Business Tools Blog

Typically when I see a Dilbert cartoon, I laugh.  This one didn’t make me laugh.  Does it remind you of anything going on in the news right now?

We’ve allowed companies to drill without making it mandatory that there be a workable plan or staff training in place in case of a catastrophe.  Could no one have predicted that something like this might happen?  The financial and environmental impact of the disaster will not be known for years, but one thing is clear, BP failed to assess and act on readily available information about the impact of a potential disaster.  Would the $500,000 for an acoustic trigger remote shut off valve have been justified if they’d accurately assessed the cost?

The BP response plan is an impressive 583 pages, and has a 117-page “quick guide” (sc).  I have to assume that BP’s senior team saw the size of the plan and gave a perfunctory thumbs up … because the well thought out diagrams and decision trees end in case-by-case approval. Do we really need a flow chart for that? Would this qualify as a workable plan?

I think it boils down to business ethics.

BP held a conference on Feb 11, 2003 called “Raising the bar: business ethics in practice” where Stewart Broome, Director of Business Ethics, BP p.l.c summed up his speech by saying:

… the acceptable behavioural standards for businesses will continue to be raised. The response needs to be practical with a progressive set of tool and techniques. In the end, if we can demonstrate consistent clarity, accountability, honesty and respect for people wherever we operate, business will prosper, opportunities for growth will increase, and all involved will experience the satisfaction of having contributed to human progress.

Do those words warm your heart? Words like “acceptable”, “practical”, “consistent” are being used in place of words like, “we will always exhibit ethical behavior. We know that deep water drilling may endanger the environment and we take this responsibility very seriously. It is our top priority to have plans in place to quickly and efficiently solve for any event that might endanger the environment in which we drill.”