British Petroleum

British Petroleum is getting immense public scrutiny in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It's quite a sordid account of bare bones cost cutting at the expense of safety standards (the overwhelming majority of the industry's safety violations came from one company alone, BP), sex and blackmail charges which eventually forced the company's last CEO to resign, fixable problems at their refineries which lead to an explosion at a Texas facility which caused the deaths of more than a dozen workers, and public fines from government agencies. This paints a corporate culture that is treacherous, reckless, and not worthy of public trust. Deepwater Horizon itself was preventable had the proper safety procedures been followed, but the company's culture which emphasize cutting corners for profit above all else has created a backlash. The company, which has historically had very strong earnings performances, now faces the prospect of its cost structure becoming overwhelmed by the G... Read more