Bp Oil Spill Essays (Examples)

However, this calmness did not translate into crisis management success. Although BP seemed to not be significantly affected by the situation, Hayward stated that the company was overwhelmed by the media attention. The former CEO blames the press for the image that the public has formed on the company in response to its handling of the situation.

The control that the company was supposed to reveal did not match the intensity of the crisis. BP did not show that it fully controlled the situation. The fact that the company tried to share the blame with the rig owner and the drilling company reveals the fact that the company was not in control of the situation. The numerous attempts and strategies that the company developed and implemented in order to stop or reduce the oil spill also prove the lack of control from BP.

The lack of control showed by BP…

Reference list:

1. Fitzgerald, a. (2010). BP Had Prepared for Oil Spill 10 Times Golf Disaster, Permit Plans Say. Bloomberg. Retrieved March 4, 2011 from  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-31/bp-told-u-s-it-could-handle-oil-spill-10-times-larger-than-gulf-disaster.html .

2. Raines, B. (2010). BP Told Feds it Could Handle Oil Spill 60 Times Larger Than Deepwater Horizon. Retrieved March 5, 2011 from  http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/bp_told_feds_it_could_handle_o.html .

3. BP Ex-Chief Admits Company Was Ill-Prepared to Handle Oil Spill (2010). Empowered News. Retrieved March 5, 2011 from  http://empowerednews.net/bp-ex-chief-admits-company-was-ill-prepared-to-handle-oil-spill/183629/ .

4. Moore, K. (2010). Integrated Marketing Communications. Retrieved March 5, 2011 from  http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Integrated_Marketing_Communications_-_5_Primary_Communication_Tools.html .

Gulf Spill

In the wake of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, about thirty percent of the oil, and "the most volatile fraction" of it, evaporated in a period of about ten hours (Handwerk, 2011). This was the primary aerosol emanation Another ten to twenty percent evaporated over the course of the next few days, and those turned into a wide plume of aerosol that was later identified as being comprised of intermediate or semi-volatile organic compounds (Xie, 2011). This secondary aerosol was composed of both light and heavy types of hydrocarbons, which have contributed to air pollution over a wide area (Handwerk, 2011). Ironically, the pattern of aerosol evaporation from the oil spill has advanced scientific understanding of how secondary aerosols form after the initial chemical conversion from their most volatile compounds (Xie, 2011). According to the EPA (2014), in addition to volatile organic compounds, the oil spill…

References

Handwerk, B. (2011). Gulf oil spill helps explain air pollution mystery. National Geographic News. Retrieved online:  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110310-gulf-oil-spill-air-pollution-science-nation/ 

National Wildlife Federation (2014). How Does the BP Oil Spill Impact Wildlife and Habitat? Retrieved online:  http://www.nwf.org /What-We-Do/Protect-Habitat/Gulf-Restoration/Oil-Spill/Effects-on-Wildlife.aspx

Radermacher, M. (n.d.). Bioremediation of marine oil spills. Retrieved online:  http://home.eng.iastate.edu/~tge/ce421-521/matt-r.pdf 

Stewart, R.R. (2005). Atmospheric structure and pollution sources. Retrieved online: Atmospheric Structure and Pollution Sources. Retrieved online:  http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/oceanography-book/atmosphere.html

In general, crisis management focuses on three major activities: 1) What are the most appropriate methods of response to both real and perceived crises?, 2) What models and scenarios need to be defined that constitute a crisis and should engage a necessary and appropriate response?, and 3) What is the communication plan and chain that is necessary to ensure that the emergency phase of crisis management is handled appropriately? (Fink, 2000). However, there is a clear difference between the leadership style needed from a multinational corporation and that needed from a local franchise. The overall theme, though, regardless of how correct it is, is indeed set by BP. Consumers see the corporate logo- the sign, and the image is transferred from international to local.

Using a model developed by leadership experts Kouzes and Posner we can find at least three major leadership gaffes committed at both the BP international level…

BP and how it can impact on the performanve of the firm

In the recent times, a number of people have opposed the strategies that have been developed by BP. The major strategies that have been opposed by individuals is that of stoping the case regarding oil spill in the gulf of mexico.Operational strategy and effectiveness are vital for superior performance which is usually the main aim of all enterprises and organizations. A firm may perform better than its rivals only if the organization is capable of establishing a difference it is capable of preserving. The firms have to deliver higher values to its customers. Besides, the organizations should be capable of creating comparable values at very low costs. Delivering higher values enables companies to charge higher unit prices. Similarly, very great efficiency and effectiveness will result into very low unit costs. Operational effectiveness (OE) implies performing same activities more…

References

Austin, E.W., & Pinkleton, B.E. 2006. Strategic public relations management:

Planning and managing effective communication programs (2nd ed). Mahwah,

NJ: Erlbaum.

Axson, A.J. 2003. Best practices in planning and management reporting. New York:

BPethics

The British Petroleum (BP) oil spill is now as infamous as it is famous. At the time of the deep water oil rig explosion that killed eleven BP employees, media and environmentalists were calling the resulting oil spill "the greatest ecological disaster ever produced by the oil industry" (Balaguer, 2010, p. 6). While it is certainly true that the oil spill will have some long-term effects, it seems that most of the hype concerning the spill was completely overdone and very short-term in scope. From an ethical point-of-view, BP definitely made some missteps. From the moment of the explosion there should have been some immediate steps taken by BP that were not taken, or if they were taken, they were made rather late in the game. First, BP should have released the information to the victim's loved ones concerning their deaths immediately. Second, acknowledgement of the scope of the…

References

Aguilar, J.; Prato, F.; Bravo, C.; Rivas, F.; (2009) A multi-agent system for the management of abnormal situations in an artificially gas-lifted well, Applied Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 23, Issue 5, pp. 406 -- 426

Balaguer, A.; (2010) The black gulf, Americas, Vol. 62, Issue 5, pp. 6-11

Sylves, R.T. & Comfort, L.K.; (2012) The Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spills: Reducing risk in socio-technical systems, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 56, Issue 1, pp. 76-103

So far, this is not the case, and oil companies only pay royalties on production. This is another area under scrutiny in the MMS scandal. There are reports, dating back to 2008, that the royalty offices of the MMS, located in Denver, routinely accepted oil company numbers on the amount of oil they produced, rather than independently auditing the numbers. No one knows how much lost revenue to the government that practice resulted in, and there is no way of finding out now. Clearly, future policy formation on the industry needs to include more oversight, more regulations, and a much less cozy relationship between the regulators and the companies they are regulating.

Future policy formation on other energy sources

The Gulf spill has helped to change public opinion on oil and its production, and on how it is regulated. It seems much clearer after the spill that we are a…

References

Editor. (2010). Update on oiled wildlife and marine life recovered along Louisiana's coastline. Retrieved 16 July 2010 from the Louisiana.gov Web site:  http://emergency.louisiana.gov/Releases/07142010-wildlife.html .

Editors. (2010). Oil dispersants. Retrieved 16 July 2010 from the Prairie View A&M University Web site:  http://www.extension.org/pages/Oil_Dispersants .

Falola, T., & Genova, A. (2005). The politics of the global oil industry: An introduction. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Green groups bolster lobby against offshore drilling; Democrats struggle to pacify uneasy voters. (2008, July 16). The Washington Times, p. A06.

"But we did kill a lot of resources," said Beck. That having been said, Beck does believe that some habitat losses -- and some that occurred prior to the oil spill -- can be "re-engineered" if the marshes receive the attention they deserve to receive.

Meanwhile, the assertion that the oil has dissipated and there is "very little" oil that is recoverable goes against the tone of a story in USA Today (Jervis, 2010, p. 3A) on October 19. Jervis writes that "Swaths of fresh oil flatten miles of march grass and cane weeds" in Bay Jimmy in Louisiana. Indeed, although BP has pulled back workers, more than 32,000 gallons of oil were removed (sucked out by industrial vacuum cleaners operated by workers in hazardous materials suits) during a recent 10-day period in Bay Jimmy (Jervis).

