The Spill - British Petroleum Case

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Ultimately, I believe that BP’s senior leadership was responsible for the losses incurred by the oil spill for multiple reasons. Regardless if British Petroleum CEO’s take responsibility for spills and disasters or not, they are the face of the company. To not take responsibility for your company discredits you as a CEO and as a good leader. Between John Browne and Tony Hayward, neither of the leaders could take accountability for their actions and deliver a sincere apology. The senior leaders’ failure to acknowledge their actions and the consequences that ensued are forever damaging to BP’s image. The explosions, killings, and major oil spills of BP will live in infamy. According to an article on Harvard Business Review, “A true leader faces facts, presents a situation fully to all stakeholders, and models accountability. A leader does not attempt to minimize the extent of a problem or promise action faster than can be delivered. A true leader sets appropriate expectations and delivers. He or she does not duck responsibility by shifting the bulk of the blame to someone else” (Kanter HBR). Hayward went as far as blaming Transocean for the rig failure in the Gulf, which hurt Hayward’s reputation even further. One of the major issues with BP’s culture that eventually led to their downfall was the extreme risks, ignored advice, and overlooking safety concerns. Crises like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico shined a light on a seriously ‘dysfunctional organizational culture.’ Another leadership failure BP faced was the inability to work together as a senior leadership team rather than deflecting the blame. Although Tony Hayward was the CEO of BP, where were the other leaders of the company? In the face of adversity, the senior leadership of BP kept silent, leaving Hayward to answer to the media and to many others. BP leadership also failed in the sense of pushing regulations and safety aside in order to deliver shareholder profits and successful business. The leaders of BP lost sight of their original mission, which was, “In all of our activities we seek to display some unchanging, fundamental qualities-integrity, honest dealing, treating everyone with respect and dignity, striving for mutual advantage and contributing to human progress.” Along with losing sight of their Health, Safety and Environment mission statement, which states, “To conduct the group’s activities in a manner that, consistent with the board goals, is environmentally responsible with the aspiration of ‘no damage to the environment.’ The group will seek to drive down the environmental impact of its operations by reducing waste, emissions and discharges, and by using energy efficiently” (BP.com 2005).

In conclusion BP changed for the better when ‘leaders’ like Tony Hayward and John Browne had been dismissed from the company. BP had a lack of leadership and disregard for accountability for their messes, when that’s all the public eye and the courts had asked for. Bob Dudley who is dramatically different from BP’s former CEO, seemed to want to change the company around immediately. In the fourth quarter of 2010, he based employees’ bonuses on their success in meeting safety goals. Dudley also stated he intended “to remove anybody’s being put in the place of driving for performance vs. safety … I’m not saying that’s what’s out there, but it’s just [to] remove anybody trying to make that tradeoff … I’m a big believer that you get the behaviors that you incentivize” (Elkind 7).

Works Cited

BP's Tony Hayward and the Failure of Leadership Accountability." Harvard Business Review. N.p., 2014. Web. 11 Oct.

"Business Ethics." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

Elkind, Peter. "A Visit with BP’s New CEO." Fortune. N.p., 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

Five Leadership Lessons from the BP Oil Spill." Harvard Business Review. N.p., 2014. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

Man on a Mission." Man on a Mission. N.p., June 2005. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

Oil Spill Prevention and Response." Oil Spill Prevention and Response. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

"Our Questions to BP & Their Response." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.