Leadership and Ethics in British Petroleum (BP) Oil Spill Disaster

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS
LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS
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1LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Background of BP oil spill.........................................................................................................2
Responsible leadership theory....................................................................................................3
Organization culture of BP Oil Company..................................................................................3
Relation of responsible leadership theory to the crisis...............................................................3
Recommendation........................................................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................5

2LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS
Introduction
The purpose of this assignment is to provide an overview on the significance of
leadership theory and ethics in British Petroleum (BP) regarding its oil spill disaster. The
study mainly focuses on the relation of responsible leadership theory to this crisis.
Responsible leadership theory is a new leadership theory that transcends traditional
subordinate – dyadic leader relationship and also concentrates on full range view of the
stakeholder – leader relationship that can properly deal with new challenges from each
sectors of society (Boaks & Levine 2015). The recommendations for the solutions regarding
this crisis are also given in this study.
Background of BP oil spill
The BP oil spill also known as Deepwater Horizon oil spill is one of the biggest
industrial disaster that started in the Gulf of Mexico in the year 2010. It is considered as the
biggest marine oil spill that occurred in the history of petroleum sector. The main cause of
this discharge was huge explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in Gulf of Mexico
(Leifer et al., 2012). This massive explosion resulted in numerous deaths and release of
several crude oil barrels into the Gulf. Not only this, this disaster also reduced biodiversity
closest to this spill, extensively damaged marine, fishing and wildlife habitats as reported by
few researchers. This oil spill brought considerable pressure on the enterprise not only
combat its effect during drilling but also manage negative publicity in the market. Apart from
this, this also disrupted the financial performance of BP and thus led to decline in profit
margin and stock price. Some of the owners of BP gasoline station also reported the brand
value of the company declined after this crisis. Owing to this adverse impact on the company,
the CEO of BP Tony Hayward resigned from his post.