BP Plc. is a transnational corporation which operates in the oil and gas industry and headquartered in London, England. It is the 6 th largest energy company globally measured by revenues. As of 2017, BP operation in 70 countries, generated about 3.6 million barrels per day. The BP oil spill was one of the worst oil spills in America history. In the aftermath of the 2010 disaster explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon, more than ten people were killed (Resnik, 2016). The spill also led to the death of aquatic life as well as causing widespread pollution to the entire Gulf environment. Reports show that the underground pipe was leaking and gas on the sea floor over 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana. By the time the leakage was stopped, a projected 3.2 million barrels of oil had been spilled into the Gulf (Rushe, 213). The primary concern resulted from the widespread effect the oil spill had on the ecosystem thus raising fears on the ethical responsibility of BP as an organization. This action was unethical since British Petroleum failed to put into consideration the interest of the overall surroundings and public but only concentrated on the company’s bottom line and cost-cutting measures that resulted in the disasters within the environment in which were running their operations.
The oil spill by the BP was morally wrong. Consistent with corporate responsibility, oil spills are unethical acts. This goes to demonstrate the highest level of negligence and agreed that the corporation (Hart, 2011). British Petroleum had the responsibility of guaranteeing to protect the habitat and people that rely on it. In this context, this study looks at the ethical issues based on deontology
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Deontology theory is not in support of BP’s actions, as the firm had the duty to observe the overall moral responsibility by making sure that the environment it was running it operations was free from any form of contamination. Furthermore, even if the action embodied morally right meanings, what the implication will does not matter in the end (Hart, 2011). Besides, the consequences lack any moral bearing provided the ethical nature of the actions undertaken is morally wrong in the environment (Beever & Hess, 2016). British Petroleum has a code of ethics that guides its activities. As such, it was an obligation the leadership to guarantee that all operations being carried out do not overlook the interest of the community (Resnik et al., 2015). Also, stakeholder theory includes environmental stewardship under its rubric, since the habit can be impacted by corporate activity (Bottenberg & Flickinger, 2016). The initial investigation into the cause of the Gulf Spill revealed vital technological malfunction designed to curb a blowout. In spite of British Petroleum being unaware of the equipment failure, the company had the obligation of weighing potential technical glitches and environmental damage against costs, profit and time (Goldenberg, 2010). However, the management chose to ignore the issue.
The firm also violated set government standards, and this led BP to abandon ethical responsibility in its activities (Rushe, 2013). As such, this brings to attention whether their workers complied to the standard environmental principles that must be observed whenever an organization considers as their responsibilities within the business (Beever &Hess, 2016). This also shows that British Petroleum was operating under a culture of complacency (Goldenberg, 2010). The failure to notice monitors indicating a big leak and going ahead regardless of faulty equipment is unethical. It was the duty of the management to ensure its observed ethical requirements when running their operations.
Because the corporate failed to meet standards and promise risk management in their oil drilling operation makes the company unethical and negligent (Rushe, 2013). Moreover, the firm lack of interest in the issue of environmental management was dependent on the fact that BP experienced a hard time tackling the core issues that the managers ended up violating ethical concerns by making ensuring the organization compiled with multiple requirements while operating in a sensitive environment (Goldenberg, 2011). Also, failing to follow the company’s code of ethics demonstrates that BP was less concerned about the detrimental impact of their operations, and this is in sharp contrast to deontology theory that expects business to act rationally.
Because oil leaked into sea persisted for some time demonstrates illustrates BP’s unwillingness to take into consideration about the negative impact their negligence would have on the general environment (Rushe, 2013) This also raises the question concerning the ethical obligation of the organization. In that way, the management must guarantee that their business does not pose any threat to the ecology by any means (Goldenberg,2011). Additionally, BP has the responsibility of ensuring that plays an integral part in the preservation of the environment.
The company needs to establish an ethical culture in their business. A sound moral leadership should be at the center of the company’s stakeholder review. BP also needs to align itself with normative principles by incorporating them into the organizational decision (Brownlee. 2009). In this regard, it allows the management to offer an unbalance or biased weighting of problems to uphold ethical integrity (Brownlee, 2009). That is, it gives senior executive authority to give primacy to stakeholders’ interests instead of shareholders as a way of making the ethical decision for long-term gain. The company must heed this advice. In turn, this will assist managers in solving ethical issues, including the environment.
On inspection, it appears that Miller’s Utilitarianism theory best resolves the ethical dilemma raised by the BP oil spill. Riley (2010) points out that utilitarianism is a moral theory that works as a form of consequentialism helps people to evaluate whether an action is good or bad. One aspect of utilitarianism that BP needs to understand is how the principle of utility can be applied to their operation is individualism. The concept of utilitarianism states that individuals, as it is human nature, pursue happiness. In this regard, individuals seek happiness only take actions that maximize utility (Riley). In this way, BP will engage in activities that bring the company happiness (Riley, 2010). Happiness for a business can consist of customer satisfaction, superior reputation, and increased employee gratification, among other considerations. By improving their customer satisfaction and happiness at an individual standard, the company will be putting themselves on the right course to greater success.
References
Beever, J, & Hess, J.L. (2016). Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: An Ethics Case Study in Environmental Engineering. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/DR/Downloads/DWH_Manuscript_ASEE_FINAL.pdf
Bottenberg, K., Tuschke, A., & Flickinger, M. (2016). Corporate Governance Between Shareholder and Stakeholder Orientation. Journal of Management Inquiry , 26(2), 165– 180
Brownlee, K. (2009). Normative Principles and Practical Ethics: A Response to O’Neill. Journal of Applied Philosophy , 26(3), 231–237.
Goldenberg, S. (2010, November 9). US oil spill inquiry chief slams BP's 'culture of complacency. The Guardian . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/nov/09/oil-spill-inquiry-culture- complacency-bp
Hart, M. (2011). The Ethical Lessons of Deepwater. Retrieved from https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/engineering-ethics/the-ethical-lessons- of-deepwater
Resnik, D.B., Miller, A.K., Kwok, R.K., Engel, L.S., & Sandler, D.P. (2015). Ethical Issues in Environmental Health Research Related to Public Health Emergencies: Reflections on the Gulf Study. Environmental Health Perspectives , 123(9): A227-A231.
Riley, J. (2010). Mill’s extraordinary utilitarian moral theory. Politics, Philosophy & Economics , 9(1), 67–116.
Rushe, D. (2013, February 26). Deepwater oil spill a 'classic failure' of BP management, court hears. The Guardian . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/26/deepwater-oil-spill-trial-bp- failure
