I’ve been having technical difficulties accessing Connect on my computer, but now that that has been sorted here is my Business Ethics Article post.
In April of 2010, British energy giant BP were involved in the biggest oil spill disaster ever in American waters. Caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig owned and operated by BP, the explosion and aftermath caused the death of 11 oil workers and untold environmental degradation, despite joint efforts by the US and BP to limit the damage. To date, BP has already spent upwards of $42 billion in clean up efforts and fines, but now may be liable to pay almost $18 billion in additional compensation after U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier of New Orleans ruled that BP was guilty of gross negligence in the events leading up to the oil spill. Since the ruling, shares in BP have dropped 5%.
This article is a clear example of the dangers firms face when engaged in unethical business practices. Freeman’s Stakeholder theory explains how for a business to thrive in the long term they must consider the impact their decisions have on all stakeholders including so called “externalities” such as the environment, their workers, local wildlife, etc. In this case, while BP certainly did not intend to cause the death of 11 workers and an oil spill that may end up costing them upwards of $60 billion in addition to the damage done to their reputation and the environment, the fact that they were not properly inspecting their equiptment still puts them liable for all the destruction this spill has caused. Hopefully they have learned their lesson and new measures will be put forward to avoid such disasters in the future.
Anonymous