"People think it's over," said P.J. Hahn, the coastal zone director for Plaquemines Parish.…

Works Cited

Bates, Theunis. "BP Unloads Assets So It Can Pay for Gulf Oil Spill." AOL News. 18 Oct.

2010: retrieved Oct. 19, 2010, from  http://www.aolnews.com .

Drake, Nadia. "UC Santa Cruz scientist finds the silver lining in the Gulf oil spill disaster."

The Mercury News 18 Oct. 2010: retrieved Oct. 19, 2010, from  http://www.mercurynews.com .

BP Deepwater Horizon

isk is probably one of the most important components of company management, especially in an industry where the potential for disaster -- foreseen or otherwise -- is high. This is particularly so for the oil industry, and also especially in the light of the recent, worst disaster that humanity has ever seen, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. While some consider this disaster the result of a risk management shortcoming, others have taken their inquiries deeper and concluded that, in truth, the issue is one that concerns strategic management. As an oil company, BP's strategic management practices before the oil spill have focused primarily on increasing the profit the company could gain from the industry while decreasing the investment required to reach this goal. Those who focus on this component are of the opinion that the company's strategic management focus should have been more clearly delineated in…

References

Borison, A. And Hamm, G. (2010, Sep 22). Lessons from the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: When is a black swan just a white swan covered in crude oil? Nera Economic Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.argonbridge.com/e_library/file_show.php?id=585

Bright, F. (2011, Jan 10). BP's competitive strategy: Leadership at what cost? The Mix: Oil and Water! Retrieved from: http://www.themixoilandwater.com/2011/01/bps-competitive-strategy-leadership-at.html

Holt, R. And McNulty, T. (2008). Securing the license to act: a foundational capability. Journal of Strategy and Management, Vol. 1 No. 1.

Peel, M. (2010, Sep 15). Opposition grows to BP's legal strategy. Financial Times. Retrieved from:  http://www.ft.com/international/cms/s/0/c1945fcc-c0f4-11df-99c4-00144feab49a.html#axzz1Azmu20UT

P's Macondo low-Out: Gulf Mexico

The objective of this study is to describe the background setting, water depth. Type of rig, depth of reservoir and unusual characteristics of the P Operation in the Gulf of Mexico.

On April 22, it is reported that an explosion "ripped the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in Macondo Exploration Well/Canyon 252 lock 41 miles off the Louisiana coast. A fire raged for about 36 hours before a second blast sank the rig. The well's blowout preventer failed to activate, resulting in the largest oil leak in history." (Gulf, Oil, and Gas, 2011) The Macondo Exploration Well/Canyon 252 lock is located in the U.S. sector of the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The depth is approximately 5,000 feet and the well drilling depth is 18,000 feet (5,500 m) below the sea level. Reports state that the plans were that the…

Bibliography

Calkins, Laurel B (2012) BP Seeks Recovery of All Gulf Spill Costs From Halliburton. Bloomberg. 3 Jan 2012. Retrieved from:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-02/bp-seeks-recovery-of-at-least-20-billion-spill-damages-from-halliburton.html 

Final Report on the Investigation of the Macondo Well Blowout (2011) Deepwater Horizon Group Study 1 Mar 2011. Retrieved from:  http://ccrm.berkeley.edu/pdfs_papers/bea_pdfs/DHSGFinalReport-March2011-tag.pdf 

Griggs, John Wyeth (2011) BP GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL. Energy Law Journal Vol. 32. Issue 37. Retrieved from:  http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph240/mina1/docs/14_57_bp_gulf_of_mexico.pdf 

Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- Special Report (2011) Gulf, Oil, and Gas. Retrieved from:  http://www.gulfoilandgas.com/webpro1/projects/3dreport.asp?id=102868

BP Organizational Behavior

BP PLC Organizational Behavior

Imagine going to work for BP as an engineer to drill oil in the gulf. What would happen if a disaster occurred? Could the company hold up under pressure? How would management react to the situation? One will study the oil disaster in the gulf and how it pertains to human resources, structure, politics and symbolism.

Management signed a five-year contract with Exult Inc. To help transform human resources. They will have capabilities to use the "latest web-enabled technologies and processes" (BP, 1999). This is a first for the organization because it will become a worldwide effort. Each employee/manager will have access to information work as well as life information needed to do their job in an effective manner (BP, 1999).

"e-H services delivery model will assume management, ownership and accountability for BP Amoco's global H administrative and transactional processes" (BP, 1999). One…

References

Bethge, P. (2011). BP's oil disaster: the dangers and difficulties of bottom kill. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from Spiegel:

 http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,700759,00.html .

BP. (1999, December 9). BP amoco sign $600 million contract with exult inc. For hr services delivery transformation through e-enabled hr. Retrieved April 24, 2011,

from BP:

BP Deepwater Horizon

In April, 2010, Gulf of Mexico oil rig Deepwater Horizon, managed by British Petroleum (BP) suffered an explosion, sank to the bottom of the sea and precipitated an oil leak that would take months to cap (Pagnamenta & Goddard, 2010). The disaster was costly for BP both financially and reputationally, and the company's responses have not engendered much faith among the general public with respect to BP's ethics or its willingness to address the concerns of those whose lives have been devastated by the disaster. The company's strategy throughout the course of the disaster from the point prior to the disaster to its handling of the legal actions taken against it, has drawn the ire of many observers.

This paper will analyze BP's strategy, in particular with respect to its balance between the public relations issues and the financial issues. BP's approach appears to be internally consistent,…

Works Cited:

Friedman, M. (1970) The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved May 1, 2011 from  http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html 

Holt, R. & McNulty, T. (2008) Securing the license to act: a foundational capability. Journal of Strategy and Management 1 (1) 72-92.

Pagnamenta, R. & Goddard, J. (2010). Pollution disaster as Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinks into sea. The Times. Retrieved May 1, 2011 from  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7105649.ece 

Peel, M. (2010). Opposition grows to BP's strategy. Financial Times. September 15, 2010. In possession of the author.

It is yet to be seen whether alternative energy will eventually replace petroleum products or whether they will simply enhance the efficiency, cost effectiveness, and availability of energy in the future. BP's move into alternative energy will help it to position itself as a leader regardless of which direction the market decides to go. BP's move makes sense from many perspectives. It makes sense for a marketing perspective because it will help to improve BP's image to one that is more environmentally friendly and in line with current public consciousness. It will help it to make better use of natural resources from production to end use of all of its product lines.

One advantage that BP has over many of the other companies entering into the alternative energy field is that it has experience in providing the needs of mass consumers. It understands the technical difficulties of supplying energy to…

Works Cited

BP Solar International Inc. BP Solar has over 30 years experience in the solar industry: a legacy of quality, service, performance and innovation all around the world. 2006.  http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=3050457&contentId=3050613 .

Accessed October 29, 2006.

BP.  http://www.bp.com/extendedgenericarticle.do?categoryId=3&contentId=7005342 BP' target='_blank' REL='NOFOLLOW'>

According to Oil Daily (2003), "coming off a disappointing 2002, BP announced a series of management changes on Thursday that could portend an imminent, major shift in the company's business strategy, and possibly provide clues about who might succeed John Browne as chief executive down the road." (OD, p. 1) Evidence suggests a company striving to shift its orientation internally to match changes in its role in the broader marketplace. The case study goes on to lay out a host of HR training strategies that demonstrate BP's commitment to greater personnel consistencies across all of its global holdings. Thus, the expected result underscores the primary rationale that more explicitly pronounced HR principles will bring greater quality assurance and consistency to all of BP's operations.

Conclusion:

The resolution of this case study is that following a period of healthy and aggressive expansion fully justified at the time of its occurrence, BP…

Works Cited:

America HR (AHR). (2009). BP and Hewitt Renew HR Outsourcing Deal. HROA.org.

Griffiths, K. & Shah, S. (2005). Business Analysis: BP Face Litigation Risk After Massive Refinery Fire. The Independent.

Oil Daily (OD). (2003). BP Youth Movement In Effect After Rough 2002. Goliath.

