This document discusses British Petroleum (BP) and its operations in the southern USA coastal regions from a cross-cultural communication and corporate social responsibility perspective. It covers stakeholder relationships, the role of culture in ethics and CSR, and how brands can be used for international communication. Regarding the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the document states BP needs effective crisis communication strategies to manage stakeholders from different cultures and address lessons learned to rebuild trust.

1. 1
Marketing International Business: Branding Communication, and Business
Relationship.
Final Assignment: British Petroleum in Southern USA coastal regions (Culture & CSR)
Final Assignment: British Petroleum in Southern USA coastal regions (Culture & CSR)
Mid Term Assignment: Cultural Influence
Final Assignment: British Petroleum in Southern USA
coastal regions (Cultures & CSR)
Business Relationships.
Final Assignment: British Petroleum in Southern USA coastal regions (Culture & CSR)
Mid Term Assignment: Cultural Influence

2. 2
Submitted to Dr. Ray Damary
(Professor)
Salford Business School
Date 6th
November, 2015
Type of Assignment Individual
Submitted by
Name of Student Sanjay Vaid
Roll No 00436743

3. 3
TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................5
THE ROLE OF CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIP:....................5
STAKEHOLDER .................................................................................................................................5
CULTURE........................................................................................................................................6
CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION .........................................................................................................6
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES:...........................................................................................................7
CULTURE IN ETHICS AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR):............................................8
CORPORATION ................................................................................................................................8
CULTURE AND ETHICS........................................................................................................................9
INDIVIDUALISM/COLLECTIVISM:.....................................................................................................................9
POWER DISTANCE:..................................................................................................................................9
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE:...................................................................................................................9
MASCULINITY/FEMININITY:....................................................................................................................9
LONG-TERM/SHORT-TERM ORIENTATION:...........................................................................................10
CULTURE AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ................................................................................ 10
ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITY:............................................................................................................. 11
LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY: ................................................................................................................... 11
ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY:................................................................................................................. 11
PHILANTHROPIC RESPONSIBILITY:....................................................................................................... 12
THE BRAND AS MEANS OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION: ................................................. 12
BRAND IDENTITY AND BRAND IMAGE.................................................................................................. 12
BRAND POSITIONING ...................................................................................................................... 14
POSITIONING IS A TWO-STAGE PROCESS:................................................................................... 14
THE IDENTITY PRISM ................................................................................................................ 14
THE POWER OF BRAND NAME:.......................................................................................................... 16
GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ROOTS: ............................................................................................ 16
BRAND ESSENCE: ........................................................................................................................... 16

4. 4
VISUALS AND LOGO: ....................................................................................................................... 16
BRAND CHARACTERS:...................................................................................................................... 17
BRAND AWARENESS: ...................................................................................................................... 17
BRAND CREDIBILITY:....................................................................................................................... 17
BAND SUPERIORITY: ....................................................................................................................... 17
BRAND RESONANCE:....................................................................................................................... 17
CORPORATE BRAND ENTITY.............................................................................................................. 17
BRAND IMAGE AND CORPORATE IMAGE: ............................................................................................. 19
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 19
WORKS CITED....................................................................................................................... 20

5. 5
Introduction
On April 20th, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, operated by British Energy Company
BP, exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion killed 11 workers and caused
millions of liters of crude oil to gush into the ocean. The accident is the largest offshore oil
spill in US history with devastating environmental and economic consequences for thousands
of people in the region of Gulf of Mexico.
In this assignment, the author has covered cross-cultural communication in stakeholder
relationship, culture in ethics and corporate social responsibility and Brand as means of
communication in the back drop of the event.
The Role of cross-cultural communication in stakeholder
relationship:
Intercultural communication is defined as the effectiveness of skills, attitudes, or traits for
building a successful cross-cultural interaction, (Chaisrakeo & Speece, 2004) this include
Cultural Awareness, Cultural Sensitivity, and Cultural adroitness.
Stakeholder
‘Stakeholders are the people/organizations involved and have an interest in the project.
Project Management Institute describes stakeholders as individual or organization’s actively
involved in the project and whose interest may be affected by the outcome of the project.’ (PMI,
2004)
‘A stakeholder of a corporation is an Individual or a group which either; is harmed by, or
benefited from, the corporation or whose rights are violated or have to be respected, by the
corporation.’ (Crane & Matten, 2010)
In the case of British Petroleum their stakeholder with whom they would have to have
communication with are employees, shareholders and analysts, Governments and regulators,
Contractors and partners, Local communities, Non-government organization, Academic
institutions and Customer.

