Category Archives: opinion and insights

crisis response, opinion and insights

Deepwater Horizon: The Video (poll)

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All crisis management pros and enthusiasts should take the time to watch the 20 minute video by BP, entitled BP:  A Year of Change. 

Regardless of whether the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico turned you into a BP detractor, supporter or somewhere in-between, the video will likely spur some opinions, questions and debate.  Was producing this video a wise move by BP?  Does it put the crisis – and the crisis response – into context?  Does it misrepresent any of the events or actions?

I have offered my opinions on the Deepwater Horizon situation in the past and I certainly have my opinions on this video.  However, I’m more interested in generating dialogue and debate through this blog post. 

Please take the poll and use the comments section below to share your thoughts after watching the video.

 
 

 

opinion and insights

Jaques on Qantas/Rolls-Royce situation

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Since starting this blog, I’ve enjoyed an ongoing dialogue with Tony Jaques, a Melbourne-based issues and crisis expert.  Tony read my posts on the Qantas A380 situation from last November and told me he’d keep me posted on local updates.

Last week, Tony forwarded his update post and granted permission for me to re-post in its entirety, below.

Continue reading Jaques on Qantas/Rolls-Royce situation →

crisis response, opinion and insights

More Peter Sandman analysis on Japan radiation threat communications

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After my March 16 post on risk communications related to the Japan radiation threats, I decided to continue the dialogue with Peter.  We traded some emails last Wednesday, which I thought I’d summarize here (edited for brevity/clarity):

Peter,

 Three interesting articles to share: 

 Side note – years ago, I analyzed the Union and found it to be more aligned with political leanings than scientific.  I wonder if that’s still the case.

 – J.D.

Here is an edited summary of Peter’s insightful responses:

Continue reading More Peter Sandman analysis on Japan radiation threat communications →

crisis response, opinion and insights

Japan’s radiation threat: Sandman’s risk communications analysis

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Source: AP

The nuclear radiation risk in Japan seems to be growing by the day (by the hour?). 

How does one attempt to put context on that risk? 

On March 14, in that moment in time, The Wall Street Journal opinion page (sub. required) attempted to do just that through the voice of William Tucker, an expert on (and proponent of) nuclear power.

Key quotes:

Even while thousands of people are reported dead or missing, whole neighborhoods lie in ruins, and gas and oil fires rage out of control, press coverage of the Japanese earthquake has quickly settled on the troubles at two nuclear reactors as the center of the catastrophe….

 

The core of a nuclear reactor operates at about 550 degrees Fahrenheit, well below the temperature of a coal furnace and only slightly hotter than a kitchen oven…. You can’t have a “runaway reactor,” nor can a reactor explode like a nuclear bomb. A commercial reactor is to a bomb what Vaseline is to napalm….

 

There was a small release of radioactive steam at Three Mile Island in 1979, and there have also been a few releases at Fukushima Daiichi. These produce radiation at about the level of one dental X-ray in the immediate vicinity and quickly dissipate….

 

If a meltdown does occur in Japan, it will be a disaster for the Tokyo Electric Power Company but not for the general public. Whatever steam releases occur will have a negligible impact. Researchers have spent 30 years trying to find health effects from the steam releases at Three Mile Island and have come up with nothing. With all the death, devastation and disease now threatening tens of thousands in Japan, it is trivializing and almost obscene to spend so much time worrying about damage to a nuclear reactor.

 

Source: NTV

I want to believe Tucker, as I’m sure many others do.  But there’s something amiss with his overabundant “calm context.”  Something about the way he’s presented his case….

For guidance, I emailed the Tucker article to risk-communications guru Peter Sandman.   Peter graciously shared his insights with me – and then with all of his followers through a guestbook post (with my permission, post-haste). 

I encourage you to read Peter’s full response through the link above.  I’ve have Peter’s permission to cross-post some highlights here:

Continue reading Japan’s radiation threat: Sandman’s risk communications analysis →

opinion and insights

Toyota recall aftermath: many protagonists fail inspection

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Last August, I wrote a blog post that compared the Toyota recall frenzy of 2010 to the Audi 5000 frenzy of 1986.  At that time, there were reports that investigators were having trouble finding any “sudden acceleration” problems tied to the Toyota electronics.

Four months later, I followed up with a post that covered the sensational media reporting of ABC News’ Brian Ross.  The February broadcast — in the thick of the media frenzy — featured dramatic footage of driver tests that pointed to software/electronic problems with Toyota vehicles.  The report leaned heavily on findings of a professor of automotive technology, whose work was commissioned by a paid advocate for trial lawyers (not disclosed in the original ABC News broadcast).  Tsk, tsk.

Earlier this week, federal investigators confirmed that there is no evidence of electronic failures that led to Toyota sudden acceleration incidents.  Thus, the circle is complete – the Toyota 2010 situation is the doppelganger of the Audi 1986 situation.  Both situations point to “pedal misapplication” as a likely cause in most of the reported accidents.  Both situations end with calls to move the brake and accelerator pedals a little further apart to avoid such confusion.

Summarizing this situation now is difficult, but this is a good callout from Jeffrey Liker’s post on Harvard Business Review blog:

So who won in this debacle? Journalists who wrote speculative and poorly researched sensational articles got a lot of internet hits. NHTSA got a lot of attention, a larger budget, and a reputation for toughness. It remains to be seen whether the lawyers suing Toyota will get anything. American drivers got a paranoid auto industry that will recall vehicles at the drop of a hat. There will be some positive safety policies relating to how runaway cars are shut off in an emergency, and we all may get “black boxes” that record our recent driving actions. And Toyota got a crisis that drove it to reflect intensively and to make dramatic changes to improve its responsiveness to customer concerns, so likely will emerge stronger — but lost billions of dollars of value in the process.

Other implications?     Continue reading Toyota recall aftermath: many protagonists fail inspection →