System of Inquiry Paper PHL/323 October 4, 2010 Prof. Lorin Loverde

System of Inquiry A system of inquiry is a tool that most companies use for decision-making and problem-solving. The system of inquiry helps organizations reach their goals and foresee how to properly deal with upcoming problems and decisions in an ethical manner. Halliburton, for example, is a company whose decisions impact the entire world. Halliburton is forced to make decisions that can impact not only the organization but also society as whole. Protection of health, safety and prevention of pollution to the environment are primary goals of this company. It strives to develop and provide products and services that have no undue environmental impact and are safe in their intended use, efficient in their consumption of energy and natural resources, typically using only materials that can be recycled, reused, or disposed of safely. All employees must conduct their duties and responsibilities in compliance with applicable laws and industry standards relating to health and safety in the workplace to help prevent pollution to the environment (Halliburton, 2010). Halliburton is a world recognized oil company. It is one of the largest providers of oil and gas in the industry with a workforce of around 50,000 employees in more than 70 countries. Halliburton’s code of ethics is “Company policy requires directors, employees and agents to observe high standards of business and personal ethics in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. Directors and employees must practice fair dealing, honesty and integrity in every aspect of dealing with other company employees, the public, the business community, shareholders, customers, suppliers, competitors, and government authorities. When acting on behalf of the Company, directors and employees shall not take unfair advantage through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts, or other unfair-dealing practices. Company policy prohibits unlawful discrimination against employees, shareholders, directors, officers, customers or suppliers on account of race, color, age, sex, religion, or national origin. All persons shall be treated with dignity and respect and they shall not be unreasonably interfered within the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. No director or employee should be misguided by any sense of loyalty to the company or a desire for profitability that may cause him or her to disobey any applicable law or company policy. Violation of company policy will constitute grounds for disciplinary action, including when appropriate, termination of employment.” Halliburton has a major problem to solve concerning what decision to make after the explosion is the Gulf of Mexico; how to fix the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and regain its reputation for safe drilling of oil again. The Wall Street Journal reports that Halliburton may be ultimately responsible for the oil-rig explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed the oil spill that recently devastated the Gulf Coast. Halliburton was in charge of a drilling process called “cementing,” where cement is pumped into the gap between the outside of the drill and the inside of the well. The Houston-based firm is reputedly the largest company in the global cementing business, which accounted for a $1.7 billion, or 11%, of the company’s 2009 revenue (Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy, 2010). The purpose of this process is to prevent oil and gas leaks, but if cracks develop in the cement, oil and gas can escape and potentially ignite. Halliburton finished cementing this particular well shortly before the explosion occurred. With the use of a system of inquiry this mistake would probably never have happened. The system would have forced Halliburton employees make the right decision and properly fix the well before the crew continued drilling. Halliburton performed a wide variety of services on the rig besides cementing and had four employees stationed on the rig at the time of the accident. Halliburton's employees returned to shore safely, due, in part, to the brave rescue efforts by the United States Coast Guard and other organizations. The company issued a press release responding to reports about its work on the rig: Halliburton had completed the cementing of the final production casing string in accordance with the well design approximately 20 hours prior to the incident. The cement slurry design was consistent with that utilized elsewhere in similar applications. In accordance with accepted industry practice approved by Halliburton’s customers, tests demonstrating the integrity of the production casing string were completed. At the time of the incident, well operations had not yet reached the point requiring placement of the final cement plug that would enable the planned temporary abandonment of the well, consistent with normal oilfield practice (Halliburton, 2010). Halliburton had assisted in the planning and engineering support for a wide range of options designed to secure the well, including a potential relief well. Halliburton originated oilfield cementing and leads the world in effective, efficient delivery of zonal isolation and engineering for the life of the well, conducting thousands of successful well cementing jobs each year. Halliburton continues to assist in efforts to identify any factors that may have led to the disaster, but it is premature and irresponsible to speculate on any specific causal issues. The company views safety as critical to its success and is committed to improve continuously performance (Halliburton, 2010). Halliburton’s problem-solving skills need to be perfect because, as witnessed by this disaster, the company does make mistakes and problems do occur. In the past, Halliburton has been known to be greedy and unethical therefore it needs to make even smarter decisions today to clean up its negative reputation. Proper planning, organization, and leading functions are a must for the