Mass Explosion at West Fertilizer Company - Case Study Example

Communication Management Author’s Name Class Name Professor’s Name School City and State Date Background of the incident In April 17th 2013, there was a mass explosion at a fertilizer storage and distribution company in West. The explosion was mostly cost by the ammonium nitrate. Around 12 firefighters were injured in the process and two members of the public also got fatal injuries with several hundreds of scored1. The accident which occurred bunt over 150 other houses. An investigation agency indicated that the fire was as a result of ammonium nitrate and it was deliberate from the management or employees. If everything were done in well and as per the code of conduct, this would have not happened2. The company background shows that it was involve in the business of supplying chemicals and fertilizer to farmers3. The investigation shows that the plat met all the requirement of the occupational safety and health administration as per the 1985 inspection and from then there was no other inspection that had been carried out again. The documents further shows that the safety measures of the company had been forwarded to the department of inspectorate to consider and close the company as it was not good for people to work in the area and the complaint was launched in the year 20064. The investigation further reveals that the management failed to obtain permit for the two storage tanks and implemented these without authority knowledge. The facility caught fire in the evening of Wednesday 17th April 2013 and several casualties were recorded with the fire fighters able to assist if any very little. Management style in the organization From the investigation results, there are some important points concerning management styles that can be drawn from the fire incidence in the company. First, the preliminary investigation shows that the fire was not an accident as such since it was intentional means it was as a results of a planned activities or inside jobs (Han et al., 2015). What might cause intentional fire outbreak in an organization may be as a result of employee’s frustration with the management or miscommunication which results from management and the employees. The respond of the fire was also poor indicating further that there was poor communication revolving around the incident (Han et al., 2015). It seems that there was poor cohesion within the organization resulting from communication breakdown. Better group cohesion through communication is very important since when there is better cohesion among group members, conflict will be minimal and when members communicate freely, it helps to resolve conflict since they can freely discuss the problem which affect them within themselves (Neves, Pedro, and Robert 2012). Lack of this communication and group cohesion are some of the factors that contributed to the burning down of the fertilizer firm. Lack of information among the employees might also be a factor that contributed to the burning of the company. It is important to acknowledge the challenge then create information awareness is very important in such circumstances and this will help to understand the challenge. In addressing the challenge, it is very important to understand the problem and the cause of the problem since addressing the cause will help in in resolving the problem (Han et al., 2015). Lack of disclosing information also is a factor within the company. From the investigation, it is clear that the management failed to disclose the safety of the company storage facilities. They failed to disclose this to the safety authority. Disclosing in business is very important like in accounting, companies directors are required to give full disclosure of the financial issues and accounting information concerning the business activities. This is important as it helps outside investors in making decision concerning investment. It helps in developing trust in business and this trust is very important and this trust was lacking within the West Fertilizer company. Using the principle of consensus, the view of the employees can be factors in in decision making and informative process can be used to explain to the employees of the necessary safety measures which the organization should take. The first person reports on his or her experience over a product or service in some instances influence or persuades people. People often look to each other when making purchase or other decisions in life and the herd, mentality is a powerful force across humanity (Han et al., 2015). For instance, if everyone thinks that a particular product is good, then it must be good hence the principle of consensus hence it holds since the principle of consensus involves the tendency of the individual to follow the lead group or peers. Therefore, the management ought to have used this approach in ensuring that they are in touch with employees and such accident would have been prevented from happening (Neves, Pedro, and Robert 2012) The information and precautions must be done within reasonable time. Time is money as many says. Speed is very important and it is passed is very important. For instance, if you want to buy stock before market closes, changes in price, if you have to buy or advise an investor, it is important to communicate that information as fast as possible. If you want to watch Euro games live, traveling by road from USA will take several months but by air, it will be immediate, hence timing and choice of means is very important. The first and last time the inspection was done is almost 30 years, therefore, 30 years in not reasonable time and the company was negligence in this aspect (Neves, Pedro, and Robert 2012) Thought influences perception of an individual and when mind is preoccupied with earlier thoughts, it means there will be bias selection on what an individual wants to listen to and as a result, mind might give it different interpretation resulting to distortion of information. Information