BP Oil Spill Incident Term Paper

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Analysis of the Global View of BPBritish Petroleum (BP) is one of the leading oil and gas companies across the globe with operations in approximately 72 countries. The company has global recognition in the oil and gas industry given its broad range of energy systems in the world. However, the firm’s operations have been affected by various events in its history including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The incident remains one of the worst environmental disasters in the United States and the biggest oil spill in the nation’s waters. The oil spill is one of the major issues that the company has faced in its recent history. This environmental problem was influenced by various factors including internal issues within the company.Description of the Organizational ProblemThe Deepwater Horizon oil spill remains one of the major organizational problems and environmental issues experienced by BP in its recent history. Ebinger (2016) notes that the incident, which occurred in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, had devastating effects on the local environment and BP operations. The issue also affected public perception regarding the drilling of offshore oil and gas because of its environmental effects. The oil spill was characterized by the release of toxic fluids and gas that resulted in an explosion on board. In addition, the oil flowed 1,300 miles from Texas to Florida because of deepwater ocean currents.For BP, this environmental problem was an indicator of some problems relating to organizational behavior. It exposed leadership or management problems that affected how the organization managed and responded to the ensuing crisis. The company’s leadership essentially failed to respond to this environmental disaster with adequate speed and attention. This was an indicator of issues relating to BP’s crisis preparedness and ethical practices. Moreover, it highlighted problems in ethical guidelines and crisis management in BP’s organizational culture.The Deepwater Horizon oil spill not only highlighted the risks of offshore drilling but also demonstrated organizational behavior problems at BP. Goldenberg (2010) contends that the organizational behavior issues at BP that contributed to the oil spill are bad management and communication breakdown. Based on a report by the White House Oil Spill Commission, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was due to a series of bad decisions and communication failures by BP’s management (Goldenberg, 2010). Macondo was doomed because the company’s management made a series of bad decisions, which reflected a failure of management. As the result, the Commission concluded that the incident could have been avoided by good management.DiagnosisBP oil spill problem was brought about by issues in organizational behavior, particularly bad management and communication problems. Organizational behavior incorporates various aspects or elements including people, structure, and the social system, which affect human resource practices and workplace productivity.

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Heinitz et al. (2018) suggest that organizational behavior influences the application of human resource strengths and psychological capacities in the workplace. Positive organizational behavior is characterized by the effective application of these components to enhance workforce productivity. Some of the outcomes of positive organizational behavior include reduced absenteeism and job satisfaction and commitment.Due to bad management and communication breakdown, BP essentially had negative organizational behavior. Negative organizational behavior is characterized by negative workforce psychology, which in turn generates negative outcomes and affects workforce productivity (Heinitz et al., 2018). The negative organizational…

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…valve failure, and failure to spot the leak immediately.As previously indicated, these failures were indicators of a poor safety culture at the company. Since faults in the different safety systems contributed to the spill, the organization’s management failed to ensure proper organizational processes existed to prevent such incidents. The various relevant stakeholders within the organization failed to play their role in ensuring the effectiveness of the safety systems. The poor safety culture at BP resulted in a series of human and mechanical mistakes that allowed oil to blow out onto the drilling platform under tremendous pressure.Global ResponseResponse to the oil spill included reactions from different officials and interested parties within and outside the U.S. In the U.S., response to the incident ranged from outrage and blame to calls for greater accountability. The initial global response to the incident included offers of assistance in clean-up efforts. The U.S. government received international offers of help from 17 countries and international organizations (Office of the Spokesman, 2010). The offers were in the form of general help, equipment, and expertise to help in clean-up efforts. In addition, the U.S. government received special offers in different aspects relating to research and technical expertise and resources.Later global response to the oil spill incident involved the development of contingency plans to prevent future accidents. Some of these contingency plans included measures to protect different areas like the Louisiana marshlands. Efforts to prevent future oil spill incidents included collaboration between different international bodies and governments to enhance the safety of offshore oil and gas drilling. Through collaboration, international bodies and governments would enhance communication and response to any future….....

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