Public Relations & Image Elevation of Petroleum Companies in the GCC

Focus on Public Relations (PR) is necessary to elevate the image of the refineries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). A report of a well-known management consultancy company highlighted that 73% of the population in the GCC was not aware of its contribution to social development. The absence of awareness signified the failure to communicate and explain pioneering initiatives to support economic development. It was attributed to the inability of PR specialists to use Community Relations (CR) and Employee Relations (ER), weakening the image of the refineries, like Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Saudi Aramco (SA). The work of two noted researchers, namely Frazer and Fitzduff, helped to gauge the importance of CR in PR. The former was linked directly to communication between the refineries and local community members, improving coordination between them. The elevation of synergy facilitated the initiation and implementation of educational; health management; environment management and resource conservation; home and small industry development programs, promoting sustainable development of local communities. When this was attained, the perception of community members and target publics was improved, enriching the image and financial value of the refineries in the GCC. It was not an automatic process. It depended on the commitment of the decision makers and strategists to innovate values, benefiting the community members, institutional investors, regulators and all the other interest groups. Their resolve to contribute positively to value building was influenced by ER, recognizing, publicizing and celebrating unique achievements, which transformed them into ambassadors of the refineries. Such change was known to support the promotion of the refineries’ values in the GCC and beyond, improving comprehension of target publics about practices that elevated the development of local communities or stakeholders. Their heightened knowledge and awareness stimulated trust and faith, represented by loyalty.

Well known researchers highlighted the failure of the refineries in the GCC to give credence to CR and ER, though they were known to invest in such practices. The absence of focus on them retarded the comprehension of the population in the GCC regarding the contributions of the KOC, QP and SA: 

The perceptual weakness regarding the above factors impacted adversely the refineries’ image in the GCC and beyond. It reinforced the views of experts, enunciating the disinterest of their decision makers to give priority to the following, though strategic measures were employed to attain them:

The failure of the refineries to communicate the above retarded their goodwill, credibility and reliability. Thus the motivation of the population in the GCC to repose trust and faith in them was diminished, signaling the consequence of reputation mismanagement. Noted authorities, such as Carlos and Maugans, Kent and Taylor, Ledingham and Mommer, attributed this to the misconceptions of the decision makers and strategists. They related financial performance to goodwill development, motivating them to rely on Financial Relations and Corporate Communication. They inspired the interest groups, like brokers in commodities exchanges; institutional investors and customers, wining their trust and faith. But they rendered communication to community members and local groups inadequate. In this context, the views of Clark assumed importance. He advocated the usage of CR and ER to communicate to citizens and employees, enriching the refineries’ image locally and globally. An interpretation of his viewpoints revealed why heightened focus on communication of performance, productivity and profitability to the institutional investors; regulators; and international customers did not help to enhance their image in the GCC. This justified the utility of CR and ER, which rendered the management of image feasible. When this was enhanced, the employees’ commitment to participate and contribute to community development was elevated. Its attainment influenced the community members to repose trust and faith in the actions of KOC, QP and SA. On the contrary, the views of Clark were rejected by Bivins and Morriss and Dandy. They recommended the usage of advertisement to justify a firm’s commitment to finance community and social development programs; resource conservation and environment management initiatives, winning the trust and faith of community members and population. When their theoretical standpoints were interpreted, its superiority over PR was clarified. To reinforce them, the example of Shell Corporation was used. The firm employed this communication strategy to educate the target publics about the bio-diversity management and sustainable community development in the Niger Delta Region. Their awareness about such measures when heightened enhanced trust and faith in its practices and claims, supporting image enrichment.

The above analysis signaled the prevalence of contradictory views. To assess the underlying realities, the author conducted a thorough study to identify how PR elevated the image of the refineries in the GCC.