Rogan, M. (2003). The Transformation of BP. London Business School.

Governmental CS policies do not only assist consumers or organizations, they assist both the consumer and the organization (The Impact of Government egulations on Corporate Social esponsibility - How Government Policies Shape CS, 2009).

It is often said that international environmental laws do not differ from one another. European environmental regulations are very similar to the U.S. environmental laws. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has set up a database that contains all of the contaminated lands in the U.S. This database includes existing and formerly contaminated lands. The European Union, especially France has also put into place databases to track existing and formerly contaminated lands within France. These efforts are there to protect the public from coming into contact with contaminated lands. International governmental environmental policies do not differ from one another in the fact that they all seek to protect the public and the organizations (The Impact of…

References

Emani, Gazelle. (2010). BP Oil Spill: 7 Secrets BP Doesn't Want You to Know. Retrieved July

19, 2010, from The Huffington Post Web site:

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/05/7-secrets-bp-doesnt-want_n_563102.html 

Freeland, Chrystia. (2010). What's BP's social responsibility? Retrieved July 19, 2010, from The

Regulating Oil and Gas Drilling and Transport

The American economy runs on energy produced from oil, coal, natural gas, hydroelectric power, nuclear power and renewable sources like solar and wind energies. In fact according to a report in the Congressional Research Service, oil provides the United States with 40% of its total energy needs. It is used in myriad ways, providing "…fuel for the transportation, industrial, and residential sectors" (Ramseur, 2012). Because of the great need for energy to fuel the American economy, oil in "vast quantities" enters the country and moves through the country by ships and by pipelines, Ramseur explains in the Congressional Research Service. Hence, it is inevitable that some spills will occur, and they certainly do occur, notwithstanding the attempts by the industry to conduct its business safely.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that the U.S. consumed 6.87 billion barrels (about 18.83 million barrels…

Works Cited

American Petroleum Institute. (2012). Energy Security. Retrieved February 15, 2013, from http://www.api.org.

Barkham, Patrick. (2010).Oil spills: Legacy of the Torrey Canyon. The Guardian. Retrieved February 14, 2013, from  http://www.guardian.co.uk .

Griffin, Catherine. (2013). European Satellite Confirms Arctic Ocean is on Thin Ice, Global

Warming Strikes Again. Science World Report. Retrieved February 15, 2013, from  http://www.scienceworldreport.com .

corporate and public shortcomings that arguably resulted in the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill marked the U.S.'s worst environmental disaster. Whilst identifying the corporate and state cover-ups the triggered the disaster, this study recommends some of the solutions that can be adopted to prevent future disasters. BP's corporate flaws are largely to blame for the disaster.

The 20th of April of 2010 marked the largest oil spill disaster in the U.S. referred to as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Lehner & Deans 2010). On this day, a fire explosion resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The catastrophe led to the deaths of 11 workers. BP owned the oil well while Halliburton did the cementing of the well. Transocean Company was the owner of the rig. The three companies engaged in blame games while efforts to deter the oil spill lasted…

References

Alexander, K. (2010, 4 June). "The 2010 Oil Spill: Minerals Management Service (MMS) and National Environment Policy Act (NEPA)" Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R41265.

Bradshaw, E.A. (2014). State-Corporate Environmental Cover-Up: The Response to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil. State Crime Journal, ISSN 2046-6056, 10/2014, Volume 3, Issue 2, pp. 163-181

Chen, J.C. (2010). "Bolstering Unethical Leaders: The Role Of The Media, Financial Analysts And Shareholders" Journal of Public Affairs, 10, 200 -- 215.

Gray, R. (2010). "Is Accounting for Sustainability Actually Accounting for Sustainability... And How Would We Know? An Exploration Of Narratives Of Organizations And The Planet." Accounting, Organizations, and Society. 35, 47-62.

Strategic Framework in BP-Deepwater horizon accident

One of the most eminent names in the oil and gas industry is British Petroleum, considered as the largest provider of oil and gas to its customers for transportation, energy for heating and light and retail services for petrochemical products globally. The financial and operational picture of the company's performance is illustrated in table1 below.

Performance at a glance for 2010

Facts and figures

Sales and other operating revenues

eplacement cost profit

Number of employees

Proved reserves

etail sites

Upstream

efineries (wholly or partly owned)

efining throughput

$297,107 million (year 2010)

($4,519) million (year 2010)

79,700 (at 31 Dec 2010)

18,071 million barrels of oil equivalent

22,100

Active in 29 countries

16

2,426 thousand barrels per day (year 2010)

(BP's Corporate website, 2010)

On 20th April 2010 the company faced a serious challenge when one of its oil rigs started leaking and simply couldn't…

References

BP's Corporate website, 2010. Annual Report 2010. Retrieved through  http://www.bp.com/sectionbodycopy.do?categoryId=9035798&contentId=7066618  on 12th August 2010

Corner, P. Kinicki, A. And Keats, B. (1994) Integrating organizational and individual information processing perspectives on choice, Organizational Science, vol. 3.

Drucker, P. (1954) The Practice of Management, Harper and Row, New York, 1954.

Gellerman, S. (1989) Managing Ethics from the Top to Down, Sloan Management Review;

risks that BP faces is with respect to ethics. The company's pursuit of profits over safety on the Deepwater Horizon is perhaps the most obvious example of this risk. Ethically, safety would have been the more important concern, but BP pushed profit as a primary motive despite what it would do to worker safety. The end result, of course, cost the company over $40 billion as the result of the damage that was caused by the accident that occurred as a result of that ethical lapse (earden, 2010).

Ethics continue to be a risk at BP because the unethical practices that led to Deepwater Horizon. Instead of learning from Deepwater Horizon, BP is still believed to lack transparency with respect to its practices. As a reflection of how ingrained the company's lack of ethics is, the chair of safety, ethics and environment had 43% of shareholders vote against him in…

Works Cited:

Maharaj, A. (2011). Transparency still a slippery issue at BP. Corporate Secretary. Retrieved December 7, 2011 from  http://www.corporatesecretary.com/articles/boardrooms/11923/transparency-still-slippery-issue-bp/ 

O'Brien, M. (2010). HR lessons flow from BP's crisis. Human Resource Executive. Retrieved December 7, 2011 from http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=448983661

Wearden, G. (2010). BP oil spill cost to hit $40 bn. The Guardian. Retrieved December 7, 2011 from  http://www.guardian.co.uk /business/2010/nov/02/bp-oil-spill-costs-40-billion-dollars' target='_blank' REL='NOFOLLOW'>

Environmental Science class.. Title the Oil Industry Environment

APA Guidelines format 4-6 References I 4-6 Pages ritten text photos / data tables

The effects of the Oil Industry on the Environment

In spite of the fact that society has experienced significant moral progress in the recent decades, people continue to associate well-being with financial profits regardless of the effects that their actions have on society and this is reflected by the fact that the oil industry has inflicted great damage on the environment in the last few years. The fact that society has come to depend on oil makes it especially difficult for someone to experience positive results as a result of criticizing individuals involved in the oil business. Communities who have access to free oil wells are privileged and society has virtually learnt to exploit any oil source that it can possibly find. This has devastating consequences on the…

Works cited:

Ali-Akpajiak, Sofo, C.A. Pyke, Toni, "Measuring poverty in Nigeria," (Oxfam, 2003)

Struzik, Ed, "Killing Wolves: A Product ofAlberta's Big Oil and Gas Boom," retrieved March 29, 2012, from the Yale Environment 360 Website:  http://e360.yale.edu/feature/alberta_canada_energy_boom_places_wolves_in_the_crosshairs/2459/ 

Taylor, Dorcetta, E. "Environment and Social Justice: An International Perspective," (Emerald Group Publishing, 2010)

McQuaid, John, "The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill:An Accident Waiting to Happen" retrieved March 29, 2012, from the Yale Environment 360 Website:  http://e360.yale.edu/feature/the_gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill_an_accident_waiting_to_happen/2272/

An environmental loudmouth and the media are specifically there to get advice about publicly amplifying our efforts, because utliately this affects everybody and we want everybody to get on board with the effort. BP needs to know that if they don't listen to us, that it will be them vs. The world. This gets us more bargaining power.