company. Planning is a function that Halliburton already uses whether it is for a new drill sight, operational safety precautions, or to grow a competitive lead against competitors. Halliburton also understands that its role in the environment makes a huge difference in how it approaches these tasks. For example, the company has developed a Memorandum of Agreement to eliminate all use of diesel fuel in fluids used during hydraulic fracturing of coal bed methane wells to ensure the fuel is not accidentally injected into underground sources of drinking water (Halliburton, 2010). Halliburton strongly believes that good ethics will keep them at the top of the pyramid in the oil industry; therefore developing a sound plan for employee and customer ethics is very important. Halliburton knows that the oil field industry is all about reputation and customer relations; if a major player incorporates bad ethics it is guaranteed that negative reputation will spread and reputable companies will quickly choose not to do business with them any longer. For example, Halliburton states: as global corporate citizens we understand that the sustainability of our business also depends on how we interact with our world (Halliburton, 2010). Halliburton even takes an active role in any legal issues that its employees may have, such as wage garnishment. Members of the Garnishment Section provide mandatory reporting and responses to inquiries from employees, custodial parents, Child Support Agencies, and local, State, and Federal authorities (Halliburton, 2010). This allows the company to ensure its employees are keeping up with legal responsibilities and it also reinforces to the employees that the company expects them to use better ethics to do what is right by taking care of their personal responsibilities. Halliburton also has a strong impact on the greater good for social responsibility. Halliburton believes that social responsibility is a key driver for their business; they strive to incorporate this mindset into all business practices. For example, Halliburton instructs heath, safety, and environment and provides direction for the management of HSE by soliciting formal input on all current and emerging health, safety, and environmental issues. Halliburton believes they have a responsibility to the people in the communities in which they work and live (Halliburton, 2010). A system of inquiry will protect Halliburton from making bad decision while upholding ethical behavior when conducting business worldwide. Halliburton is at a point when this system of inquiry definitely needs to be put in place. The system will help Halliburton safely drill and protect society, the world, marine life, employees, and its customers. Because Halliburton is a huge company and does work globally this system needs to be put in place as soon as possible. No matter what a company does to protect their plan for success there will always be factors that can change the outcome. Halliburton has many divisions that do very different types of work so its system of inquiry needs to be specific yet general enough to ensure it can relate to the broad array of work the company does every year. A Halliburton system of inquiry would also help improve public perceptions of the company. Halliburton is frequently thought of as a greedy and corrupt company that does not routinely follow ethical standards. The system would expand on the company’s code of ethics and have a positive effect on its image. Halliburton is already one of the largest providers of oil and gas in the industry; it provides the world's broadest array of products, services and integrated solutions for oil and gas exploration, development, and production (Halliburton, 2010). A system of inquiry would expand these capabilities and help the company prepare for any disasters or problems that may arise by helping them to execute proper decisions to avert such situations or at least better remedy any effects. Halliburton's vision is to be the premier global solutions provider for energy services, engineering and construction, and energy equipment. The strategy the company has adopted to achieve this vision is based upon its commitment to integration--both the internal integration of all business operations as well as integration of core competencies with those of its customers. These competencies support the vision through four key goals to serve customers; maintain operational excellence, technological leadership, innovative business relationships, and a dynamic workforce (Halliburton Company, 2010). In short, Halliburton plans to succeed by maintaining good ethics with its customers. The system also would expand to promote ethical behavior of employees even outside of work. Employees would have a positive reaction to a system of inquiry because the system would be a tool to help them plan and execute the proper steps to take if problems arise. In conclusion a Halliburton System of inquiry would help the organization reach its goals and properly plan to deal with unforeseen problems and decisions. Halliburton is continuously forced to make decisions that impact society worldwide. Halliburton already has a highly effective code of ethics in place; a system of inquiry would expand that existing foundation by providing steps in help ensure all problems are resolved in an ethical manner.

References
Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy. (2010). Halliburton Cement Technique. Retrieved from http://cenvironment.blogspot.com
Halliburton. (2004). The Journey continues. Retrieved from http://www.socialfunds.com/csr/reports/Halliburton_Corporate_Social_Responsibility_Report_2003.pdf
Halliburton. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.halliburton.com/
Halliburton Company. (2010, February 08). Retrieved from http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Halliburton_Company
Is Halliburton to blame for rig explosion? (2010). Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/is-haliburton-to-blame-for-rig-explosion/disasters/?cid=tag:all1