...Ethics in the Workplace Case Study: BP Oil Spill On April 20, 2010 off the Gulf of Mexico, there was a blowout of the Macondo well which is owned by British Petroleum also known as BP. When the blowout took place it got immediate media attention because aspects of the event were known over the world. Within events transpiring it was discovered how limited the resources and reaction to the disaster was going to be. This paper will detail aspects of the event from symptoms of the problem, the root cause, important unresolved issues, roles of the organization’s key players and stakeholders, and explain the focus of specific ethical systems. Also discussed in this paper are relevant strategies and alternatives, the effect of globalization on the choice of preferred alternatives, the most valid alternative and resolution recommendations, and an example of a successful implementation of the solution. Symptoms of the Problem Natural disasters or any disaster of any kind is hard to manage just for the purpose that these is no real planning for the situation and there is no real way to say who is in charge when a disaster happens. Concerning the oil spill with British Petroleum (BP) symptoms for the situation was that there was a delayed response, the impact on the environment and the citizens, federal regulations were lax, and the recovery efforts were not adequate. According to Griggs (2011), OPA 90 is a federal statute that holds all the responsible parties in containment, clean-up...
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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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...The Socially Responsible Oil Company: An Examination of Corporate Ethics by Peter Fischer A Paper Submitted in Fulfillment of the USD School of Law Writing Requirement Energy Law Professor Burleson Spring, 2009 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Background 3 The Need for CSR at Home and Abroad 7 Case Study Analyses: Four Critical Events in the Oil Industry and their Effect on CSR Case Study #1: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 9 Case Study #2: Occidental and the Piper Alpha Disaster 12 Case Study #3: A Two-Part Analysis of Shell in the Mid-1990s a) Shell’s Human Rights Violations in Nigeria 16 b) Shell’s Response—Outsource CSR 21 Case Study #4: BP’s Major Advances in CSR 24 Ethics and the Problem of the Public Relations Quick Fix 27 Analyzing the Current Corporate Culture: Failure to Meet the Triple Bottom Line 32 Conclusion 38 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………...…………41 Introduction Over the past twenty years an irrefutable shift in the oil industry has occurred—the shift to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).[1] The purpose of this paper is to analyze the motivation behind this shift and determine if these CSR practices are genuine. In other words, does the adoption of CSR denote a tangible change in the way oil companies operate, or is it merely an elaborate public relations exercise? To answer...
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...Ethics Case Analysis BP BP Struggles to Resolve Sustainability Disaster Case Summary: The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 is the worst oil spill in US history. Initial claims on the scope of the spill, as released by BP, was that 5,000 barrels per day were being released into the water, although they stated they had no way of precisely measuring the spill. Outside analysts have stated that between 54,000 and 84,000 barrels per day were leaking into the area. This estimate has been largely supported and accepted. The spill lasted for 87 days before workers finally sealed the leak, but by that time, more than 4 million barrels of oil had been released into the gulf. The BP oilrig, owned by Transocean, Deepwater Horizon had been in operation in the Gulf of Mexico since February 2001. The rig was valued at more than $560 million dollars and worked on many different wells in the gulf. The last well it operated on was the Macondo well. It was this well that the oil spill came from and was brought about by several preventable errors on the part of BP and Transocean management and employees. The Deepwater Horizon vessel was an exploratory rig assigned the duty of finding oil, reporting it, and capping the well for another extracting type rig to come in and harvest the oil. While drilling the well, the rig encountered pockets of natural gas buildups where it was drilling. A week prior to the fatal explosion, Horizon encountered one of these pockets and the natural...
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...Virtue ethics is the method of analysis that examines a moral issue from an iconic and virtuous person’s perspective(). Two examples of virtuous people include people like Gandhi or the Dalai Lama. For this paper, the 14th Dalai Lama’s perspective will be taken to analyze the moral issue. To reiterate, the moral issue in question that will be examined is: should the design engineers be blamed for the BP Oil Spill? There are only two answers to this question: engineers should be held responsible and accountable, or engineers should not be held responsible and accountable. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was known to advocate for animal welfare (). He is quoted as saying “We have to change the way people think about animals. I encourage...
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... Abstract The following paper will describe recent events that occurred with a British Petroleum owned offshore oilrig known as “Deepwater Horizon”. In addition the paper will also discuss various safety issues, concerns, and repeated violations that have occurred resulting in an environmental disaster that impacts the Gulf of Mexico of which the long term effects will not be known for generations to come. British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon On April 10, 2010 the offshore drilling rig, operated by the world’s sixth largest oil producer British Petroleum, erupted in flames. The result of this disaster caused “170 million gallons of crude oil to spill into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico” ("NRDC.org", 2011, p. 4), killing 11 people, and creating what could be the largest ecological disaster of the 21st century. This disaster is considered by many to be the largest oil spill ever to occur. Clean up efforts are still ongoing after almost two years. British Petroleum (BP) has spent billions of dollars in cleanup cost, restitution and community development; however the greater effects on the environment will not be determined for many years to come. The direct cause of this disaster has been identified as mechanical failure of a blowout preventer located at the base of the well directly above the site entry on the bottom of the sea floor. When this mechanical valve failed, it cause as large plum of highly flammable gas to erupt from the oil well and ignite. After an explosion...