Getting cooperation between these different groups could prove a challenge. While we all believe in the same general objective, I do not doubt that everybody's interests are different, such that it might to tough to get agreement with regards to objectives and methods. However, we will seek to find common ground and start pushing BP to make improvements on the most critical areas first, like increased protection against spills.

Challenges

The first challenge is to get agreement about what we will push for specifically. Different groups have differnet interests and objectives, so…

References

Adams, S. (2010). BP, Nigeria and CSR. Forbes. Retrieved April 23, 2014 from  http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2010/06/17/bp-nigeria-and-csr/ 

Arnott, S. (2010). BP CEO Tony Hayward: In his own words. Business Week. Retrieved April 23, 2014 from  http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2010/gb20100728_556093.htm 

BP 2013 Annual Report. Retrieved April 23, 2014 from  http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/pdf/investors/BP_Annual_Report_and_Form_20F_2013.pdf 

Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2014 from  http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html

Evidence of this can be seen with the company being slow to provide information, on the total amounts of oil that are leaking into the ocean and the various restrictions that they have placed on media coverage. (Lack of Transparency Afflicts Oil Spill Response 2010) This problematic, because when there are restrictions and the company is slow to release information, it appears as if they have something to hide. At which point, the public will become furious with the company, from their perceived unwillingness to cooperate. This could have negative political fallout, as various Congressional Committees and regulators will demand all documents relating to the spill. Once this take place, it sets the stage for an ugly showdown with Congress and the White House. Where, they could seek to force the company to disclose more documents and engage in criminal investigations, as these actions give the appearance that executives are…

Bibliography

'Boards of Directors Need to Oversee Corporate Sustainability more Effectively', 2010, PR Newswire, Available from Proquest. [19 June 2010]  http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=2054701491&SrchMode=2&sid=4&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1276983049&clientId=45065 

'BP Engineer Called Deepwater Horizon Nightmare Well Days Before Blast', 2010, Huffington Post, Available from: [21 June 2010].

'BP Establishes a $20 Billion Claims Fund', 2010, BP, Available from: . [21 June 2010].

'Estimating Cleanup Costs for Oil Spills', 1999, Cutter Information Corporation, Available from: . [19 June 2010].

British Petroleum

hat is BP

British Petroleum (BP) is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies in terms of production capacity and revenue; BP explores for oil and natural gas in approximately 30 countries and possesses proved reserves of 18.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Hoovers, 2004).

BP owns 16 refineries

BP processes 4 million barrels of crude oil per day

BP markets these products in 80 countries

BP owns a network of 22,400 gas stations

BP's Global Projects (BP, N.d.)

BP's Issues

Oil and gas reserves are becoming increasingly hard to come by. Oil companies are now targeting some of the harder to access reserves. This requires a great deal of technological sophistication and drives up extraction prices. It also creates a substantial amount of risk for the organization which has recently manifested in the Gulf of Mexico.

In April 2010 an explosion occurred and a major…

Works Cited

Abrams, L. (2013, December 5). BP's learned nothing: The oil company is pursuing its riskiest strategy yet. Retrieved from Salon:  http://www.salon.com/2013/12/05/bps_learned_nothing_the_oil_company_is_pursuing_its_riskiest_strategy_yet/ 

BP. (N.d.). Global projects organization. Retrieved from BP:  http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/careers/who-we-are/upstream/gpo.html 

BP. (N.d.). We are BP. Retrieved from BP:  http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/company-information/our-values.html 

Downing, L. (2014, March 19). BP Scraps Renewable Energy Goal After Investing $8.3 Billion. Retrieved from Bloomberg News:  http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-03-19/bp-scraps-renewable-energy-target-after-investing-8-dot-3-billion

BP is one of the largest names in the oil and gas industry, it has certainly drawn a lot of attention as a result of the environmental damage it caused as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The company has since employed an even tougher attitude with regard to environmental values in an attempt to emphasize its interest in caring for the natural world. hen considering its current position concerning environmentalism, it appears that the company is going through great efforts in order to get people to stop associating it with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP's 2012 sustainability review provides more information concerning the company's interests with regard to the environment and to its accomplishments during recent years. The corporation first of all wants to have people acknowledge the important role it plays in the world's economic system. hile it invests large amounts of money…

Works cited:

"Sustainability Review 2012," Retrieved July 21, 2013, from the BP Website:  http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/pdf/sustainability/group-reports/BP_Sustainability_Review_2012.pdf

oil drilling and towards this end this study will examine issues related to oil drilling and specifically as oil drilling relates to the environment.

According to 'Live Science' when it comes to oil drilling "there are extremes on both sides." (2014, p. 1) Firstly, the attempt to "pin down the impact of seismic waves on wildlife often must rely on caged animals" when it comes to experiements in the laboratory. (Live Science, 2014, p. 1) I ti sreported that Exxon Mobile has to suspend Madagascar exploration for oil when in exxcess of 100 whales ended up beaching themselves. (Live Science, 2014, paraphrased) There are however, some important advances in the process of drilling oil in terms of bringing about a reduction in the environmental footprint and stated specifically is that the oil companies "are now able to drain several oil fields from one platform. And new horizontal drilling techniques allow…

References

Drilling risks and Rewards (2014) Live Science. Retrieved from:  http://www.livescience.com/4979-oil-drilling-risks-rewards.html 

Why is Offshore Drilling So Controversial? (2014) How Stuff Works. Retrieved from:  http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/offshore-drilling-controversy2.htm

Exxon Mobile Analysis

Industry Background

Exxon Mobile operates in the oil and gas industry which is one of the most valuable industries in the world. Oil fuels much of our modern lives and allows us the mobility granted by the automobile and the infrastructure that allows for easy transportation. Within the industry, ExxonMobil is the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company (ExxonMobil, N.d.). The industry is multifaceted and is composed of many different segments -- everything from the exploration of oil, the refinement process, and the transportation via ship, tanker, or pipeline. The industry as a whole can be thought of as containing three primary components: upstream, midstream, and downstream. The oil and gas is of critical importance to the world's economy because there are many other industries are directly dependent upon these fuels. For example, oil can be used as a raw material to produce many…

References

ExxonMobil. (N.d.). About Us. Retrieved from Exxon Mobil:  http://corporate.ExxonMobil.com/en/company/about-us 

Kolmes, S. (2011). Climate Change. Enviornment, 33-37.

OSHA. (N.d.). OSHA's Efforts to Protect Workers. Retrieved from United States Department of Labor: https://www.osha.gov/oilspills/

Saeverud, I., & Skjareseth, J. (2007). Oil Companies and Climate Change: Inconsistencies between Strategy Formulation and Implementation? Global Environmental Politics, 42-45. Retrieved from Global Environmental Politics.

In the case of the different gas spills, OSHA could have easily shut down the plant until changes were made in safe regulations. However, the fact that the OSHA continued to overlook what was taking place, meant that they would allow an unsafe work environment to exist. (lumenthal, 2007) This is important, because it shows how the lack of follow up and the ability to enforce existing environmental / work safety laws, would help to make the situation worse at the Texas City refinery.

After the accident occurred, the CA would investigate all of the various reports that were received from employees and their families about conditions at the facility. This was in contradiction with the investigation undertaken by P, which found that employee error was the cause of the accident (not a lack of safety procedures). The results of the investigation by the CA; would identify significant lapses in…

Bibliography

Its Deja Vu All Over Again. (2010). Loon Canada. Retrieved from: http://looncanada.com/2010/05/20/its-deja-vu-all-over-again-bp-texas-city-plant-explosion-in-2005-killed-fifteen/

Strategic Plan FY 2004 -- 2008. (2004). U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Board Investigation.

