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Shell Oil

Karlgaard, R.R. (2012). Energy in 2050 Shell's Peter Voser. Forbes Asia, 8(6), 97.

Shell Oil's present CEO Peter Voser came to the helm of the company in 2009, at the height of the world's credit crisis. Voser immediately began 'cleaning house' and completely restructured the company. He began with the management. Twenty percent of the management staff was completely eliminated. Another 14,000 people at Shell were asked to reapply for their jobs and justify their worth to the company. Voser took seven months to completely change the organizational structure of the company to make it leaner and more competitive. Despite the far-reaching nature of his actions, Voser stated that he was primarily changing the nature of the management, not the fundamental company philosophy and orientation of Shell. Shell will remain an oil company, founded on the belief that oil and gas are essential to sustain competitive, modern economies. Voser's actions were thus based in the fundamental belief that oil demand is going to be increasing, particularly in the developing world and contrary to environmentalist's hopes, cannot be replaced by alternative and renewable fuels. He forecasts a rosy future for Shell over the course of the next fifty years. Voser is dismissive of the idea that electric cars and other forms of electric, alternative power are truly salutary for the environment, stating that coal is the main source of electric power and is thus not truly clean or green.

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Regardless of what one thinks of Voser's environmental assertions, which are obviously quite biased, given his status as CEO of a major oil company, his swift and complete restructuring of Shell is impressive. Change resistance to any restructuring is common at a company, but particularly when it is engineered by someone who has only just assumed control of the organization. However, the substance of Voser's statements is highly questionable regarding the future of the oil industry and his restructuring seems faulty because it did not change the fundamental philosophy of Shell or create contingency plans if the future does not evolve as he predicts. Yes, in the short-term, it is likely that alternative fuels will be unable to replace oil. But over the long-term, because of demand and new interest in 'going green,' new technology will come to replace more non-renewable fossil fuels. Virtually all companies have a 'sustainability' section on their web pages today, proudly boasting of their attempts to liberate themselves from gas and oil.

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