Crisis communication across cultures

BP CEO Tony Hayward has been in the crossfire over his reaction to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Some of his problems seem to come from failure to take into account cultural differences. Different cultures communicate in different ways, and awareness of this can be vital to success in dealing with crisis situations like this environmental disaster.

Years ago, I remember that some of my German friends thought that BP stood for "Benzin Petroleum". BP would no doubt like to be connected with its slogan "Beyond Petroleum". At the moment, these two connotations would probably be more helpful for the company than being seen as the name which was dropped 12 years ago, "British Petroleum", or even worse, "Beleaguered Petroleum" or "Big Polluter".

What seems clear is that Tony Hayward’s down-to earth, self-deprecating, unemotional style, which is appealing to many British people, doesn’t go down well in the US. Americans were far from reassured when he said, "We don’t have all the tools in our tool box." The Americans, according to commentators quoted in the recent Financial Times article with the title "Cultural failings leave BP engulfed", wanted to see contrition, serious upset and emotion. Above all, they wanted action.

To make matters worse, Hayward's tendency to smile or make a joke suggested to many Americans that he wasn’t taking the situation seriously, rather than having the intended effect of defusing tension. The Times sums it all up in a quote from a source who said, "When America was crying out for the cool assurance and go-do-it of Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 they got bumbling Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral."

British TV Channel 4 even compares the position of Hayward to that of George III at the time of the American War of Independence: "Now in the American popular imagination, George III is back. His 21st century incarnation: BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward. … So, substitute BP for the British Crown, and Hayward for the King and you can almost see George Washington and the Founding Fathers coming in for the kill. The White House and the administration would like nothing better than to cast themselves in that role."

It will be interesting to see if BP is more successful in dealing with the Americans than George III was.