Corporate Social Responsibility Heads for Oblivion

Almost a full year has passed since the BP oil spill, but the damage continues.  As CNN.com¹ reported in January 2011, tar balls are still washing ashore on beaches along the Gulf Coast, while toxic crude still fouls the ocean.  While the sand and water may one day be restored to tourist-friendly conditions, it will be much harder for BP to scrub its reputation clean. 

Prior to the spill, BP had flown the banner of "Corporate Social Responsibility."  With its logo in the shape of a flower, it sought to convince consumers its initials stood for "Beyond Petroleum," and that it was an environmentally conscious corporation that was working to develop energy sources like solar and wind power.

As the liberal magazine Mother Jones² reported in 2006, "When John Browne, the head of British Petroleum, gave a speech in 1997 admitting that global warming exists, and announcing that business must respond 'to the reality and the concerns of the world in which you operate,' people began calling him the 'Sun King.'  The head of California's Environmental Protection Agency ventured that 'this bold move will set the world stage for other companies to emulate.'  BP commissioned green roofs for its filling stations, along with a whole slew of ads touting
its vision for a world 'beyond petroleum.'"

Fourteen years later, BP's corporate name stands for "bad publicity."  The company has sold off billions of dollars in assets to pay for the damage, which is estimated at $40 billion, and The New York Times³ has quoted analysts who believe that the cost to BP's reputation will eclipse the price of the spill.

Why didn't BP's commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) prevent the twin catastrophes to the environment and BP's bottom line?  Quite simply, BP is an oil company.  Yet it is trying to promote itself as a producer of alternative energies, as reflected in a November 2010 press release pointing out that "Since 2005, BP Alternative Energy has invested around $4 billion in wind, solar, biofuels, and advanced technologies like hydrogen power and carbon capture and storage. . ."

Instead of spending billions on eco-friendly energy and building a branding campaign around it, BP — and the communities in which it operates — would have been better served if BP devoted more dollars to better training the employees on its oil dri... To read the full article, you must be a Trends Magazine Subscriber. To learn more, click here