Blumenthal, R. (2007). Safety Group Blames Deadly BP Explosion on all Levels. New York Times. Retrieved from:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/business/worldbusiness/20iht-bp.4972070.html 

Schorn, D. (2006). The Explosion at Texas City. CBS News. Retrieved from:  http://www.cbsnews.com /stories/2006/10/26/60minutes/main2126509_page2.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

BP Oil Spill

Strategy and Corporate Governance

The bp oil spill of 2010

British Petroleum (BP) is one of the largest oil exploring companies in the world. It is recognized for its efficient practices. In recent years it has positioned itself as an environmentally responsible company by stressing its commitment to undertaking exploration activities by causing minimum harm to the natural environment. It has also invested in technologies to make drilling under the seabed more secure so that oil spills do not occur. However, these claims were brought into question on April 20, 2012 when a massive explosion and oil spill took place on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig over the Macondo oil well in the U.S. Gulf. There was huge damage to the marine environment and to the livelihood of people living in the coastal communities in Louisiana and other coastal states. The poor response of the company was…

References

ABC News. (2010, July 27). BP CEO Tony Hayward Gets Golden Parachute. Is $18 Million Too Much? ABC News. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from  http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/bp-ceo-tony-hayward-receive-compensation-world-news/story?id=1257978 

Alleyne, R. (2010, July 30). BP Oil Spill: Was Tony Hayward Right After All? The Telegraph. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7918000/BP-oil-spill-Was-Tony-Hayward-right-after-all.html 

Arnott, S. (2010, July 28). BP CEO Tony Hayward: In His Own Words. Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from  http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2010/gb20100728_556093.htm 

BBC. (2010, June 1). BP's Shares Fall 13% after Plan to Stop Oil Leak Fails. BBC. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10202162

Anyanwu and Obire (2009) note that oil spills like those seen in the Niger Delta leave soil barren for years, devastating not only the resources that were present at the time of the spill, but eliminating any resources that could be reaped from the area in future years (Anyanwu and Obire 211). This notion was mirrored by a 2009 agricultural study conducted in the area of the Niger Delta, which found that the negative impact of the oil spills on agricultural production was found to, reduce crop yield, pollute the rivers for fishing, and reduce land productivity and farm income, along with the standard of living of the Nigerian people (Aviomoh, Okoh and Ojogwu 62).

The future state of the affected area continues to look bleak, especially from the outside world who is largely incapable of understanding Nigerian motivations to continue serving the oil industry in a manner that sacrifices…

References

Akpomuie, Orhioghene. "Tragedy of Commons: Analysis of Oil Spillage in the Niger Delta." Journal of Sustainable Development, 4.2. (2011): 200-211. Web.

Retrieved from: ProQuest Database.

Anyanwu, E.C. And Obire, O. "Impact of Various Concentrations of Crude Oil on Soil."

International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 6.2. (2011) 211-221. Web. Retrieved from: ProQuest Database.

John Perkins (2007), likewise, examines how the modern American Empire has affected our economy and our society in his book the Secret History of the American Empire.

Perkins reveals nothing new when he contends that the United States makes up "less than 5% of the world's population…[yet] consumes more than 25% of the world's resources" (p. 5). What he does do with this information is use it as a platform from which to analyze America's position in the global arena. How is America able to consume so much? According to Perkins, "this is accomplished to a large degree through the exploitation of other countries, primarily in the developing world" (p. 5).

As Howard Zinn points out, European powers, beginning in 1897, were pushing their way into China, a potential nation ripe for exploitation. The only problem was that America was not in on the action. What Zinn shows is how…

Reference List

Borowski, J. (2011). Government to Blame for Rising Gasoline and Food Prices.

FreedomWorks. Retrieved from  http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/jborowski/government-to-blame-for-rising-gasoline-and-food-p 

Dawson, R. (2011). Why 9/11 Still Matters. Anti-Neocons. Retrieved from http://www.rys2sense.com/anti-neocons/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=26320&hilit=iran+contra

Knightley, P. (2001). Taliban Rise to Power. The Guardian. Retrieved from  http://www.rense.com/general14/rise.htm

This will be accomplished through desk research taking the form of a literature review. The literature review will be largely conducted online as well as through the review of primary legal documents reviewing the case in its aftermath.

This would be followed by the primary data-gathering process, which would include a single survey to be distributed to two distinct populations. Randomly selected members of the general public living outside of the region impacted by the disaster and randomly selected non-managerial members of the BP organization would be tapped to complete the survey. The survey would pose 20 statements to respondents, asking them to state their level of agreement with each item using a ikert Scale-based ranking for responses.

Each survey will produce an index score that will tally the individual respondents degree of approval for the company's environmental record. The ANOVA method of statistical analysis would be used to draw…

Literature Review: Sept. 2013-October 2013

Primary/Secondary Data Collection: Oct. 2013-Dec. 2013

Data Analysis and Interpretation: Dec. 2013-Jan. 2014

BP's corporate image in a negative light. The first reason is that it will give the media a negative talking point about the company. The second reason is that it will give an audience to critics of the company's environmental policies. The third reason is that it will raise some of the issues with respect to the North Slope oil business, including the age of the pipelines and the quality of crude. For BP, the company has worked to try to create an image of being environmentally responsible, and events like this contradict those efforts. This would especially be damaging if further investigation by the media were to find that BP was negligent in some way with respect to pipeline maintenance, and was at fault for the spill. There are also potential legal remedies, and the court of public opinion can certainly hold sway over the EPA or other agencies…

Global Law and Politics:

Political and legal institutions and communications have played an integral role in the development and provision of legitimacy in contemporary societies. This has been through the development of obligatory collective decisions, general legal principles, exercise of political power, and resolution of conflicts. In the new global system, these legal and political institutions have created and conveyed social values, political power, and social meaning in every sector of the society. Both of the institutions are considered as legitimate because they have been established on core values that are related to essential freedoms, the rule of law, and democracy.

Aspects of a New Global System:

Modern societies across the globe are faced with critical issues and problems that are dealt with at the global level by the establishment of laws and policies, which are developed in various institutions. Global law and politics has had a significant impact on…

References:

Concannon, T (2004), Chapter 5 - Resource Exploitation in Nigeria, Pambazuka News, viewed

27 December 2011,

Ejimeke, A (2010), The Oil Spills We Don't Hear About, The New York Times, viewed 27

December 2011,

There are several ways that BP could have chosen to respond, all of which were "open" to them (i.e. they had free will), yet those chose to take paths that were less moral. Kant's universal law would have them put their responsibility to humanity as the motivator, however, their motives have not proven to be driven by doing what is genuinely good for humanity.

Blackburn (2009) states that it is tricky to apply the categorical imperative and that the most persuasive examples of it being effective are in cases where there is an institution whose existence depends on sufficient performance by a sufficient number of individuals.

Suppose, as is plausible, that our ability to give and receive promises depends upon general compliance with the principle of keeping promises. Were we to break them sufficiently often, or were promise-breaking to become a 'law of nature,' then there would be no such…

References:

Blackburn, S. (2009). Ethics: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kant, I. (2010). Groundwork of the metaphysic morals. Trans H.J. Paton. Introduction philosophy: Classical and contemporary readings. Eds. John Perry, Michael Bratman,

and John Martin Fischer. (5th edition). New York: Oxford. 504-20.

