Case Scenario:
Crisis "Appropriate" Paragraph Example - BP Oil Spill - 263 words (not including references)
BP appropriately handled this crisis because its "Gulf of Mexico Restoration" website includes video testimonials from locals that authenticate the company's claims of having restored the Gulf.BP's restoration website includes videos that show residents of the Gulf Coast corroborating the company's highly controversial claims that it restored the Gulf Coast. For example, in the website's first tab, "Committed to the Gulf," are five videos showing the current condition of the Gulf Coast. Of the 15 people featured in the videos, only one is a BP employee. The other 14 people are residents and local business people, including a fisherman, a tourism guide, a restaurant owner, and a steamboat captain. All the residents in the videos have only positive comments regarding the restoration efforts and the cleanliness of their local environment.The use of residents as the voices in these videos is an attempt to make the claims of BP's coast restoration seem more believable. BP tries to convince viewers that the reports being given are both authentic and unbiased by using independent third parties. According to Leslie Gaines-Ross (2010), "Companies need force multipliers. Ideally, these should include a network of independent third parties willing to take [their] side" (p. 75). The use of residents gives credibility to the claims of a cleaner Gulf Coast, as the locals used in the videos would reasonably be the most critical of BP's work in the Gulf Coast. In this way, BP appropriately managed its crisis by showing the public that the company is in fact in touch and in sync with their needs and perspectives.
References:
BP. (n.d.). Gulf of Mexico Restoration - Committed to the Gulf. Retrieved from https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/gulf-of -mexico-restoration/committed-to-the-gulf.html
Bryant, B. (2011, April 20). Deepwater Horizon and the Gulf Oil Spill - the key questions answers. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/apr/20/deepwater-horizon-key-questions-answered
Gaines-Ross, L. (2010, December). Reputation Warfare. Harvard Business Review, 88 (12), 70-76.
Requirement
"Appropriate" Paragraph
Objective: Persuade your reader that the company/organization/person appropriately responded to the crisis for ONE specific reason.
Format: Your paragraph must begin with a TOPIC SENTENCE that states your specific argument (including evidence and analysis) about why the company responded appropriately. Your paragraph must then offer EVIDENCE to back up your claim and ANALYSIS to explain your interpretation of your claim to your readers. Within your analysis, you MUST refer to a crisis expert (Coombs, Gaines-Ross, or someone else).
Length: Maximum of 300 words.