...There have been numerous enquiries and studies into the accident to try to understand what happened, the goal of the enquiries was to establish where the fault and therefore guilt lay in order to ascertain compensation. This report attempts to apply key concepts from behavioural finance with a view to understanding the thought processes behind the decisions that were made. In the last decades there have been a lot of studies documenting the impact of psychological traits on the decisions made by managers. This report while touching on them, will not go into detail regarding the various technical difficulties encountered on the Deepwater Horizon and will instead focus on understanding the thought process of the various players involved. We will also briefly cover BP’s historical safety record as this will help us understand some of the behavioural factors in play within the organization. While BP was the principal on the Deepwater Horizon rig there were also other parties like Transocean , the rig operator, Halliburton, who operated in a consultancy position, Anadarko and Schlumberger. These companies played a part in the crisis and their performance and relationship to BP will be explored as well. BP’S ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE AND CULTURE BP under Lord Browne was a very silo based organization. Business units were under direct control of asset managers and they and their teams were incentivized by their assets performance. I worked at BP between 2007 and 2008 and it was very...
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...------------------------------------------------- Corporate Governance Case Study: British Petroleum Submitted by: Vanés Cassells Introduction In the words of Ramo (2009, p.8), “We are now at the start of what may become the most dramatic change in global order in several centuries... What we are facing isn’t one single shift... as much as an avalanche of ceaseless change... creating unprecedented disruption and dislocation.” Given that a crisis normally occurs without prior warning, it is therefore imperative that certain measures and procedures are put in place that can expedite a cure and thereby reduce the impact so that normality can be restored. For there to be effective crisis management, a robust risk management structure must be instituted within the organisation and must form an integral part of the ongoing corporate governance monitoring framework. A company should learn from previous incidents and incorporate preventative as well as curative measures into any risk assessment. The risk oversight function of the board has gained immense importance in the last few years, mainly due to the collapse of the financial sector in 2008. Today, risk management has become even more critical and challenging. Companies are now confronted with risks that are more complex, interconnected and potentially devastating than ever before. BP’s ostensible lack of consideration for the risks involved in exploration drilling contributed to large-scale disasters which, in turn...
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...Image creation-BP is in the mature stage of its life cycle, has been involved in multiple mishaps over the years. They have lost focus of their duty to the environment, the public, and its shareholders. 1) SWOT analysis Strengths-they have alot of money that can be reinvested in enhancing/repairing their image and focusing on the environment, their connections (with the British government and Navy), alternative energy (wind, solar, biofuels), infrastructure, carbon footprint toolkit, they were the first energy company to acknowledge global warming/environmental awareness Weaknesses-image, oil spills, poor ethics (price gouging,wire/mail fraud, etc.) Opportunities-technological opportunities (alternative energies, improved drilling capabilities, jumping onto the environmentally sustainable movement-and is also a threat to their original business model) Threats-politics (policies/regulations), economics (supply and demand fluctuation, improved commodities markets), competition, natural disasters 2) Problem Analysis (this should be clear and to the point-a few sentences is all that is necessary): Their image is tarnished, so they are concentrating on rebuilding this. They started this process by changing their name from British Petroleum to simply BP (Beyond Petroleum-suggesting that they will focus their efforts on multiple energy sources). Why is their image tarnished? What led to this occurring? What measures have they taken to address this issue? 3)...
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...Case Study-Deepwater Zhuljeta Mujollari Post University What type of control do you think would have been most useful in this situation? Explain your choice. Feedforward control would have been very useful in this situation, especially when BP has a serious of accidents before the worst oil spill in the U.S. history happens. According to Doris Burke (2011) “each time its CEO vowed to avoid a future disaster and it failed”. Back in 2005 a high-profile explosion at Texas City kills 15 workers and injures 180. A year later another leak happens in Alaska, to be repeated again in 2009. Implying Feedforward control would have been just simple common sense. With a history of accidents, BP should have been on top of the game. Safety should have been the number one priority but BP was far away from it. Employees were ignoring the red lights for waiting-to-happen accidents and possibly because the operating personnel might have been untrained properly on the safety procedures. Using Exhibit 10-2, explain what BP could have done better. We all know BP could have done way better performance wise. They just failed to measure the actual performance by ignoring the past. They might have known what went wrong, but this is not the same as knowing how to fix it. According to Lisa Hershman (2010) BP just “lost focus on safety”. The same article says that “BP decided to trade safety for efficiency”. The company should’ve invested in its safety infrastructure, which would’ve...
