The British Petrochemical cooperation was established in 1909 and has become one of the world largest´s companies with the name BP. It developed oil fields in many countries and was a major investor in green energy in the late 20s. Amoco, ARCO, Aral, Castrol, and Sohio are the group´s heritage brands, around 60.000 employees serve their duties worldwide, a number that dropped down to 8% after the largest marine accident in history of the industry. 

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also called the Gulf of Mexico oil spill), the largest marine oil spill in history, occurred on April 20, 2010. This oil spill was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which was located in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 41 miles (66 km) off the coast of Louisiana. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank two days later, on April 22^nd.

The Deepwater Horizon rig, owned and operated by the offshore-oil-drilling company, Transocean, and leased by the oil company, BP, was situated in the Macondo oil prospect in the Mississippi Canyon, a valley in the continental shelf. The oil well over which it was positioned was located on the seabed 4,993 feet (1,522 meters) below the surface and extended approximately 18,000 feet (5,486 meters) into the rock. On the night of April 20, a surge of natural gas blasted through a concrete core that was recently installed by the contractor, Halliburton,  to seal the well for later use. Information later emerged through documents released by Wikileaks indicating that a similar incident had occurred on a BP-owned rig in the Caspian Sea in September 2008. Both cores were likely too weak to withstand the pressure because they were composed of a concrete mixture that used nitrogen gas to accelerate curing.

Once released by the fracture of the core, the natural gas traveled up the Deepwater rig's riser to the platform, where it ignited, killing 11 workers and injuring 17 others. The rig capsized and sank on the morning of April 22, rupturing the riser, through which drilling mud had been injected to counteract the upward pressure of oil and natural gas. Without any opposing force, the oil began to discharge into the gulf. The volume of oil escaping the damaged well—originally estimated by BP to be about 1,000 barrels per day—was thought by U.S. government officials to have peaked at more than 60,000 barrels per day.

The corporate sustainability scandal was not only translated to a loss of trust and reputation, but to penalties in the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), legal costs, recalls, and compensational adjustments. Senior executives together with the CEO were suspended from their positions. In the last decade, and through a wide range of public relations activities, the company managed to rebuild its reputation with a revised code of ethics and change management, but still, Shell and Exxon run the round. 

Currently, BP has been again through a new challenge due to the pandemic, and people management changes have been a reality.  In 2020, it cut about 15% of its workforce in response to the coronavirus crisis and wanted to find $2.5 billion in cost savings by the end of 2021 through the digitalization and integration of its businesses. In 2021, BP shares were down 3.8%, but has agreed on transactions to increase sales by 2025.

Regarding the HRM strategy, performance is prioritized with a focus on opportunities for personal growth, and executive reward packages. In HR Staffing, they try to attract the best talents and retain them with T&D opportunities. 

 

Answer each question about six to seven hundered words

Format of answers 

Introdudction 

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Conclusion

 

QUESTIONS 

1. BP clearly states its sustainability policies, relates its values, and regularly publishes a CSR report. Apart from the relatively current emission scandal responsible for damaging the environment and harming human health, BP was hit with disruption during the corona pandemic in various business areas beyond sales such as line management and HR staffing. Reflect on employee morale within the firm was hit with multi-million-dollar lawsuits. Evaluate morale considering the planned ongoing layoffs. Determine its impact.

2. Forecast recruiting, and retention issues BPs HR department might face as they are confronted with scandals and layoffs. Critically formulate an approach for HR to attract and retain new, millennial talent that is particularly sensitive to corporate activity that impacts the environment and future generations. 

3. Compare and contrast Porter's three types of business unit strategies with Miles and Snow's defender or prospector strategy: Analyse all aspects of the two approaches and highlight the pros and cons of each about the kind of company BP is and the products the company produces. Demonstrate which of the two strategies is best suited to the company structure of 3M and explain why you have chosen one strategy over the other using examples that support your choice.

4. Provide an alternative conclusion: Assess and recommend another kind of strategy that may best fit BP in the future to deal with possible future scandals and be more flexible in dealing with market forces. Justify why you think so.