the bp chairman carl henric svanberg said the bp board is deeply saddened to lose a 504823 | Homework Solutions

The BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said: “The BP board is deeply saddened to lose a CEO whose success over some three years in driving the performance of the company was so widely and deservedly admired” (BP CEO, 2010, para. 2). “The tragedy of the Macondo well explosion and subsequent environmental damage has been a watershed incident. BP remains a strong business with fine assets, excellent people and a vital role to play in meeting the world’s energy needs. But it will be a different company going forward, requiring fresh leadership supported by robust governance and a very engaged board” (para. 3).

• “No single factor caused the Macondo well tragedy. Rather, a sequence of failures involving a number of different parties led to the explosion and fire which killed [eleven] people and caused widespread pollution in the Gulf of Mexico [on April 20, 2010]” (BP Releases Report, 2010, para. 1).

• “A report released by BP [on September 8, 2010] concludes that decisions made by “multiple companies and work teams” contributed to the accident which it says arose from “a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces” (BP Releases Report, 2010, para 2).

• CEO Tony Hayward was criticized on how his slow-to-react behavior culminated in one of the greatest environmental disasters in the new millennium. Let’s go back in time and imagine the BP Board of Directors hired you as an Executive.

Coach to partner with Mr. Hayward to take appropriate actions in a timely manner to resolve the Macondo tragedy effectively. PLEASE conduct some background research to better understand the incident and best serve Mr. Hayward, the Board of Directors, the company, the environment, and the communities affected.

PLEASE goo to the BP website (www.bp.com) and choose BP Global, then Gulf of Mexico response, and lastly, BP internal investigation.

1. Click on Read the press release and review.

2. Click on Watch the video (29 minutes) and take some notes that might help you with your coaching framework.

3. Click on Download the executive summary (pdf, 3735KB) and review.

4. Click on Download the full investigation report (pdf, 13959KB) and review.

5. You can also download the Appendices A through and including AA for reference.

6. Click on See presentation slides (pdf, 1347KB) and review

In addition to this summary, please address the following questions that you must consider in order to create a culture of coaching / mentoring:

1. Who or what is driving what is talked about / discussed in a coaching relationship?

2. What is the impact of these influences?

3. What might be possibly be denied / avoided in your coaching scheme? Why?

4. Who is being empowered / disempowered in your coaching work relative to the BP case study?