6. 6
Culture
Culture further has four dimensions Country Culture, Industry Culture, Company Culture and
Individual Behavior. (Ochieng & Price, 2010) Ochieng and Price’s Study examines the cultural
factor that influences communication and explores how communication can be made effective
in a multicultural project environment. The dimension that are effected in cross-cultural
communication is establishing in a clear line of responsibility, instituting team effectiveness,
establishing trust, cultural empathy, value management techniques, honesty, and trust.
Culture and Communication
Culture and communication go hand in hand; it is virtually impossible to say or convey
anything that does not have any linkage to cultural context, direct or indirect. This is true for
written spoken words as well as any gestures that are part of the message.
Communication is a social need for an individual but a lifeblood of an organization; Francs J
Bergin 7 C’s of communication are candidness, clarity, completeness, conciseness,
concreteness, correctness, and courtesy.
Cross-culture communication looks at how people from different cultures communicate with
each other Cross-culture communication tries to bring together such relatively unrelated areas
as cultural anthropology and other area established an area of communication.

7. 7
Figure 1: Cross-culture communication and stake holder management process
Communication Strategies:
Communications strategies enable cultural appropriate communication management process
that support cultural strategy, business strategy and human resource strategy. It is important to
choose the right strategy for effective communication. This is crucial for projects outcomes
and establishing and harnessing relationship for international operations. Some important
competencies for effective cross-cultural communication are awareness and sensitivity,
understanding the local language, customs, collaboration, and a clear and effective problem-
solving attitude. Transfer of Knowledge from locals to expatriates is as important as traditional
transfers of knowledge from expatriate to locals. “An Organization must have global
perspective and be willing to modify communication strategies that are appropriate within the
context of host culture – ‘Think Global, Act Local.” (Tone, Skitmore, & Wong, 2000)
In the case in hand of British Petroleum, it can be said one had to deal with crisis
communication in intercultural communication and manage stakeholder relationship. This
communication is management effort beyond routine procedures. This might be led by a
situation of inadequate control uncertainty, violation of laws or ethics, weak preparation, and
inadequate prevention measures. During crisis communication, an organization needs to

8. 8
conduct communication planning, training, personal role assignment, drills, and other strategic
and tactical options, including drafter and templated messages to be used “when crisis occurs”
because they will occur at some stage or other. Irrelevant to the fact that if the organization
knew, appreciated, planned and appropriate enacted sufficient control over the operations to
prevent, mitigate, respond, and learn from the crisis. In case of crises , post-crisis response
needs to address in planning and then in public the lessons learned to reduce the likelihood of
reoccurrence, and thereby create and image that either an organization has become crisis-prone
or have a history of crises. Thus, an implicating crisis is an isolated incident in a firm’s history
or a part of a “Larger pattern” of organization performance.
Culture in Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR):
Global companies’ interest in the sustainable business is at all-time high, driven by external
pressures including regulation and legislation, but also by customers and stakeholders needs
and interest. (Benn & Dunphy, 2007) (Moore & Julie, 2008)
Corporation
“Corporation is typically regarded as ‘artificial persons’ in the eye of the law. That is that they
have certain right and responsibilities in the society, just as an individual citizen might.”
(Crane & Matten, 2010)

