Case
BP: Deepwater Horizon disaster (2010)
The rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico killed workers and caused a huge oil spill; the national commission linked its causes to cost-cutting and weak risk management. BP later pleaded guilty to criminal charges connected with the incident.
- Industry
- Oil and gas
Frameworks applied
This case is read through the frameworks below.
- Shareholder, stakeholder and market-failures viewsWhen a safety or environmental decision sets profit against the interests of staff or the community, do executives owe their duty first to shareholders or to all stakeholders?
- Market Failures Approach (MFA)When reviewing how the firm makes its profits, which strategies should a business owner drop because they rely on market failures rather than fair competition?
Sources
References
Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.
- National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (2011) Deep water: the Gulf oil disaster and the future of offshore drilling (Report to the President). Washington, DC: US Government Publishing Office.No DOIgovinfo.govSource page
- US Department of Justice (2012) BP Exploration and Production Inc. agrees to plead guilty to felony manslaughter, environmental crimes and obstruction of Congress surrounding Deepwater Horizon incident (press release, 15 November).No DOIjustice.govSource page