Question

Before you begin, choose one of the following companies to research and write your consulting report on. All of these companies have done well in some areas, but have criticism in other areas of their operations: ? BP (formerly British Petroleum) ? Cook Inlet Region, Inc. ? Dow Chemical ? Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ? Waste Management, Inc. Prompt: Submit a 3–4 paragraph paper, not including the cover page, introducing your chosen company. This information will be used as part of your final consulting report. The introduction should include the purpose and scope of your chosen company, including an overview of your company. The overview should include the following: ? History of the company through the lenses of people, planet, and profits ? Commendable accomplishments and possible issues ? Short- and long-term impacts due to lack of responsible behavior I. Introduction: Summarize the history of this company through the lenses of people, planet, and profits. For example, what are some of the commendable accomplishments and some possible issues? Consider the short- and long-term impacts of the problems that have occurred due to a lack of responsible

Answer 1

Overview

British Petroleum is a fascinating company to explore because its daily business operations are directly associated with environmental sustainability and local ecosystems. BP is among the world's leading worldwide gas and oil companies, supplying its clients with fuel for transportation, energy for warmth and lightweight, retail services and petrochemicals items for everyday items

History & Scope:

British Petroleum (BP) is a gas and multinational oil company based in Britain.

British Petroleum (BP) established its first oil find in May 1908 headed by explorer George Reynolds and under the concession granted to William Knox D’Arcy by the Shah of Iran.

The original name of British Petroleum was the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC).

British government became increasingly involved in the company and its relations with the Middle East, and in 1916, the APOC acquired the British Petroleum Company, which, at the time, was a marketing division of the German Europäische Petroleum Union in Britain. The British government became a major stakeholder in the company.

In 1935, the company was renamed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) as the new leadership in Tehran decided to change the nation’s name from ancient “Persia.”  

British Intelligence effort to regain British oil from it being nationalized in 1951.  Most likely in an effort to move away from their image as a quasi-colonial enterprise, AIOC changed its name to British Petroleum Company, as it is known today.

BP continued to widen its networks in places like the North Sea, near the U.K., and Papua, eastern Indonesia.

In the 1980s and 90s, the British government sold its own stake and started gaining presence in the American market.  BP has had projects in the Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska, in Canada, and today has operations in around 80 countries Africa, and Asia.  Today, BP has operations in 80 countries worldwide with its headquarters in London, U.K and its exploration headquarters in Houston, United States.  At the end of 2012, BP had 85,900 employees.

In November 2012, BP and the United States Department of Justice settled federal criminal charges with BP pleading guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and a felony count of lying to Congress. BP also agreed to four years of government monitoring of its safety practices and ethics, and the Environmental Protection Agency announced that BP would be temporarily banned from new contracts with the US government. BP and the Department of Justice agreed to a record-setting $4.525 billion in fines and other payments.

As of February 2013, criminal and civil settlements and payments to a trust fund had cost the company $42.2 billion.

In September 2014, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that BP was primarily responsible for the oil spill because of its gross negligence and reckless conduct.In July 2015, BP agreed to pay $18.7 billion in fines, the largest corporate settlement in U.S. history.

Accomplishments:

• A series of mergers and acquisitions made British Petroleum the third largest oil company in the world.
• CEO Lord John Browne seized the opportunity to look past the balance sheet. In 1997, he publicly committed to reduce BP’s greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2010. This led to investments in solar power and alternative energy and partnering with automakers to improve engine efficiency. To broadcast the new face of BP to the world, Browne came to Landor for a new brand
• The Helios identity created by Landor captured BP’s aspirations. A stylized sunflower symbolizes the sun’s energy, while the color green reflects the brand’s environmental sensitivity. With this simple shift in identity, BP staked its claim as a leading provider of energy solutions.
• BP’s new vision and strategy: Together with the brand values innovation, performance, progressiveness, and respect for the environment, the concept created a platform for internal initiatives and external campaigns—all aimed at delivering the promise of Beyond petroleum.

The internal launch raised excitement about the new brand and its possibilities. Landor trained more than 1,400 brand champions in 19 countries around the promise of Beyond petroleum. These champions then spread the word among remaining staff with the aid of websites, brand films, newsletters, and more.

• Teams were given toolkits with activities to help them remain true to Beyond petroleum. Annual Helios Awards honored employees whose on-brand actions had an impact on the company or the wider community—reinforcing BP’s commitment to Beyond petroleum as a way of doing business.
• BP began to invest in alternative energy partnerships and develop cleaner solutions. For six years, Landor was there every step of the way to help make Beyond petroleum a reality.

Issues faced by BP:

• The Deepwater Horizon oil spill also referred to as the BP oil spill, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the Macondo blowout is an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8% to 31% larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill. The U.S. government estimated the total discharge at 4.9 million barrels (210 million US gal; 780,000 m³). After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated that the well site was still leaking.
• Numerous investigations explored the causes of the explosion and record-setting spill. The U.S. government September 2011 report pointed to defective cement on the well, faulting mostly BP, but also rig operator Transocean and contractor Halliburton.
• Earlier in 2011, a White House commission likewise blamed BP and its partners for a series of cost-cutting decisions and an inadequate safety system, but also concluded that the spill resulted from "systemic" root causes and "absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur".
• In November 2012, BP and the United States Department of Justice settled federal criminal charges with BP pleading guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and a felony count of lying to Congress. BP also agreed to four years of government monitoring of its safety practices and ethics, and the Environmental Protection Agency announced that BP would be temporarily banned from new contracts with the US government. BP and the Department of Justice agreed to a record-setting $4.525 billion in fines and other payments. As of February 2013, criminal and civil settlements and payments to a trust fund had cost the company $42.2 billion.
• In September 2014, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that BP was primarily responsible for the oil spill because of its gross negligence and reckless conduct. In July 2015, BP agreed to pay $18.7 billion in fines, the largest corporate settlement in U.S. history.

Summary and Conclusions

BP's culture and means of profitability culminated in a number of problems at that time 2005 to 2010, most lately this years British petroleum oil spill. BP's problems have triggered huge financial deficits for that corporation together with a total pre-tax control of $40.9 billion this year with regards to the accident and spill (Svanberg, 2011, para. 10). Stakeholder outrage in the British petroleum management has tried to resolve the problem by marketing greater safety awareness. However, a radical corporate cultural change is considered necessary and also the corporation's actions up to now don't appear to possess accepted that require. Unless of course the culture is transformed the long run outlook for British petroleum is dismal.