An explosion and fire on the oil drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, killed 11 workers and unleashed the world's worst oil spill. Oil spilling from the ruptured, undersea well devastated wildlife, fishing, and tourism across the U.S. Gulf Coast. As the country reeled from the enormity of the disaster, its initial shock gave way to outrage as investigations revealed the parade of failures that precipitated and/or exacerbated the catastrophe.

For instance, it appears that the explosion was caused by a methane gas surge when workers were temporarily capping the well. Normally, engineers would have used a heavy mud pack to protect against that risk. Questions thus arose as to why BP, the well's owner and overall operator, substituted much lighter (and less expensive) seawater for the mud compound. Further, BP's oil spill response plan (a requirement for governmental approval of deepwater drilling) was riddled with glaring omission and errors. In essence, the plan simultaneously understated the risks of a deepwater leak and overstated the company's capability for containing such an event. Ultimately, the public wondered why the federal Minerals Management Service- the agency that regulates oil rigs- approved a plan that was so severally flawed.

Please answer the following questions. Use the Deepwater case to highlight and expand on your answers the questions below.

What ethical responsibilities do business owe society generally?

How does one determine whether conduct is or is not ethical?

Why might a company-understate the risks involved in its activities and how could this be negated?

What limits are there to the effectiveness of governmental regulation of corporate behavior and would it have made a difference in the Deepwater case?