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...BP’s Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: What Went Wrong Elizabeth D. Jones Southern New Hampshire University Student: 0811981 Abstract On April 20th 2010 the Deepwater Horizon rig, operated by BP, exploded unleashing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico resulting in the largest marine oil spill in history. What makes this spill so significant is the fact that the spill continued unabated for three months causing the declaration of a state of emergency across several states (Bozeman, 2011). The purpose of this study is to highlight the significant issues of management and leadership within BP and point out how the poor decisions surrounding the spill deeply hindered their corporate reputation. Additionally, the paper will offer ways in which BP and those involved could have possibly prevented this disaster or have better mitigated the impact had the catastrophe still occurred. Managing risks, monitoring safety, effective communication and ownership of faults are all solutions that if implemented can help BP restore their reputation and prevent misfortunes like this from happening in the future. BP’s Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: What Went Wrong British Petroleum (BP), In the early evening of April 20th, 2010 uncontrolled hydrocarbons escaped causing an explosion on the oil-drilling platform Deepwater Horizon resulting in one of the worst environmental disasters in world history. Within 36 hours the massive oil rig, approximately...
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...Alumina and BP Introduction Running a business does not come without the existence of liability risk and legal issues. The question posed is what are the liability risks that could lead to legal issues and how will such issues be handled. When legal issues are present in the business sector due to liability issues, more likely than not, others are affected both directly and indirectly by the situation. How the situations are resolved depends upon those involved and the complaint. BP and Alumina have faced such issues and, as discussed below, have had to resolve the issues present within their companies through legal processes. Legal Issues and Principles Present BP The impact of the BP oil spill of 2011 will be felt by residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas for years to come. The effects of this devastating incident in the Gulf of Mexico disrupted the way of life for many individuals in that region. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded dumping an estimated total of five million barrels of oil into the Gulf this was the worst oil spill in history (Goguen, 2012). The legal issues that arise from this tragedy consist of economic loss, environmental damages, property damage, emotional distress, and exposure to harmful substances. According to Goguen (2012), “Thousands of businesses and workers in the Gulf region have filed lawsuits against BP, seeking repayment for profits and income that were lost because of the oil spill. These plaintiffs...
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...Banegas World Geography 29 February 2012 BP Oil Spill Oil rigs provide the world with the fuel that is needed to keep it running. However, it is common knowledge that they may potentially cause harm to not only living creatures but also the environment they rely on to survive. This was proven in the spring of 2010 when an oil rig off the Gulf of Mexico exploded and resulted in an oil spill. This catastrophic event opened millions of eyes to the errors that can be found in the way oil rigs are set up. It also caused people to take a closer look at whose responsibility it is to make sure all the safety codes and procedures are being followed before a drilling plan in approved. The BP disaster not only drew people’s attention to the process of oil drilling, it also had a serious impact on the economy and an even more tragic impact on the environment and wildlife around it. It also provided a perfect example of the dangers oil drilling can pose if it is done in an area not prepared to handle the consequences. On April 20, 2010 an offshore oil rig owned by BP (British Petroleum) blew up, taking the lives of 11 people before beginning to dump dangerous amounts of crude oil into the ocean and coastlines of the Gulf of Mexico. The oil rig, known as Deepwater Horizon, is believed to have dumped more than 200 million gallons of the oil before it was capped off three months later. This number however, is only an estimate due to the refusal of BP to allow accurate measures of the spilt...
