DOW and The Olympics-The Challenge of Managing an Unintended Reputation

DOW, one of the TOP (The Olympic Partners) sponsors for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, is facing human rights protests, particularly from India. The reason? DOW acquired Union Carbide in 1999, and Union Carbide was responsible for the 1984 Bhopal toxic gas disaster that claimed the lives of thousands around the facility in India. While DOW was not the parent company at the time of the disaster, critics have wanted the company to increase the compensation to victims and their families ever since the company purchased Union Carbide. DOW officials have held firm to their stated position that while it sympathizes with the victims of the disaster, it is not responsible for the disaster and should not be held accountable for something that did not occur on its watch. The issue has led to the recent resignation of Meredith Alexander, a volunteer who served on the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012. Alexander felt she could no longer remain on the commission given that LOCOG (London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games) selected DOW to create the stadium wrap around the main Olympic stadium. Chairman Sebastian Coe defends DOW's position, saying the company was not responsible either for the disaster nor the compensation settlement that was reached years before the company acquired Union Carbide. TOP sponsors like DOW pay to be associated with the positive values of the Olympics, but many would argue that DOW also 'paid' to be associated with Union Carbide and the implications are now being felt.