions of crisis: (a) a threat to the organization, (b) the element of surprise, and (c) a short decision time. Venette argues that "crisis is a process of transformation where the old system can no longer be maintained." Therefore the fourth defining quality is the need for change. If change is not needed, the event could more accurately be described as a failure or incident. In contrast to risk management, which involves assessing potential threats and finding the best ways to avoid those threats, crisis management involves dealing with threats before, during, and after they have occurred. That is, crisis management is proactive, not merely reactive. It is a discipline within the broader context of management consisting of skills and techniques required to identify, assess, understand, and cope with a serious situation, especially from the moment it first occurs to the point that recovery procedures start. Introduction Crisis management consists of: * Methods used to respond...
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...The Importance of Rewriting Storm Water Regulations Danielle Nielsen Goochland High School Abstract This paper observes the negative and harmful effects of water pollution and storm water runoff on the environment and the surrounding community. The most common form of water pollution is sediment runoff. It then goes on to explain the research and effectiveness of Best Management Practices (BMPs) and their positive effects. BMPs are conservation practices that can preserve or improve the state of the environment. The argument stated in this essay refers to the use of storm water regulations in the United States. Most regulations are too strict to allow for any conservation practices because they can be very costly and ineffective if carried out improperly. If the storm water regulations are rewritten to allow for BMPs, then the state of commercial and non-commercial water sources could be greatly improved. The Importance of Rewriting Storm Water Regulations Think about all the bodies of water on our planet. Every river, lake, stream, and is essential to the way our world functions. Unfortunately, our society has done very little to preserve these water sources and as a result, our rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans are suffering from many forms of pollution. Every oil spill, discarded water bottle, and obstructive dam continually add to our already-polluted waters, and very little is being done to reverse this problem. The most prominent issue...
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...making sure that they are allowing for economic growth. This paper will look at 3 oil companies that are familiar to the United States. The paper will also look at the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill and look at any ethical concerns. It will discuss how an oil company can follow corporate social responsibility (CSR) tools to lessen their environmental footprint. Ethical Responsibility with Oil Companies All companies in the world have the responsibility to operate in a manner that follows the laws of the government. All of these companies also have a social responsibility to follow ethical laws. Along with all the other types of companies, oil companies have the social responsibilities to protect the environment, to research sustainable energies, to safely explore and produce in new areas, and they also have responsibility of fostering economic growth. It is important for oil companies, perhaps more important than other companies, to hold up to these social responsibilities because if they don’t find new ways to produce energy, future generations could run out. There has been much talk in the last few months regarding oil companies and if they are being ethical when making decisions. The last big black eye for the companies, BP in particular, is the disastrous environmental oil spill in the gulf. Since the beginning of the spill, the rumors have been swarming regarding the decisions that have been made prior to oil spill. Did they overlook safety procedures? Did they ignore the...
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