Lyon, Susan. (2010). Climate Progress. Retrieved on August 24, 2010, from the Web site:

Both people and organizations want leaders. People want leaders to assist them in accomplishing their goals. Organizations want leaders to not only motivate, but to provide organizational direction for employees to follow. According to Kouzes and Posner (1994), five key behaviors for what is wanted of leaders from both people and organizations are: "(a) challenge the process, (b) inspire a shared vision, (c) enable others to act, (d) model the way, and (e) encourage the heart" (Kouzes and Posner, 1994, 960). his is the basic rubric we will use to evaluate the efficacy of Obama and Hayward in their overall approach to the oil spill issue.

ony Haywood Background and Response -- ony Hayward is a British businessman and joined British petroleum as a rig geologist in 1982, quickly rising through the ranks in a number of increasingly complex roles, finally becoming the CEO of the company in May 2007.…

Tony Haywood Background and Response -- Tony Hayward is a British businessman and joined British petroleum as a rig geologist in 1982, quickly rising through the ranks in a number of increasingly complex roles, finally becoming the CEO of the company in May 2007. His tenure ended with BP in October 2010, largely due, most believe, because of the circumstances and his management of the BP oil crisis in the Gulf (Milmo, 2010). Perhaps Hayward was hoping for a quick fix, or did not quite understand the enormity of this crisis, because he initially downplayed the incident by referring to a "very big ocean" and a "relatively tiny" amount of oil leaked with a potential impact as "very modest" (Webb, 2010). Needless to say, over the course of the next several weeks, that "very modest" impact seemed like an inappropriate response. It was not that Hayward lacked empathy for the situation, but it seemed the crisis so integrated his personal life that he found that an appropriate example for the world. On May 27th he changed his view from modest to an "environmental catastrophe," and on May 30th told a reporter, "we're sorry for the massive disruption [the spill] caused to… lives… There's no one who wants this thing over more than I do, I'd like my life back (Durando, 2010). Widely criticized as a selfish comment, it was likely not made in that vein, but certainly phrased in a way that may have seen more victim than leader. Subsequently, on June 2nd, Hayward apologized for the "hurtful and thoughtless comment when I said that I wanted my life back" (BP Chief Apologizes, 2010).

Hayward's appearance before a Congressional Subcommittee in mid-June was also less than stunning. While he acknowledged that BP would address the situation in a responsible manner, he refused to take ownership of the problem, stating, "This is a complex accident, caused by an unprecedented combination of failures. A number of companies are involved, including BP, and it is simply too early to understand the cause" (Mouawad and Krauss, 2010). Subsequently, BP's Board removed Hayward from day-to-day management and public scrutiny of the situation, and within months Hayward was no longer CEO of the company.

Barack Obama Background and Response- History was made in November 2008, not just American history, but world history as the United States elected its first African-American President. but, the election of a Black man as President, as unheard of as it might have been just 50 years ago, or even 25 years ago, was history because it was a national catharsis -- a repudiation of the greed, avarice, and selfishness that had so characterized American society for the past eight years. Obama's election was a referendum on a new America -- a younger America with an optimistic, but not Pollyannaish, view of the grave

The same argument could reasonably be made for the United States' even more egregious subsequent invasion of Iraq in 2003; the pubic, altruistic reason given was that weapons of mass destruction must be eradicated from this potentially dangerous rogue state. The terrorist attacks on the orld Trade Center in 2001 surely gave the U.S. more fodder for its defensive justification for invading. Iraq is, perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, an oil-rich nation and curiously, to date, no weapons of mass destruction have ever been located within its borders.

One could argue that this unilateral action by the United States to protect its resource is no different that the colonial imperialistic power games of decades past. Kuniholm goes so far as to call this the "Great Game," and avers it is no different from that played by imperial powers in the past (546).

The preceding figure and facts make clear which states…

Works Cited

Energy. Who Consumes the Most Oil? Web. 23 July 2010.

Bartra, Valentin. "An Institutional Framework for a More Efficient Use of Natural Resources."

Minerals &; Energy - Raw Materials Report 22.1 (2007): 1-12 Print.

BPa. BP PIPELINES: An energy lifeline. UK: BP Publishing, 2009. Print.

TransCanada is fighting people that are worried more about aesthetics and ideals rather than benefits to the consumer (TransCanada, 2013).

3.2 The significance of organization to issue and vice versa (330 words)

In the end, the issue that faces TransCanada is selling the pipeline to the public effectively enough, as well as to the populations that can green-light the project, so that the project goes forward and thus allowing TransCanada to deliver oil more efficiently and quickly than is currently possible given the current oil transportation infrastructure that exists. This is especially true given the advent of oil sands and fracking in the United States as well as parts of Canada (Koring, 2013). The gist of the issue is that many people support the pipeline but some are concerned and many of the people that are averse to the project are politicians that are trying to push green energy and/or…

References

AlexGPR.com. (2013, March 30). PR Tip #264: Use Scope: Alex G. Alex G. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from  http://www.alexgpr.com/2011/06/scope/ 

BLS.gov. (2013, March 30). Public Relations Managers and Specialists: Occupational Outlook Handbook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from  http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/public-relations-managers-and-specialists.htm 

Burdeau, C. (2012, January 8). BP Ad Campaign Following Gulf Oil Spill Deemed 'Propaganda' By Some. Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/08/bp-ad-campaign-gulf-oil-_n_1192600.html 

ENS. (2013, March 4). Keystone XL Pipeline Gets Upbeat Analysis From State Department | Environment News Service. Environment News Service. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from  http://ens-newswire.com/2013/03/04/keystone-xl-pipeline-gets-upbeat-analysis-from-state-department/

To avoid all these hassles, corporates should take the lead. They should ensure that the environment is not harmed in any way and people are treated with respect and dignity without exploiting the people or the environment in any unfair way. Such initiatives get publicity too and this has a positive impact on the company's business interests. Therefore, technology has been another driving factor that induces companies to take the right steps to preserve and protect the environment and the people who depend on it.

Steps that should be taken by the company

Companies should have a clear strategy of how they are going to address their issues and this should be decided after taking into account its impact on the environment as well as its business interests. ecent years has seen more importance being given to shareholders and so company executives do everything possible to increase the returns for…

References

Melville, Nigel. (March 2010). Information Systems Innovation for Environmental Sustainability. MIS Quarterly. Vol 34(1). p1-21.

Livesey, Sharon; Hartman, Cathy; Stafford, Edwin; Shearer, Molly. (October 2009). Performing Sustainable Development through Eco-Collaboration. Journal of Business Communication. Vol 46(4). p423-454.

Bansal, Pratima. (March 2009). Corporate Social Responsibility: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Administrative Science Quarterly. Vol 54(1). p182-184

Margolis, Joshua. Walsh, James. (June 2003). Misery Loves Companies: Rethinking Social Initiatives by Business. Administrative Science Quarterly. Vol 48(2). p268-305.

Natural disasters have the potential to dramatically alter life in local communities. The loss of human life reverberates through the generations, as does the loss of local businesses and the generalized economic and psychosocial strain. Yet there are also larger impacts from localized events, such as changes to public policy and political philosophies resulting from major natural disasters. One of the most impactful natural disasters in recent American history is undoubtedly Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina showed Americans the many shortcomings of federal disaster relief response programs like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which was restructured after the event (Zimmerman, 2015). In addition to the political ramifications from Katrina, the storm revealed weaknesses in local, state, and federal infrastructure: showing that public spending patterns need to change in order to make American communities more resilient in the future. Another reason why Katrina remains one of the most important and impactful…

team is a small collaborated group of people working actively together and combining their complementary skills to achieve common goals. The researcher of this study has participated in a team project, and the study discusses description of the team, and number of people in the team.

Description of the Team

The researcher of the study has participated in several team projects, and one of important team projects that the researcher has participated is a team formulated to prepare a proposal to find a solution to the cleaning of British Petroleum (BP) oil spill of 2010 in the United States. In 2010, there was an oil spill in the United States and the spill caused damages to some states in the United States. esearcher's organization is a Management Consultancy, and the organization formed a team to prepare a proposal on the cost-effective effective method for the cleaning of BP oil spill.…

References

Sans Institute (2009).Beer - The Key Ingredient to Team Development. White Paper, SANS Institute Reading Room.

Quick T.L. (1992), Successful Team Building. New York, NY: AMACOM Div

American Management Association.

University of Wisconsin-Madison (2007). Facilitator Tool Kit: A Guide for Helping Groups Get Results. University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.

Social Entrepreneurship

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for life. How could you put this principle into practice through the development of a social entrepreneurship venture?

