BP = Big Problem
http://www.refresher.com/mindfulnetwork/articlelive/articles/571/1/BP--Big-Problem/Page1.html
Rick Sidorowicz
Rick Sidorowicz is the Publisher and Editor of The CEO Refresher, moderator of The Mindful Network, Minister of Culture of High Performance Retail, and Editor of 1001 Ways to Wow Your Customers. He also works with T4G Limited as a Business Strategist and Consultant developing innovative solutions for retailers and financial services organizations. His profile and contact information are @ www.ricksidorowicz.com . By Rick Sidorowicz
Published on 06/7/2010
The disaster in the Gulf is terrible, horrible, and what grief and damage will be caused as the hurricane season gets underway. So many questions ...
BP = Big Problem
The disaster in the Gulf is terrible, horrible, and what grief and damage will be caused as the hurricane season gets underway. So many questions ...
How can an oil / energy company that makes over $1 billion a quarter even think about deep water drilling without a proven failsafe plan to deal quickly with any problem? How many intelligent scientists reviewed the proposals and plans? How many accountants, analysts, managers and executives reviewed the business case? Did they know/care/think about the risk and the integrity of a contingency plan? Can we have their names published?
How can BP invest hundreds of millions of dollars on the Gulf project without having a proven disaster plan? How can BP executives approve the investment without ensuring a failsafe backup plan to protect the environment and the company's investment, reputation, brand, and possibly its survival! Can we have the names of those who put the project forward, those who analyzed, advised and reviewed, and those who approved the project?
BP has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to "rebrand" itself from "British Petroleum" to "Beyond Petroleum" and this one catastrophe may well rebrand it as being the creator of the worst environmental disaster in recent history ... forever! Imagine the impact on market capitalization - this will be a multi $billion fiasco - destroying shareholder value - permanently! More importantly it will be a multi $billion environment and economic recovery effort that they must be held accountable for.
How many people at BP had the opportunity to ask rigorous questions? How many did? Who was involved in the due diligence and risk management aspects of the projects? Who, weighing all the variables, made the decision to proceed?
Beyond BP. How many people in the various levels and agencies of government had the opportunity to perform a due diligence? What assumptions did they make? What evidence of a disaster recovery plan did they obtain? How deep did they go? Can we please have the names of those who had the opportunity to review, analyze and approve the plans?
Enron, Worldcom, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, Greece ... and so on, and so on. Seeing any patterns here?
We can speak about companies as "entities" and "brands" but people - intelligent, experienced and hopefully well-intentioned individuals - conducted the studies, analyzed, reviewed and ultimately approved the decisions. What's missing? Perhaps it's a matter of personal integrity and courage - the lack of it, it seems.
Let's hope and pray we find a way to minimize the damage.
How can an oil / energy company that makes over $1 billion a quarter even think about deep water drilling without a proven failsafe plan to deal quickly with any problem? How many intelligent scientists reviewed the proposals and plans? How many accountants, analysts, managers and executives reviewed the business case? Did they know/care/think about the risk and the integrity of a contingency plan? Can we have their names published?
How can BP invest hundreds of millions of dollars on the Gulf project without having a proven disaster plan? How can BP executives approve the investment without ensuring a failsafe backup plan to protect the environment and the company's investment, reputation, brand, and possibly its survival! Can we have the names of those who put the project forward, those who analyzed, advised and reviewed, and those who approved the project?
BP has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to "rebrand" itself from "British Petroleum" to "Beyond Petroleum" and this one catastrophe may well rebrand it as being the creator of the worst environmental disaster in recent history ... forever! Imagine the impact on market capitalization - this will be a multi $billion fiasco - destroying shareholder value - permanently! More importantly it will be a multi $billion environment and economic recovery effort that they must be held accountable for.
How many people at BP had the opportunity to ask rigorous questions? How many did? Who was involved in the due diligence and risk management aspects of the projects? Who, weighing all the variables, made the decision to proceed?
Beyond BP. How many people in the various levels and agencies of government had the opportunity to perform a due diligence? What assumptions did they make? What evidence of a disaster recovery plan did they obtain? How deep did they go? Can we please have the names of those who had the opportunity to review, analyze and approve the plans?
Enron, Worldcom, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, Greece ... and so on, and so on. Seeing any patterns here?
We can speak about companies as "entities" and "brands" but people - intelligent, experienced and hopefully well-intentioned individuals - conducted the studies, analyzed, reviewed and ultimately approved the decisions. What's missing? Perhaps it's a matter of personal integrity and courage - the lack of it, it seems.
Let's hope and pray we find a way to minimize the damage.