is only effective if the intended message from the speaker is interpreted by the receiver without distorting its meaning (Neves, Pedro, and Robert 2012). It is also very useful if the receiver does not have prejudgment on the speaker normally brought distortion in the interpretation of the message. For instance, if in your thoughts you think an individual is thieve and he turns out to be a preacher, the initial thoughts will always make you think that a person is pretending. So it was up to the management to plant the right perception and thought on the employees at the right time to help cub the problem. Respond to the fire The people who were present around the company reports that the fire blast out as an earthquake and the US department of geology records the explosion magnitude to be around 2.1. The response was very slow and due to poor coordination coupled with toxic fumes which hampered the rescue mission in the case of West Fertilizer Company. Some other factors that could have contributed towards this include:- Distance- this will show whether the communication is intimate or note, you will chose closer distance if communication is intimate and reasonable distance if communication is official. The nature of text message to be chosen will dictate the nature of communication (Neves, Pedro, and Robert 2012). The management could have created artificial barrier which prevented them from passing right information to the employee resulting from this fatal accident. Time: - Official communication are always done during the official business hours and always carry with it official language in it while on the other hand, non-official language can be done any time. The time frame of updating the health and safety measures was not reasonable hence defect in the storage facility was not communicated in time Dress code: - Official communication like presentation should always be done when be dressed officially while non-official can be done. This is the same as in the case of chemicals which dress code communicates a lot. This should be considered properly and managed accurately to ensure that safety gears are in place for all employees. Firefighting equipment’s too should be in place. West firefighters were warned to leave before the explosion and it seems there was communication barrier. Some of the factors that might lead to miscommunication between the evacuation team and the members of the public include factors like lack of clarity which is a paramount factor when it comes to communication. By the fact that the blast create some level of confusion among the members, passing information was a bit difficult and this resulted from lack of clarity in the process. The communication channels within the organization was also not clear as per the available organization chart. The investigation shows that the people within the organization did not have a clear channel of reporting with junior employee receiving instruction from another junior employee and the information flow was not well structured. Every manager has the responsibility of ensuring that organization have clear line of communication and reporting line as this would help in preventing such disasters in time (Han et al., 2015). Just like public speaking, psychological noise needs to be minimized by all means. Proper planning of the message and means of communication is very important in reducing psychological noise so that you be to the point. In planning the message, first you should know what to be said, when to say it and how it should be said. Secondly you should craft the message that is being strict to the point using common language and avoid using jargon, use of proper branding and lastly seek feedback. Deliver message now and find out if the audience can respond, timing of the message among others (Warfare and Threat 2013). Ways of addressing the management gap In addressing the gap in leadership in this organization, I will use theory Z. Naturally, human beings are social being and are always willing to work. Each and every person is creative in his or her own way. Therefore, theory Z argues that human beings are creative and are able to be creative in their own way (Warfare and Threat 2013). Theory X believes in cohesiveness which in most cases is not the best way of handling people. For proper management, there should be good relationship between top management and the subject and this can be more effective if theory Z is put into practice (Han et al., 2015). Since human being are social beings, communication is very important and the management should be able to freely socialize with the employee. Imparting the right attitude in the team members and this could curb such unrest if the fire was intentionally lightened. It is important also to consider corporate social responsibility in order to improve the image of the company among the locals and customers as a whole. Incorporating corporate social responsibility is a very important factor in winning the hearts of the local (Warfare and Threat 2013). The company should start by employing local people and the local people will feel part and parcel of the foreign company. It is important also to offer promotions by free gift for whoever purchased items in the area. This will be very important strategy in winning the heart of the people. Persuasive advertisement will be also important Reference Han, Z., Sachdeva, S., Papadaki, M.I. and Mannan, M.S., 2015. Ammonium nitrate thermal decomposition with additives. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 35, pp.307-315. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/11/us/texas-fertilizer-plant-blast/ http://www.click2houston.com/news/atf-to-reveal-cause-of-west-fertilizer-company-plant-explosion Neves, Pedro, and Robert Eisenberger 2012. "Management communication and employee performance: The contribution of perceived organizational support." Human Performance 25.5 452-1002 Warfare, D. and Threat, A.W.T., 2013. Editor: Dr. David Gabbard, Boise State University. Read More