Development of Social Entrepreneurialism

Corporate Social Responsibility

Externalities

Social Inequality

Social Entrepreneurship and Food

Social entrepreneurship was introduced in the 1970s to address the issue of social sustainably and the term "social entrepreneur." This analysis will begin by providing a brief history as well as a working definition for the concept of social entrepreneurialism. It will also discuss some of the related movements that have been working towards some of the same goals, albeit, from different directions to address various challenges in society and the environment. Furthermore, a more detailed overview of the exact challenges that are present in society that social entrepreneurialism can work to address will…

Works Cited

Abu-Saifan, S., 2012. Social Entrepreneurship: Definition and Boundaries. [Online]

Available at:  http://timreview.ca/article/523 

[Accessed 28 April 2016].

Ashoka, N.d.. Vision and Mission. [Online]

Society

Externalities

Indirect Costs Imposed on the Future of Humanity

Environmental Externalities

Corporate Responsibility

The days in which institutions could ethically overlook the negative externalities they inflict on society have long since vanished with the introduction of a scientific consensus on anthropogenic influences and the effects they have on the health of the planet. The principle-agent argument, such as what Milton Freedman and others have proposed, is not able address the exponentially growing complexities that arise when trying to steer humanity towards a path to a sustainable future.

Before embarking on a discussion of the state of corporate leadership in regards to their considerations of externalities, it is prudent to be clear about what the concept of externality actually entails. One definition of externality is as follows:

Externalities are indirect effects of consumption or production activity, that is, effects on agents other than the originator of such activity which do…

Works Cited

Browner, Carol. "Polluters Should Have to Pay." 01 March 2002. The New York Times. 21 February 2011 .

Dyer, G. Climate Wars. Scribe Publications, 2008.

Flaherty, P. "BP Oil Spill Commission Chief Counsel Blames BP ." 21 February 2011. Promoting Ethics in Public Life. 21 February 2011 .

Friedman, M. "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits." 13 September 1970. The New York Times Magazine. 21 February 2011 .

As the road is being laid the fumes from the chemical materials and the concussive force of the construction equipment are devastating to local wildlife (Forman & Alexander, 1998). The result, is displaced organisms which ultimately put increased pressure for food, land, and water on other ecosystems. The extent of these ripple effects are still yet to be fully known.

In instances where above or below ground water supplies must be altered in order to make way for a new road system the effects are if anything more dire. When laying the bed of a road, it is nearly impossible to prevent a percentage of the chemicals used in the road surface itself from leeching into the soil (Forman & Deblinger, 2000). When in the presence of water those toxins are carried the course of the water supply affecting all of the vegetation and wildlife which it comes into contact…

First, ethical responsibility at the level of executive and boards of directors must establish formal ethical policies and guidelines. However, it is equally important that middle management sincerely promote the values and formal policies designed at the highest levels of the organization. Ultimately, failure at either level is likely fatal to the maintenance of ethical operations within any organization.

eferences

Barsa, Michael and Dana, David A. "Learning from Disaster: Lessons for the Future from the Gulf of Mexico." Boston College Environmental Affairs Law eview, Vol. 38,

No. 2 (2011): 219 -- 246.

Caldwell, Cam; Hayes, Linda A.; Bernal, Patricia; and Karri, anjan. "Ethical

Stewardship: Implications for Leadership and Trust." Journal of Business Ethics,

Vol. 78, Nos. 1 & 2, (2008): 153-164.

Halbert, Terry and Ingulli, Elaine. (2008). Law & Ethics in the Business Environment.

Cincinnati: West Legal Studies.

Mele, Domenec. "Integrating Ethics into Management." Journal of Business Ethics, Vol.

78,…

References

Barsa, Michael and Dana, David A. "Learning from Disaster: Lessons for the Future from the Gulf of Mexico." Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, Vol. 38,

No. 2 (2011): 219 -- 246.

Caldwell, Cam; Hayes, Linda A.; Bernal, Patricia; and Karri, Ranjan. "Ethical

Stewardship: Implications for Leadership and Trust." Journal of Business Ethics,

ethical issues for business organizations in the twenty-first century. The forces of globalization have increased the degree to which diverse groups in society have grown dependent on one another. Hence, their expectations influence the freedoms and responsibilities of other groups. The expectations of various stakeholders have placed greater responsibilities on business organizations to be ethical in their communication with their stakeholders. Business organizations are under growing pressure to be ethical in their employment practices and in the sourcing of raw materials and labour for their operations. In addition, they are expected to recognize their responsibility towards the economic and social development of the communities where they operate and those that they influence through their operations. Hence, business organizations are also responsible to act ethically in relation to their use of the resources of the environment and to the extent that they influence it in adverse ways, such as by polluting…

References

Alder, C.S., & Gilbert, J. (2006). Achievign ethics and fairness in hiring: Going beyond the law. Journal of business ethics, Vol. 68, pp. 449-464. doi: 10.1007/s10551-006-9039-z.

Dresp-Langley, B. (2008). The communication contract and its ten ground clauses. Journal of business ethics, Vol. 87, pp. 415-436. doi: 10.1007/s10551-008-9929-3.

Duska, R.F. (2006). Contemporary reflections on business ethics. Springer Publications.

Low, W., & Davenport, E. (2009). Organizational leadership, ethicsand the challenges of marketing fair and fair trade. Journal of business ethics, Vol. 86, pp. 97-108. doi: 10.1007/s10551-008-9763-7.

Emergency Preparedness

The ole of Private Companies

Participants

Emergency Preparedness

Emergency preparedness refers to the process of preparing resources, both human, financial and equipments for action during times of emergency. It involves planning for disasters and equipping individuals with the capacity to use the available resources in reacting towards the occurrence of disasters. Nations need to put structures in place to prepare for disasters in the form of terrorist attacks and natural disasters among other dangers[footnoteef:2]. Entities prepare for such dangers institutions emergency structures for communication, implementing warning devices, establishment of potential shelter, rehearsing for evacuation, and establishing backup sustenance services among other things. Disaster preparedness, whether at the regional or local level, is the responsibility of a wide range of players and not just governments, as the society would ordinarily view it. All individual and parties, in whatever, society is vulnerable to potential disaster and so all entities are…

References

Alpert, Michael, E. Preparing for Catastrophic Events, Pennsylvania: Diane Publishers, 2009

Bascetta, Cynthia A. Emergency Preparedness: State Efforts to Plan for Medical Surge

Could Benefit from Shared Buidance for Allocating Scarce Medical Resources, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Accountability Office, 2010

Bradley, Arthur T. Disaster Preparedness Handbook: A Guide for Families. New York: Skyhorse Pub, 2011.

Analysis of the data:

The information contained in this article is highly useful and informative for someone who truly wants to understand why America is repeatedly under attack by its own organizations. There may be variety of other factors too but Brill correctly identifies the presence of complex systems and lack of understanding about low probability issues as the critical factors affecting American accident-prone organizations today. e fail to understand that some of the very high consequence accidents that have low probability of ever occurring are the actual cause of future problems and hence must not be ignored at any cost. Here we can apply Murphy's law and say that if something can go wrong, it will- given the current organizational system working in America.

Limited and justifiable conclusion:

e can thus conclude that despite America's best efforts to avoid accidents, there is a good chance that not only it…

We can thus conclude that despite America's best efforts to avoid accidents, there is a good chance that not only it will have accidents and disasters both natural and economic but also they will be bigger and wider in magnitude and impact. This will happen not because of we lack serious interest in controlling accidents, but primarily because of that very fact. This doesn't mean we must not control accidents but rather we must try not to focus on the too obvious ones only. We must also take into consideration the ones that are unlikely to happen but if they occurred, they could have a huge impact on our economy and society.

Article: Critiqued:

This article can be found at  http://www.forbes.com/2010/09/21/bp-toyota-gas-technology-cio-network-disasters.html

Business Ethics

Every company regardless of the nature of their work is required to contribute to the community that sustains their growth. Casinos are therefore not an exception to this rule. We understand that they consumer massive energy and other resources to keep their customers satisfied on daily basis but that does not excuse them from contributing to the benefit of the environment and of the community that support them.

