HLS503 SLP 2 Assignment

Texaco, Inc. or The Texas Company is an oil production company based in America. It was founded in 1901 as Texas Fuel Company. It is a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation. The company's logo consists of a white star inside a red filled circle. As a subsidiary, the organization shares its vision and mission with Chevrons. The company's vision is to be an international energy corporation that is worth admiration in all possible dimensions. The mission statement explicates on the company's good values foundation, the ethical business culture, and the strict adherence to law and their unlimited benefits to surrounding communities in their areas of operation. Texaco has approximately 3,250 employees and an estimated $45B worth of revenue. It has more than 2,000 locations around the world. The organization has a reputation for surviving one of the deadliest crises in history. Six of its African-American employee filed a lawsuit against the organization for racial discrimination in 1994 (Cantoria, 2011). The evidence of recorded conversations between Texaco executives served as indisputable evidence for the case. Its capability to maneuver around the issue turned out to be the greatest success in the history of crisis management. This paper utilizes FEMA's planning system in assessing the steps that Texaco implements during the management of crises.

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Management of Program

Program management refers to the processes incorporated in handling crises. It refers to all procedures that make it possible to attain the goals of the organization. The processes are normally facilitated through strong leadership, dedication and support of resources. The success of the project depends on the commitment of the management and the availing of the necessary funds. Additionally, program management entails overseeing the required procedures to ensure that resources undergo continuous maintenance and the procedure is up to date. Texaco incorporates program management through the development of a preparedness program. This program reduces the level of interruptions on the supply chain to avoid the risk of losing the market to competitors and reduces the likelihood of incurring losses. Investments in preparedness program depend on regulatory requirements that determine the level of risks that the organization can tolerate. Preparedness policies allow the organization to define the roles and responsibilities of employees that will keep the program current. Normally, the organization defines a program committee that will assist in developing, implementing and maintaining a preparedness program. The committee is normally delegated with the responsibility of appointing a program coordinator to direct the committee, guide the process of program development, and communicate vital aspects of the plan to all employees to prepare them for the incident (Crenshaw, 2012). The program administration helps in reviewing the plan periodically to ensure that it concurs with the requirements of the business. It also keeps the records in files for quick access and notes any modified laws and regulations in the administrative framework. The goal of Texaco in developing a preparedness program is to protect employees, maintain client delivery through minimization of interruptions, protect the organization's assets and protect its image, brand, and reputation.

Planning

Texaco participates in the planning process to help in evading the occurrence of crises. Based on the fact that issues occur as emergencies, the organization takes an 'all hazards' approach towards planning. The probability of specific hazards affecting the business is hard to determine. Texaco considers many different hazards that are likely to occur in its planning strategy. The organization develops risk mitigation and prevention exercises as part of the planning process. Texaco focuses on addressing issues that are likely to affect its reputation or lower its influence on the market. The planning process entails the identification of all potential hazards, assessment of vulnerabilities and the analysis of potential impacts (FEMA, n.d.). The process of assessing risks entails the identification of threats, the determination of opportunities for preventing hazards, deterrence and the mitigation of risks. The responsible people in Texaco identify scenarios to be considered for emergency planning. They normally perform a business impact analysis to determine the critical processes and time-sensitive processes before assessing to determine the operational and financial impacts resulting from the interruption of those processes. Furthermore, the business impact analysis helps the administration to gather information about the required resources for the support of critical business and time sensitive processes. The information guides the management in making decisions about investments meant to offset risks and prevent business disruptions.

Implementation

The implementation stage caters for all processes entailed in the preparedness program. It entails the identification and assessment of resources, recording plans, formulating a system meant to handle incidents and formulating a training program for employees to enhance their capability of executing plans. The steps that the organization takes under this stage can be categorized into the management of resources, plans of responding to emergencies, emergency communication arrangement, plans for continuity of business operations, IT plan, personnel support, handling the incident and training participants. Management of resources entails the identification and assessment of resources required for responding to crises, facilitating the continuity of business operations and facilitation communication during and after the incident (FEMA, n.d.). Emergency response plan entails the development of plans for protecting people, assets and the surroundings. Crisis communication plan entails the establishment of a plan in communicating with customers, employees, and stakeholders. It normally makes use of influential media outlets. Business continuity plans entail the development of recovery strategies meant to overcome business disruptions. The IT plan is meant to support critical business processes while employee assistance and support stipulate plans to encourage employees to foster preparedness plans. Incident management defines responsibilities to be coordinated during the incident and training entails the assignment of tasks and provision of instructions to facilitate execution.

Exercise and Testing

Testing and exercise is performed with the intention of evaluating the effectiveness of Texaco's preparedness program. It ensures that employees are aware of their respective duties. It is an effective step in clarifying roles, reinforcing knowledge on procedures, improving performance in coordination and communication, evaluating procedures and participants' skills, and revealing weaknesses or resource gaps (FEMA, n.d.). Notably, testing helps in determining whether the secluded processes of the preparedness program are likely to work. On the other hand, exercising the preparedness program facilitates the improvement of the universal strength of the preparedness program as well as the capability of participants to perform. Exercises are performed through seminars and workshops, discussion-based sessions, and functional exercises in simulated operational environments.

Improving Program

The last process that the Texaco team performs after an actual incident is program improvement. Normally, the organization schedules a critique session regarding the participants' response to the incident. The situation allows for the implementation of any possible changes to the lessons learned from the incident. The organization uses resources published by professional societies and newsletters as a datum for evaluation and improvement of the preparedness program. Deficiencies identified during these reviews is normally recorded and tackled through corrective action programs. The organization keeps documentation on reviews and improvements in a file for future reference. Through these strategies, Texaco was capable of finding itself on track again a considerable drop in its stat son the market. The CEO Peter Biljur started by publicly apologizing and admitting embarrassment for racial discrimination before suspending involved individuals (Cantoria, 2011). Texaco executives then visited all branches to make apologies in person. The last step was to hire an advertising company owned by African-Americans to help in winning their clients' trust. Discrimination checks were also instituted to prevent a similar case from occurring in the future.

References

Cantoria, C.S. (2011, Jan 29). Great Real-Life Examples of Successful Crisis Management, Bright Hub PM, Retrieved from: http://www.brighthubpm.com/risk-management/104704-great-real-life-examples-of-successful-crisis-management/Crenshaw, D. (2012, Mar 12). PR Disaster Averted: 7 Cases of Good Crisis Management. Retrieved from: http://crenshawcomm.com/pr-disaster-averted-7-cases-of-good-crisis-management/#.UoKt9_nktwoFEMA. Preparedness Planning for Your Business: http://www.ready.gov/business