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...Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 8-1-2012 Deepwater, Deep Ties, Deep Trouble: A StateCorporate Environmental Crime Analysis of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Elizabeth A. Bradshaw Western Michigan University, brads2ea@cmich.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Bradshaw, Elizabeth A., "Deepwater, Deep Ties, Deep Trouble: A State-Corporate Environmental Crime Analysis of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill" (2012). Dissertations. Paper 53. This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact maira.bundza@wmich.edu. DEEPWATER, DEEP TIES, DEEP TROUBLE: A STATE-CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME ANALYSIS OF THE 2010 GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL by Elizabeth A. Bradshaw A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology Advisor: Ronald C. Kramer, Ph.D. Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan August 2012 THE GRADUATE COLLEGE WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN June 29, 2012 Date WE HEREBY APPROVE THE DISSERTATION SUBMITTED BY Elizabeth A. Bradshaw ENTITLED Deepwater, Deep Ties, Deep Trouble: A State-Corporate Environmental...
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...10-110 Rev. April 3, 2012 BP and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster of 2010 Christina Ingersoll, Richard M. Locke, Cate Reavis When he woke up on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, Mike Williams already knew the standard procedure for jumping from a 33,000 ton oil rig: “Reach your hand around your life jacket, grab your ear, take one step off, look straight ahead, and fall.”1 This would prove to be important knowledge later that night when an emergency announcement was issued over the rig’s PA system. Williams was the chief electronics technician for Transocean, a U.S.-owned, Switzerland-based oil industry support company that specialized in deep water drilling equipment. The company’s $560 million Deepwater Horizon rig was in the Gulf of Mexico working on the Macondo well. British Petroleum (BP) held the rights to explore the well and had leased the rig, along with its crew, from Transocean. Of the 126 people aboard the Deepwater Horizon, 79 were from Transocean, seven were from BP, and the rest were from other firms including Anadarko, Halliburton, and M-1 Swaco, a subsidiary of Schlumberger. Managing electronics on the Deepwater Horizon had inured Williams to emergency alarms. Gas levels had been running high enough to prohibit any “hot” work such as welding or wiring that could cause sparks. Normally, the alarm system would have gone off with gas levels as high as they were. However, the alarms had been disabled in order to prevent false alarms from waking people in the middle of...
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...BOARD EFFECTIVENESS Ineffective boards suffered from limitations on skills and competence, as well as on the nonexecutive directors’ (NED) ability to monitor and control senior executives effectively. For instance, the board director who was responsible for refining at BP at the time of the Texas City refinery explosion had no refining experience. Independent Insurance’s NEDs did not have insurance industry expertise. 2 BOARDS' RISK BLINDNESS This is characterised by a board’s failure to engage with important risks, such as risks to reputation and “licence to operate”, to the same degree that they engage with reward and opportunity. For example, Railtrack’s licence to operate depended on the UK government, but the company outsourced track maintenance, despite the fact that this was one of its core responsibilities to its customers. 3 POOR LEADERSHIP ON ETHOS AND CULTURE Double standards were perceived in cases such as Maclaren’s dealing with its US and UK push-chair (baby stroller) recalls and Société Générale’s ignoring breach of trading limits by Jérôme Kerviel. 4 DEFECTIVE COMMUNICATION Railtrack and Network Rail did not communicate effectively with subcontractors. In the EADS Airbus A380 case, problems of nonmatching aircraft sections were kept from senior managers for six months. 5 EXCESSIVE COMPLEXITY The EADS Airbus A380 project involved immense...
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...Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and BP Environmental Clean-Up Deb Schoenwether MGMT 312 Creativity & Innovation December 8, 2010 Submitted By: Joe Panayiotou Angela Merryfield Sonya Meggs Lisa Parker Kristi Mathews Introduction: (Lisa Parker) On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 28 people. It was later found that the wellhead was damaged and was leaking oil from the British Petroleum (BP) Oil Refinery into the Gulf of Mexico. In a report on the incident issued by BP on September 8, the company admitted that there were weaknesses in the cement design and testing. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. BP is the third largest energy company and the fourth largest company in the world. BP is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its largest division is BP America, which is the biggest producer of oil and gas in the United States and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. (Wikipedia, 2010) This significant oil spill poses a serious threat to people, industries, businesses, wildlife and beaches along the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The spill continues to cause extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. BP states that they will recruit a series of teams to clean-up the shorelines and workers will receive safety training before clean-up takes place...