An environmentally conscious company is the one that is aware of the impact of its activities on the environment and works hard to reduce the impact. Oil companies for example come under attack regularly for damaging the environment. BP oil spill is one such example. But that doesn't mean that only companies like Oil or Drug organizations are responsible for protecting the environment, other firms are equally responsible for playing their role effectively.

Gambling is a socially acceptable activity in…

Planning Efforts to educe Future Disaster Impacts

This paper looks at options for programs to be put in place before to a disaster to avoid major and often poorly-managed expenditures after a catastrophe and to offer suitable protection against the risk of those large losses which do occur. It is important for the government to provide programs that enlightens the citizens on how to deal with the hazards that come with hurricanes. Natural hazards have taken place in America and they have not been well attended to. The response in the Haiti earthquake showed some weakness in response. Hurricane Katrina should have given Americans a lesson on how to prevent major destructions in case of a similar scenario.

Introduction

Katrina was a hurricane that hit the Atlantic in 2005 and was known to be the most dangerous hurricane in history of America. Over 1,836 people died as a result of…

References

Mancuso, Louis C.; Alijani, Ghasem S.; Kwun, Obyung. (2011). The effects of the BP oil spill and hurricane Katrina in South Louisiana. Entrepreneurial Executive,

Mckenzie, Russell; Levendis, John; (2010). Flood Hazards and Urban Housing Markets: The effects of Katrina on New Orleans. Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, pp. 62-76.

LaJoie, Andrew Scott; Sprang, Ginny; McKinney, William Paul.(2010). Long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on psychological well being of evacuees. Disasters, p1031-1044, 14p,

Shaughnessy, Timothy M.; White, Mary L.; Brendler, Michael D.; (2010). The Income Distribution effect of Natural Disasters: An Analysis of Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, pp. 84-95

Northcom

The United States Northern Command, or NOTHCOM, was created to enhance homeland security. It is part of the U.S. military, and considered a Unified Combatant Command, which is a part of the Department of Defense (Bolkcom, 2005; Cronen, 2009;). The task of NOTHCOM is to provide support for civil authorities through the use of the military. This is done throughout the United States, but also in other countries where the U.S. has a national interest. These countries include Mexico and Canada. The air, sea, and land approaches to these countries, as well as the air, sea, and land approaches to the lower 48 and other U.S. territories (such as Alaska) also fall under the protection of NOTHCOM (Cecchine, 2004; Wormuth & Witkowsky, 2008).

The creation of NOTHCOM officially came about in late April of 2002. Then-President George W. Bush created it as part of a Unified Command Plan that…

References

Bolkcom, C., et al. (2005). Homeland Security: Establishment and Implementation of Northern Command. In Thaler, William M. & Bea, Keith. Emerging issues in homeland security. New York: Nova Publishers.

Cecchine, G., ed. (2004). Triage for civil support: using military medical assets to respond to terrorist attacks. RAND Corporation.

Cronen, R.B., Col. (2009). U.S. Northern Command & Defense Support of Civil Authorities. Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) Newsletter, 9(10).

Cutler, T. (2011). Navcivguide. Naval Institute Press.

Legal Book Review: The Buffalo Creek Disaster

The Buffalo Creek Disaster was one of the costliest preventable tragedies in the history of American coal-mining. An impoundment dam burst in a coal mining est Virginia town, precipitating a deadly flood that killed or injured more than a thousand people, and left many more residents homeless. The dam had been declared sound shortly before it burst by a federal inspector. The owner of the dam, the Pittston Coal Company initially only offered a very small settlement to the victims. "Over 125 people perished immediately. Most were women and children unable to struggle out from under the thick black water choked with crushed and splintered homes, cars, telephone poles, railroad tracks, and all manner of other debris. There were over 4,000 survivors, but their 1,000 homes were destroyed as well as most of their possessions" (Stern ix-x). Survivors of the incident experienced post-traumatic…

Work Cited

Stern, Gerald. The Buffalo Creek Disaster. Vintage, 1977.

Failure and Rescue

Gawande's post begins with the story of 87-year-old Mrs. C. The author tells this remarkable story to demonstrate how to handle risk to minimize failure and maximize success. Mrs. C's life was saved because a young surgeon's suggestion of further tests and scans were not ignored. Despite the fact that the chief surgeon did not really believe anything was wrong, he nevertheless recognized that he could be wrong. This recognition is what saved Mrs. C's life.

Another example the author uses to demonstrate his point is the BP oil spill of 2010. In contrast to Mrs. C's surgery, there was a general failure to recognize the seriousness of the situation even after it was discovered that something was amiss. This is the main reason for the extent of the disaster, which connects to the main point of the article. This main point is that, in order to…

Wicked Problem: oyal Dutch Shell and Its esponse to the Nigerian Oil Spill

Major oil companies such as oyal Dutch Shell are responsible for hundreds of oil spills every year that cumulatively involve millions of barrels of oil. The harmful effects of such oil spills on the environment is well documented of course, but less well documented are the different types and levels of responses that are used in response to oil spills in developing nations and those used in affluent nations. While oil spills such as British Petroleum's recent rupture of its Macondo well offshore United States are the focus of a massive and expensive coordinated response, far less attention is paid to oil spills that affect emerging nations such as Nigeria. This is not to say, of course, that all major oil companies -- including oyal Dutch Shell -- are completely abrogating their corporate responsibilities for oil spill…

References

Cocks, T. (2011, December 27). 'Shell says Nigeria oil spill contained.' Thomson Reuters.

[online] available:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/27/us-shell-nigeria-spill -

idUSTRE7BQ0M220111227.

Duncan, H. & Duke, S. (2010, October 13). 'Royal Dutch Shell Wades in with Attack on BP

Stafford Act can rightly be considered the principle legislation governing emergency and disaster management in the U.S., spelling "out - among other things - how disasters are declared, the types of assistance to be provided, and the cost-sharing arrangements between federal, state, and local governments" (Moss & Shelhamer, 2007, p. 3). FEMA is, essentially, charged with implementing the Act and overseeing its two incident levels - major disasters and emergencies. However, despite the fact that it is put into place several times every year, during declarations of catastrophes and emergencies, the Stafford Act is not without its critics who have outspokenly called for an overhaul to some of is fundamental provisions. The author posits that in its present state, the Stafford Act lacks standardized mitigation procedures, and ought, therefore, to be "reformed to aggressively encourage the reconstruction of improved infrastructure, in addition to providing funding for mitigation projects" (Moss &…

References

Bea, K. (2003). Federal Disaster Policies after Terrorists Strike: Issues and Options. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Publishers.

Hunter, N.D. (2009). The Law of Emergencies: Public Health and Disaster Management. Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann

Moss, M.L. & Shelhamer, C. (2007). The Stafford Act: Priorities for Reform. New York University Library. Retrieved 4th July 2014 from http://www.nyu.edu/ccpr/pubs/Report_StaffordActReform_MitchellMoss_10.03.07.pdf

Business Ethics

Social Performance Of Organizations

BP PLC (famous as British Petroleum PLC) is a multinational company from Britain. The company's headquarters is located in London, England, United Kingdom. The company mainly deals in the production and distribution of oil and gas. BP PLC stands as the sixth largest company in the global oil and gas market-by-market capitalization and fifth in terms of revenue. BP PLC is vertically integrated, which in microeconomics refers to a common style of growth and management control in a variety of related industries. This is when a company expands its operation into levels that are located different points along the same production path.

From this arrangement, BP PLC owns separate companies that are engaged in the production, processing, and distribution of oil and gas and able effectively to reduce operational costs to achieve efficiency (Hotte, Sumaila, & University of British Columbia, 2013). As a global…

References

Grant, R, et al. (2011). Contemporary Strategic Management: An Australian Perspective. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing.

Hotte, N., Sumaila, U.R., & University of British Columbia. (2013). Potential economic impact of a tanker spill on ocean-based industries in British Columbia. Vancouver, B.C: Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia.

Simpson, J., & Taylor, J. (2013). Corporate governance, ethics, and CSR. London: Kogan Page.