9. 9
Culture and Ethics
Ethical decisions making is concerned with judgment about right and wrong, and it has to do
with a moral dimension. Hence, a lot goes on before a decision is reached; one of which is what
is considered acceptable in a sociocultural environment visa vie another culture. Culture in
ethics can be termed at the individual level, corporate level and business level.
"Culture is a Society's personality; it includes both abstract ideas, such as values and ethics and
material objects." (Solomon, 2011). Nationality can have a significant effect on business
ethical issues, what is commonly acceptable in one country may be completely unacceptable
in another country. (Keegan & Green, 2005) (Crane & Matten, 2010). Moreover, individual in
society is profoundly influenced by the norms, values, social, cultural structures and same has
an impact on his decision-making. It provides the individual a backdrop to evaluate between
what is ethical and what is no ethical. Similarly, industries and organization operating in a
country are affected by the national culture. The standardization process of the multinational
organization needs to take into account human behavior since an organization is an organic
entity made up of people employed and interacting with internal and external stakeholders.
Geert Hofstede's index is highly helpful in establishing a relationship between culture and
ethics. The five dimension of hosted Index are as follows:
Individualism/Collectivism:
This reflects the amount individualize decision making in a situation as compared to collective
and consultative decision making.
Power Distance:
This illustrates the extent to which the unequal distribution of hierarchical power and status is
accepted and respected.
Uncertainty Avoidance:
This measures the extent of one's preference for certainty, rules, and absolute truth.
Masculinity/Femininity:
The extent to which emphasis is placed on things like money and success (masculinity) versus
valuing people and relationship. (Femininity).

10. 10
Long-Term/Short-Term Orientation:
This dimension addresses the difference in attention to future rewards. The Long-term oriented
cultures value preservation of face, short term results and fulfillment of the social obligation.
Hofstede’s dimension can help us understand the process of ethical decision making in different
cultures. Based on Individualistic/collectivism we can determine that someone from
Individualistic countries like America might be more likely to reflect on ethical problems alone
to make their individual decision, whereas someone from a collective culture country like Japan
is most likely to consult a wider group. Similarly, a country with high power distance like Japan
and China might be less likely to question the orders given by their superior even if they felt
they are asked to do something ethically questionable.
Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility includes economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic expectations
placed on an organization by the society at any given point of time as illustrated in below figure
1.1.
Figure 1.1 Carrol’s four-part model of corporate social responsibility. (Carroll, 1991) (Crane
& Matten, 2010)
Desired by Society
Expected by Society
Required by Society
Required by Society
Philanthropic
Responsibilities
Ethical Responsibilities
Legal Responsibilities
Ecnomic responsibilties

11. 11
Four-part model of corporate social responsibility is perhaps the most established model. It was
initially proposed by Archie Carroll in the year 1979 and was subsequently refined in later
publications.
Further, the culture impact on CSR has led to a model of explicit CSR and implicit CSR.
Explicit CSR tends to leave more discretion on social responsibilities; CSR is the explicit
activity of the private company. An example of a country that follow explicit model is the
United States.
The Implicit CSR model sees the social responsibility of business embedded in the legal and
institutional framework of society. In European countries, I have been achieved mainly through
regulations, whereas as in countries in Asia and Africa other softer institution like religion,
customary, or tribal tradition as shaped expectation from the business.
Economic Responsibility:
The level of economic responsibility of company towards society varies by culture, certain
countries have a high focus on profitability were as some countries have a high focus on social
wellbeing, healthcare and community investment.
Legal Responsibility:
Legal enforcement is also perceived differently by different cultures. Some countries like to
tend to see the state in the role of enforcing the acceptable law, whereas some countries tend
to see government rules as interference with private liberty.
Ethical Responsibility:
Different regions in the world vary significantly as to their local ethical values and preferences.
In the developed world, concern for issues of environment concern often leads to mistrust with
large corporate. A constant reassurance is required on social legitimacy even though the
corporation may be running properly and complies with laws. Hence nuclear energy, genetic
engineering, animal testing has been issued higher up in agenda of European countries than
other parts of the world. In some countries, the ethical expectation is on good and non corrupt

12. 12
governance. In developing countries philanthropic responsibility has high expectation than
ethical responsibilities.
Philanthropic Responsibility:
The Greek word philanthropy means the love of a fellow human. In certain countries like the
US, philanthropy is very high amongst business community and professionals. In other
developed countries due to higher taxes, the philanthropy activities are comparatively lower.
In developing countries like India and China, a time of National catastrophe large corporates
is expected to share the wealth with local communities.
The Brand as Means of International Communication:
“As per American Marketing Association brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol or design or a
combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of seller
and to differentiate them from those of seller or group of seller and to differentiate from those
of competition.” (Keller, et al., 2011).
Communication is the process of information sharing between people through the continuous
activity of speaking, listening, and understanding. It is the process of delivering the message
from one person or group to another.
Brand and Corporate Reputation is extremely important for companies to achieve their business
goals and stay competitive. An incident that took place in BP’s South America site can quickly
damage the reputation and can harm customers and employee loyalty, threatening a company’s
well-being and even its viability. Public confidence in business is reduced a public scrutiny of
business increases. The visibility of any event due to media has forced business to be
transparent and have a high emphasis on Corporate Social responsibility.
International communication is affected by internal factors like competence, skill, experience,
best practices, etc. and external factors like political, economic, socio-cultural, Technology,
Environment, and Legal.
Brand Identity and Brand Image
Communication is extremely important in business and brand identity places a distinct role in
same. Diversification in international market calls for knowing the brand identity. Brands

