Sample Essay On  leadership And Organizational Performance

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill which is also known as the Macondo blowout is the worst sea accident resulting in massive oil spill. The accident that occurred on 10th of April 2010 brought devastating effects to many other industries and sectors of the economy in the United States and beyond. It was characterized by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig which later sank and led to massive oil spill that had a great impact on the performance and the leadership of the oil giant. This paper is, therefore, an analysis of the effects of the spill on the overall performance of BP.
The performance of the company was significantly affected by the spill with a steep decline in stock sales and value at the New York stocks exchange being reported. The stock fell by over 52% in the first two months after the spill. The company was forced to cancel the dividends scheduled to be released to shareholders who also experienced a major shrink in their holdings at BP. (Jennings, 2014). Moreover, the company’s sales dropped steadily as a result of citizens’ boycott. After the spill people in the US avoided fueling at the BP gas stations in protest of how the company handled the incident. There were reports that the company’s practices and need to cut on cost had led to the accident. This placed its top leadership on the spot and, as a result, changes were made as a way of preventing a similar occurrence as well as repairing the firm’s image. BP tried to handle the issue and explain its response, but this was dismissed as mere public relations. Although it remains relevant in the petroleum industry, this incident is crucial in future decision making at the company as it was discovered that operational shortcuts could lead to a disaster and loss of revenue.

References

Jennings, M. (2014). Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment. Boston: Cengage Learning.