Journal Article (Case study). Deepwater Horizon. Management

Deepwater Horizon
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Deepwater Horizon
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill went down as the largest oil spill ever. The oil spill, also known as the BP oil spill, was a disaster that left the world lamenting over the inconsistencies and grave misconduct of the oil industry. Eleven people lost their lives and marine life took a hit that remains immeasurable and incomprehensible even today (Incardona and Scholz, 2018). Before the disaster that started on 20th April 2010 and ended on 15th July 2010, there had been no major incidents worth noting. The crew had operated the rig for 7 years without notable incidents. Confidence was, of course, high and is often considered as one of the reasons why pressure was mounting from BP. The rig was owned by Transocean but BP had leased it.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to calls for more policies to regulate the oil industry and guarantee the safety of employees. According to the White House Commission or the National Commission on BP Oil Spill, the oil spill happened as a result of negligence on the part of BP (Goldenberg, 2011). Apparently, BP had been driven by greed at the expense of safety. The commission heaped blame on the management of BP and insisted that the company’s “systemic management failure” played a key role in the events of 20th April 2010. Poor decisions became commonplace, and they mainly looked to save money and reduce the amount of time taken at the rig. For BP, all that mattered was the money that was to be made. Cost-cutting became the order of the day and eventually, the negligence that had been witnessed at the rig graduated to the worst oil spill in the history of the oil industry.
The man in the middle of this disaster goes by the name Tony Hayward. Hayward was the CEO of BP from May 2007 to October 2010. As...