13. 13
penetrate new markets; reach new targets launch new products. This may cause both
fragmented communication and patchwork image.
For establishing a global and coherent identity brands require an image. Brand image is on the
receiver side. Image research focus on the way a certain group perceive a product, a brand, a
politician, a company, or a Country. The image refers to the way a group decodes the signals
emanating from the products, services, and communication covered by the brand.
Identity is on the sender side. The objective is to specify the brands meaning, aim, and self-
image. Image of both result and interpretation after that. Regarding brand management
Identity precedes image. We before it is received we must know what to send and how to
send.
Figure 1.1 Identity and Image.

14. 14
Brand Positioning
To utilize brand as means of International communication, we need first to establish the brand's
positioning. Brand positioning is the customer's minds share you want the brand to own the
tangible and intangible benefits the marketer wants them to think of when they think of the
brand. A strong brand positioning means the brand has a unique, credible, suitable and valued
place in the customer's mind.
Positioning is a crucial concept. All consumer choices are made by comparison, and a product
will be only chosen if it is clearly part of selection process. There are four questions that help
position a product.
Figure 1.2 positioning of brand
Positioning is a two-stage process:
- First indicate the competitive set the brand should be associated and compared.
- Second indicate what the brand essential differential and raison d’etre is in comparison to
the other products and brands of that set.
The Identity Prism
Since brand speaks about the product services and satisfactions, communication theory is
directly relevant. Brand identity has six facets, called ‘brand identity prism.

15. 15
Figure 1.3 Brand Identity Prism
1. A brand has physical specificities and qualities – its Physique. It is made up of salient
objective features or emerging ones.
2. A brand has a personality, and it develops a character by gradually communicating. The
way it speaks of its product or services shows what kind of person I would be if it were to be a
human.
3. A brand is a culture. A brand should have its culture, and it derives its products from same.
The product is also mean of communication. Brand culture means the set of values feeding the
brand's inspiration.
4. A brand is a relationship: Brands are often the crux of transaction and exchange between
people.
PICTURE OF SENDER
PICTURE OF RECIEPENT
Relationsh
ip
EXTERNALISATION
INTERNALISATION
Culture
Physique Personality
Reflection Self-image

16. 16
5. A brand is a customer reflection: Consumers use the brand to use their identity. All brands
but control their consumer reflection.
6. A brand speaks to our self-image. This self-image in consumers owns mind, through the
attitude toward certain brand the consumer develops a certain type of relationship with own
self.
The Power of Brand Name:
The brand name is often revealing of brand intention. It is the one of the most powerful sources
of identity.
Geographical and Historical Roots:
Many brands get their identity and uniqueness via the geographical roots. Brands can benefit
from the values of their native soil. The identity of British Petroleum is intimately associated
with Britain.
Brand Essence:
Brand essence is the single most compelling thing communicating the brand differentiator from
its competitor. The seven important ingredient of strong brand essence are single-minded,
unique, experiential, relevant, consistently delivered, Authentic, durable.
Visuals and Logo:
"Just as human personality can be reflected in a signature, brand essence, and self-image can
be reflected in symbols." (Kapferer, 2009).