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...Final Paper Management 5000 – OGF1 2010 Management Statement of the Problem From the perspective of strategic planning and leadership, how could British Petroleum Company (BP) have minimized the risk of the deepwater oil drilling incident of April 20, 2010, and done a better job of crisis management after the fact? This environmental emergency was the result of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion which killed 11 workers, injured 17 others, and resulted in a sea-floor oil gusher leaking 185 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The media is filled with stories criticizing BP for not taking proper precautions to prevent the accident, and for their public response immediately following it. The following are representative of the headlines covering media outlets across the country and internationally: “BP touts itself as ‘green’, but faces PR disaster with BP oil spill” (Farhi, 2010), “Another Torrent BP Works to Stem: Its C.E.O.” (Krauss, 2010) “BP contingency plans for dealing with oil spill was riddled with errors” (Clark, 2010), “BP’s failures made worse by PR mistakes” (Weber, 2010), “BP oil spill: Leadership and IT failure (Krigsman, 2010). Statement of major relevant principles to be applied The major relevant principles to be applied to this analysis are strategic planning and leadership as they relate to crisis management. Strategic Planning Strategic planning is the process by which organizations define their strategy and make decisions...
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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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...Tuan Nguyen Student ID : 100010779 Exploring Justice, Fairness and 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...
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...British Petrolum 2012 BP Oil Spill Management Dr…………………………………….. Nahla…………………………… , Nuf………………………. QATAR UNIVERSITY Executive Summary This paper examines the oil spill that took place due to an explosion at one of the drilling rig of British Petroleum on 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico and the managerial response to that crisis. Introduction: History of British Petroleum (BP) According to the British Petroleum's website, the company has started in 1908 with oil found in a rugged part of Persia after a long and hard search. Since then, discoveries large and small have participated in our progress. This is the first phase of BP between 1901 and 1908, the period during which the oil discovery was uncertain. The company has started as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which would be called one day BP. The next phase of BP's history was from 1909 to 1924, when the Field of Naphtha was 210 rugged kilometers from the mouth of the Persian Gulf. The Anglo-Persian was building a refinery to turn the thick crude oil into a usable product. Despite its name, the British Petroleum brand was originally created by a German firm as a way of marketing its products in Britain. During the I World war, the British government seized the company’s assets, and the Public Trustee sold them to Anglo-Persian in 1917. The Third phase of BP's history was from 1925 to 1945, when cars flooded onto the streets of Europe and the United States in the 1920s and 30s. BP-labeled gasoline pumps...
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...Ethical Responsibility with Oil Companies Lisa Dauwen National American University Abstract There are processes that oil companies need to go through to make sure that they are operating ethically. They include protecting the environment, researching alternative sustainable energies, and making sure that they are allowing for economic growth. This paper will look at 3 oil companies that are familiar to the United States. The paper will also look at the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill and look at any ethical concerns. It will discuss how an oil company can follow corporate social responsibility (CSR) tools to lessen their environmental footprint. Ethical Responsibility with Oil Companies All companies in the world have the responsibility to operate in a manner that follows the laws of the government. All of these companies also have a social responsibility to follow ethical laws. Along with all the other types of companies, oil companies have the social responsibilities to protect the environment, to research sustainable energies, to safely explore and produce in new areas, and they also have responsibility of fostering economic growth. It is important for oil companies, perhaps more important than other companies, to hold up to these social responsibilities because if they don’t find new ways to produce energy, future generations could run out. There has been much talk in the last few months regarding oil companies and if they are being ethical when making decisions...
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...Case Study Paper/Presentation: You will be assigned a case study from the book. You are to read the case, answer the questions at the end as your “paper”. Prepare a summary of what the case was about and how you answered all the questions and turn that summary into a speech. The presentation should be no more than 10 minutes. Please use visuals and a power point for your presentation. The Issue The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was an oil spill that began in April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. It claimed 11 lives when the oil rig exploded and spilled 4.9 million barrels or 210 million US gal of oil for 87 days. It was finally capped on September 19, 2010. Numerous investigations explored the causes of the explosion and record-setting spill. Notably, the U.S. government's September 2011 report pointed to defective cement on the well, faulting mostly BP, but also rig operator Transocean and contractor Halliburton. Earlier in 2011, a White House commission likewise blamed BP and its partners for a series of cost-cutting decisions and an insufficient safety system, but also concluded that the spill resulted from "systemic" root causes and "absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur". In November 2012, BP and the United States Department of Justice settled federal criminal charges with BP pleading guilty...
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...Crisis Management Final Paper Known as the “Mediterranean of the Americas,” the Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. It extends roughly 995 miles from east to west and 560 miles from north to south. The Gulf is bordered by The United States to the North, Mexico to the west and south, and Cuba to the southeast (The Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). The Gulf connects to the Atlantic Ocean through a current from the Yucatan Straight, circulating around the Gulf and exiting through the Florida Straight, forming the Gulf Stream (The 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...
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...Social Responsibility and Business Ethics serve a role in Corporations? NorthCentral University Abstract When you turn on the television, surf the internet or browse the Wall Street Journal the terms – business ethics and social responsibility are discussed. Recently, the Gulf coast oil spill has questioned the social responsibility of British Petroleum. However, can the terms business ethics and social responsibility apply to corporations? A review of two articles - “What is business ethics?” by P. Drucker and “The social responsibility of business to increase its profits written” by M. Friedman evaluates the two ethical terms. These articles suggest both business ethics and social responsibility should not apply to corporations. The focus of this paper will compare and contrast two approaches to business ethics. The conflicting objectives between the two parties will be analyzed. Lastly, my view and definition of business ethics and social responsibility will be conversed. Research for this paper consists primarily of peer reviewed articles and published articles. Should Social Responsibility and Business Ethics serve a role in Corporations? During the twenty- first century, businesses are confronted with many different responsibilities. Each responsibility must be address while ensuring obligations to stakeholders, special interest groups, employees and the environment. Businesses are expected to have very strong ethics, but often this is not the case. ...
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...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 Crime Analysis of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill AS PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor...
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