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Now we know why BP hasn’t apologized
By Lauren | May 11, 2010
For the past several days, I’ve wondered why British Petroleum’s CEO, Tony Hayward, has skipped the crucial words “we’re sorry” when discussing the oil leak that’s pouring into the Gulf of Mexico after one of his company’s offshore drilling platforms exploded. It seemed odd because Hayward had already said that BP would pay for claims associated with the disaster, essentially admitting that his company had at least some legal liability for cleanup costs. Once that admission had been made there seemed to be little reason for BP not to make a full apology. Hayward’s a Brit, after all - apologies are far more common in English business culture than they are here, and British executives usually deliver them well.
Silly me, I forgot that Congress hadn’t yet looked into the cause of the spill. The Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee opened its hearings today, and executives from BP, Swiss-based Transocean (the company that ran the rig) and U.S.-based Haliburton all spent the morning merrily throwing each other under the bus while testifying. Suddenly, Hayward’s admission that his company has some responsibility for the spill makes a lot more sense. A fuller apology from Hayward might have led lawmakers to try to pin all of the blame on BP instead of making sure that Transocean and Haliburton got their fair share, too. Heaven forbid, Congress might even pass laws to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future, and we can’t have that now, can we?
It’s disappointing to infer that Hayward and his colleagues think that apologizing to the American people for fouling our beautiful coastlines could boost their liability. After all, they wouldn’t be in this mess if somebody hadn’t been too cheap to install an accoustic switch on the rig in the first place, so they’re hardly in a position to count pennies now. There are ways to figure out who’s responsible for which aspects of this tragedy and, if the Senate doesn’t do it, the courts undoubtedly will. Come on, Mr. Hayward, just say you’re sorry. It won’t change what happened and it won’t increase your company’s liability … but it might make America feel better.
Topics: Apologies, Business Ethics, Legal Ethics, Risk Management, Social Ethics, business communications, corporate responsibility, ethics |
May 12th, 2010 at 1:56 am
Lauren, You bring up some excellent points in this and other posts about the unfolding disaster. I thought you might enjoy this post as well: Bring Back the Canaries: Why Organizations Must Cultivate a Culture of Welcoming Employees’ Concerns http://bit.ly/9V4DTD
Unlike human whistleblowers who often are ignored, called troublemakers, demoted, ostracized or fired, canaries send a clear and unmistakable signal of danger. With the recent tragedies at the Massey coal mine in West Virginia and the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, it may be time to bring back the canaries or listen to employees or others whose voices deliver the same message. http://bit.ly/9V4DTD
May 16th, 2010 at 2:24 am
I doubt that BP is as worried about Congress as they are the potential lawsuits from families of loved ones who were killed and from fisherman who will lose their livliehood. You know there wil be class action lawsuits.