BP Struggles

 

In countries where large companies have freedom of action almost without limits, it is obvious to think that in the event of the emergence of a problem affecting entire communities, environment, health, and further issues, businesses will be tempted to hide the facts in order to minimize damage. People who are responsible will be protected each to other. Amazingly, many governments such as the United States have generally a "reactive” approach when ethical issues arise rather than “proactive." The rules and regulations are issued after the problem has occurred, not before.

In my opinion, the current technological advancement and economic struggles worldwide have changed the behavior of the average consumer, and obviously the conduct of a large amount of businesses. People are insensitive to substantive issues. Today, short-term profits are highly valued by top executives. Unfortunately, when tragedy strikes as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, is when public opinion trigger a hunt to find culprits and also to impose fines and economic sanctions. The responsibility should not be attributed only to the company as an autonomous entity, but also shared by the upper management and employees at all levels. Human capital is one who gives life to the company and performs daily activities according to the main activities of the organization. The authorities also play an important role in "monitor" all processes are completed properly. If they fail to oversight a corporate ethics code, nobody will perceive as a worthy effort.

If we had to summarize what have been the most critical points for BP with relation to poor image ethics at the corporate level, we could cite:  questionable business practices, hazards to workers, environmental damage, and the emission of greenhouse gases.

After the accident on the Deepwater Horizon rig, some BP executives were talking about a technical accident, but it would be more appropriate to speak of criminal negligence. The disaster caused by corporate arrogance and greed of BP operators, was originated due to the unethical misconduct and disregarding many safety procedures because these measures are highly in cost to implement. Sure, the company is also involved Transocean, owner and operator of the platform (on behalf of BP) and Halliburton, responsible for the foundation of the well.

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused BP, the British oil giant, gross negligence, incompetence and a grim example of the "culture of corporate irresponsibility” on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico produced in 2010 (Huffington Post).

The company has agreed with the U.S. authorities to pay this amount, which includes a fine of 1,256 million dollars, to settle claims arising from the spill in the Gulf on April 20th, 2010 the explosion of the BP Deepwater Horizon platform, which killed 11 workers and an environmental disaster. In its agreement with the U.S. administration, the British multinational pleads guilty to 11 counts of negligence related to the death of 11 workers, two related to environmental damage and one more for obstruction of Congress. The callous behavior of its chief executive, the English Tony Hayward, was leading to more conflict with U.S. government and affected stakeholders; he was fired in the midst of the controversy and replaced by American Bob Dudley (Ferrel 350).

To illustrate grossly negligent that it was BP before the spill, lawyers for the Justice Department (which showed an unusually strong language in this case) retrieved concerted internal emails between BP executives and risk management officials, that were hidden during the internal investigation by BP and in which they recognized the imminent disaster saying comments like "this pipeline will blow right under our pants" (Huffington Post).

In January 2011, a presidential commission found that the spill was caused by irresponsible decisions prioritized saving time and money on safety by BP, Halliburton and Transocean, creating an unacceptable risk. The three companies knew about the potential disaster and no action was taken in place to avoid it (The Guardian).

In September 2011, a team of officials from the Coast Guard and U.S. federal regulators issued a report that concluded that BP had the ultimate responsibility for the spill have violated federal regulations, ignored crucial warnings and erroneous decisions cementing of the well a mile below the Gulf of Mexico (Washington Post).

However, this one failure cannot explain other lapses in BP’s risk management strategy. Some suggest that BP cut corners in risk management to save time and money.

What is criticized BP is not just the oil spill, but also the lack of precision in handling the crisis on all fronts: environmental, social, operational and technological and communicational.

As a result, the post-crisis balance is negative and in the coming years will see a BP in rigorous diet and resized, focused on rebuilding his reputation and reconnect with communities, businesses, fishermen and environmental groups. In addition, BP will have to show an enormous capacity for tolerance to criticism and complaints by old mistakes, especially the Gulf of Mexico spill in 2010.

If at once time upper management in the board of directors thought to minimize the cost of security measures and disaster prevention to increase profits for shareholders, currently BP should have learned a "high cost" that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Following the accident at the Deepwater Horizon rig, BP established an assistance fund for rig workers, for the equivalent of $ 100 million through the Baton Rouge Area Foundation amount. With the precise goal of mitigating the drawbacks of former rig workers who are unemployed. The company is aware that many families experience financial difficulties as a result of the moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by the U.S. federal government.

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Works Cited

Ferrel, Fraedrich, and Ferrel. Business Ethics, Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Ohio: Cengage South Western 2010. Print.

The Huffington Post - Gulf Oil Spill 2010: U.S. Department Of Justice Accuses BP Of 'Gross Negligence And Willful Misconduct' – Reuters. Web. 09 April 2012.

Rusch Dominic. - The Guardian - Halliburton manager gets probation for destroying Deepwater Horizon evidence. Web. 21 January 2014.

BP - Community development in the Gulf states – Web. 2014.