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...Running Head: BP OIL SPILL (2010) BP Oil Spill (2010) kemy Emesih Southern New Hampshire University Abstract In researching this topic, the organizational roles, structures and behaviors at various levels of employee hierarchy and how they played into one of the biggest crisis in the United States – BP oil spill 2010 was examined. Also looked at, was the dysfunction within the organization and if the cleanup had led to a better organizational structure, culture, communication, leadership and behavior. What are irredeemably forsaken are reputation and trust that can lead to a company folding up if it is not built on a good Organizational structure, culture, personality, communication, decision making and ethics. Some research questions were asked and used to answer some of these issues. What were the behavioral approach as it pertained to leadership? How did leadership influence, change or manage people? Did it inspire a vision, put people first and act decisively when there were issues? Etc. As stated above, this research paper specifically looks at BP Organizational structure and communication, culture, leadership and behavior as a whole and provides some solutions that could better help, prevent or avoid future crisis. BP Oil Spill 2010 Introduction In every company or organization, there is a structure and there are rules and regulations...
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...Organizational sustainability in the international environment: The case of 2010 Gulf of Mexico Exploring Justice, Fairness and Organizational sustainability in the international environment: The case of 2010 Gulf of Mexico Abstract This study leverages insights from the literature of organizational sustainability, stakeholder theory as well as the notion of organizational justice and fairness to help answer the question as to how companies should morally prioritize corporate social responsibility, corporate accountability and stakeholder claims. In this paper, I also utilized the concept of corporate social responsibility as well as the triple bottom line in order to form my own model of sustainability. This model is used to analyze the case of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spills which was claimed as the responsibility of British Petroleum. I also addressed the strong relationship between organizational justice and organization sustainability with the conclusion that by enhancing organizational justice and fairness, organizations will be able to obtain its sustainable development in the long terms. Moreover, it is important to note that this article mostly focus on the sustainability regarding to three dimensions of economic, environmental and social, analyzing the real-world problems in order to emphasize the importance of philosophical roots of sustainability. Perhaps the result came out from this study will be seen as a thought-provoking theoretical and empirical grounds...
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...Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). With over 600,000 square miles of area and 16,000 miles of shoreline, the Gulf of Mexico supports a host of economic activities. Tourism, shipping, agriculture, fishing, fisheries, oyster production, shrimp production, oil and gas production, and more from the Gulf produce annual economic activities in excess of $234 billion (Hargreaves, 2010). Oil and gas industry creates $124 billion annually, the largest chunk of Gulf economic activities (Hargreaves, 2010). This industry, while creating the largest economic impact in the area, is also responsible for creating its largest ecological disaster. On April 20, 2010, The BP and Transocean operated oilrig Deepwater Horizon had recently suspended drilling operations more that 50 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana’s coast (Rigzone). BP had filed a permit to temporarily abandon the well and move the rig to a new location. At 10 p.m. an explosion ripped through the rig killing 11 workers (Rigzone). A bubble of methane gas escaped the well and traveled up the well bore, expanding as it climbed. The combustible bubble of gas burst through the barriers designed to contain it, bypassing the blowout preventer, and making it to the rig where the friction from the bubble could create a static charge and...
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...BP Oil Spill Introduction The United States consumes 19.5 million barrels of oil each day. (Rahman,K. Sabeel, 2011) This demonstrates how dependent the American society is on fossil fuel. This need for large amount of oil to keep the economy moving is having serious environmental impact, particularly in areas where large off shore drilling platforms are located. Each year, approximately one billion gallons of oil is spilled in the ocean. The BP oil spill accident is just of the many oil spills that have occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. There are several events that led to this accident. Firstly was the last of control over the pressure in the well. This followed by the failure of the well blowout preventer. This is a valve which was designed to maintain consistent conditions of the well. Then the slurry cement which was used at the bottom of the well failed to contain hydrocarbon within the reservoir, which allows gas and liquids to flow up the production casing. At the same time BP and Tranocean accepted a negative pressure test which was incorrect and so integrity of the well was not established. Where there was supposed to be a separation of the mud and gas, this was not working, causing gas to vent directly on to the rig instead of being diverted overboard. The gas then flowed in to the engine room through the ventilation system which then created a potential for ignition, which was suppose to have been prevented by the rig’s fire and gas system. ( Durando. Jessica...
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