17. 17
Brand Characters:
An emblem serves to symbolize brand identity through a visual figure other than brand name.
Brand Awareness:
Brand awareness consists of brand recognition and brand recall performance. Brand
recognition is consumer ability to confirm prior exposure to the brand when given brand as a
cue. Brand recall is consumer’s ability to retrieve the brand from memory when given the
category product cue.
Brand Credibility:
Brand credibility describes the extent to which the consumer sees the brand as credible
regarding three dimensions: 1. Competent, innovative and a market leader 2. Dependable and
keeping customer interest in mind 3. Fun, interesting and worth spending time with.
Band Superiority:
Brand Superiority is the extent to which consumer see the brand as unique as and better than
other brands.
Brand Resonance:
Brand resonance describes the nature of relationship and level of identification customer has
with the brand.
Corporate Brand Entity
“It is the differential response by consumer, customer, employees, and other firms or any
relevant constituency to the words, actions, communications, products or services provided by
an identified corporate brand identity.” (Kapferer, 2009) The corporate brand encompasses a
much wider range of association.

18. 18
Figure: 1.4 Determinant of Corporate Image

19. 19
Brand Image and Corporate Image:
Over time the relationship between brand and company is switched around. The company’s
outwards image is reflected inside and becomes far more effective in mobilizing the workforce.
Figure 1.5 Transfer of company identity to brand identity.
This too affect brand communication to the consumers, employees, and other stakeholders.
Conclusion
It is evident that cross-cultural communication in stakeholder relationship is extremely
important, in BP case there was a clear gap between their corporate code on conduct and what
was actually executed by employees, vendors in terms of safety standard. As what former CEO
of BP asserted “the underlying philosophy in code should be there should not be any gap
between what we say and what we do.” BP case elaborates good governance alone is not
sufficient to ensure corporate long term goals. Good corporate ethics program and control
managerial decision are very important. An absence of such program can lead to Financial and
reputation loss, geopolitical issues, business continuity issues, environmental concern and trade
restriction as well.
The promise associated with a particular brand to consumers, business customers, and other
stakeholders is extended beyond product and services; it also includes an organizations role in
its community, behavior to employee, etc.
Cross-cultural communication plays a key role corporate governance, global governance.
Business ethics and corporate social responsivity are interlinked with the brand and corporate
Brand Identity
Physique
Relationshi
p
Reflection
Personality
Culture
Self-concept
Values
Corporate Identity
Founder Values and Ethics
Company Focus and culture

20. 20
identity. Knowledge of culture for cross-cultural communication, Adherence to Ethics and
corporate social responsibility as principle toward corporate and global governance can ensure
credibility to the brand, cooperate reputation and subsequently yield sustainable profit for the
organization.
Works Cited
Benn, S. & Dunphy, D., 2007. Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Channlages for
Theory and Practice, Routledge, New York, NY. New York: Mc-Graw-Hill.
Carroll, A. B., 1991. The pyramid of corporate social responsbiliy: towards the moral
management of organisational stakeholder. Business Horizon, Jul-Aug.p. 42.
Chaisrakeo, S. & Speece, M., 2004. Culture, intercultural communication, and sales
negotiation: a quantitative resarch approach. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing,
Volume 19, pp. 267 - 282.
Crane, A. & Matten, D., 2010. Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and
Sustainability in the age of globalization. Third ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kapferer, J. N., 2009. The new strategic brand management: creating and sustaining brand
equity long term.. New Delhi: Kogan page India private Limited..
Keegan, W. J. & Green, M. C., 2005. Global Marketing Management. Fourth ed. s.l.:Dorling
Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd..
Keller, K. L., Parameshwaran, M. G. & Jacob, I., 2011. Strategic Brand Management. New
Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd..
Moore, S. & Julie, J. W., 2008. Business ethics: A global comparitive study on corporate
sustainability approaches. Social Responsibility Gernal, Volume 4, pp. 172-184.
Ochieng, E. & Price, A., 2010. Managing Cross-cultural communication in multicultural
construction project teams: The case of Kenya and UK. International Journal of Project
Management, Volume 5, pp. 449-460.
PMI, 2004. Project Management Institute (PMI). Newtown(Pennesylvania): Project
Management Institute, Inc.

21. 21
Solomon, M. R., 2011. Consumer Behaviour Buying, Having and Being. Ninth ed.
s.l.:Pearson.
Tone, K., Skitmore, M. & Wong, J., 2000. An investigation of the impact of cross-cultural
communication on the managment of construction projects in Samoa. Construction
Management and Economincs, Volume 18, pp. 307-316.