Communication and leadership: the bp Oil experience
In 1992 BP came as close as it has ever come to disaster. It made a loss. It cut the dividend. For a long-established and reputable international business this was profoundly shocking. This article deals with how BP in general and BP Oil, its refining and marketing business, in particular, moved internal communication from being a soft option to a strategic imperative to help turn the business round. And fundamental to the move was the recognition that communication is a line management responsibility, and that communication is a two-way process between staff and management.
Crucial to the turnaround, as BP’s chairman and former chief executive David Simon says, was the commitment and motivation of the people who work for BP. The challenge was to keep this while transforming the way BP operates. The company had to change from one where employees were protected from the hard facts of commercial life, where a job with BP was a job for life, to a company where knowledge and understanding of performance provide the motivation, where returns and the need to manage costs were accepted as the day-to-day way of working for everyone in the organization, from the managing director to the truck driver.
The results of this new way of behaving are stunning. In less than five years BP’s share price has trebled. Group chief executive David Simon’s original financial targets of cutting debt by $1 billion a year, making $2 billion a year profit and holding capital spending to $5 billion a year were achieved a year early. BP Oil moved from close to bottom to top of the industry league table for return on assets. The business continued to be profitable even while global refining margins, reflecting the difference between the cost of crude oil and the finished product such as gasoline, fell at one stage to their lowest level in ten years.
- Ильина о.К., Тычинский а.А.
- Предисловие
- Методическая записка
- Content
- Marketing communication
- The role of public relations in the marketing mix
- Public relations planning in the marketing mix
- Marketing integration
- Campaign development
- Diagnosing the solution
- Product launches
- Improving brand equity
- Public Relations in the future marketing mix
- Step-by step planning process
- Exercises
- I. Discuss the following questions.
- II. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:
- Marketing integration
- III. Match the following definitions with the word-combinations below.
- IV. Complete the words.
- Internal communication
- Why communicate?
- What do people want to know?
- Some communication techniques
- Communication and leadership: the bp Oil experience
- Background
- Preparing the ground
- Creating the right attitude
- 1 The right attitude (see Figure 2.2)
- Attitude Technique Talent
- 2 The communication road map
- 3 The good communicator
- 4 The head office communication forum
- The virtuous circle
- Link with human resources
- Where is bp Oil now?
- Exercises
- II. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:
- IX. Translate the following text from Russian into English.
- (Виктория Чупровская. Внутренний pr способен решить коммуникативные проблемы в компании. Www.Prlink.Ru)
- Сommunity relations
- Background
- What is community relations?
- Why bother?
- Methods used in a community relations programme
- One piece in the jigsaw
- Research
- Strategic objectives
- Project selection criteria
- A sponsorship example
- Donations policy
- How can the project be developed?
- Measurement and evaluation criteria
- Business benefits of the programme
- Employee participation in the community involvement programme
- Why bother involving your employees?
- How do you know that the programme is a success?
- Internationalising the programme
- Future developments
- Conclusion
- Exercises
- I. Discuss the following questions.
- II. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:
- IV. Complete the words.
- V. Translate the following word-combinations from Russian into English consulting the article.
- Financial public relations
- How do you define financial public relations?
- The basic task
- Corporate public relations
- What contribution does financial public relations make to the success of a company?
- What are the rules that govern financial public relations?
- Why has this business become such a major industry?
- Investor relations – Is it public?
- Coordination and consistency
- A time to speak and time to remain silent
- How does it fit in with other areas of public relations?
- In-house or consultancy?
- Vickers plc – a very brief case study
- Conclusion
- A checklist
- Exercises
- Corporate public relations
- Vickers plc – a very brief case study
- VIII. Translate the following text from English into Russian.
- IX. Translate the following text from Russian into English.
- X. Summarize the article “Financial Public Relations”.
- XI. Solve the following pr problem.
- Local government and government relations
- Why central and local government matter
- Effective public affairs
- Defining public affairs
- Central and local government
- Government
- Members
- Local government
- Gaining access
- Case studies
- Bail Bandits – a campaign to change the law
- The execution
- Trident – battle of the dockyards
- Key points
- Exercises
- Business to business public relations by Nigel Lawrence
- The customer rules
- How do you know it works?
- The trade press
- Getting it right
- Being prepared
- Getting the good news across
- Joining forces
- Conclusion
- Exercises
- II. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:
- Public relations for non-commercial organizations
- The mission
- Not-for-profit pr
- The public presence
- Partnership – the sum is greater …
- Provision of services
- Involvement of interested parties
- Case studies – the human face
- Aims, objectives and realization
- Checklist for a successful campaign
- Exercises
- II. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:
- Involvement of interested parties
- III. Match the following definitions with the word-combinations below.
- VI. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English using active vocabulary.
- VII. Translate the following text from English into Russian.
- Sponsorship
- Definition of sponsorship
- What makes a successful sponsorship?
- Do’s and don’ts of sponsorship
- The sponsorship package
- Sponsorship package checklist
- The public relations agency agenda
- Exercises
- II. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:
- The sponsorship package
- III. Match the following definitions with the word-combinations below.
- IV. Complete the words.
- V. Translate the following word-combinations from Russian into English consulting the article.
- Environmental public relations
- Be aware of public concerns
- Chemicals industry – in the limelight
- The Rhône-Poulenc initiative
- Changing public perceptions
- Putting the case for recycling
- Looking to the future
- Exercises
- II. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:
- III. Match the following definitions with the word-combinations below.
- IV. Complete the words.
- (Dorothy Seed. Global warming changes attitudes to nuclear power / Behind The SpinPublic Relations. Http://publicsphere.Typepad.Com/behindthespin/2006/11)
- Glossary a