Summary of the case study

BP serves as the world's third largest oil firm, with its headquarters
based in London. On the other hand, Transocean is regarded as the
largest offshore drilling operator in the globe. The firm is based in
Houston and Switzerland. BP and the deep-water horizon disaster of
2010 is a narration of emergency details that took place on Tuesday,
April 20, 2010. Being the chief electronics technician, Williams was
ware that emergency situation declared was a serious issue. He is seen to
recall on methods of diving into the sea as a way of evacuating a boat on
fire. William is reported to work for a firm that specializes in equipment
for deep water drilling. The incident is reported to result in the death and
injury of persons who were on board. Williams being amongst the
persons who suffered. Out of the total 126 people who were reported to
be onboard, 79 are said to come from Transocean, while seven were
from British petroleum (B.P). The rest are reported to come from other
companies such as M-1 Swaco and Anadarko (Ingersoll, Locke, & Reavis, 2012).
The case reveals that Williams had been inured over emergency alarms
as the gas levels were high enough to prohibit activities such as welding
that could result in increase in temperatures. The situation is reported to
be complex as the alarm system in the ship had been disabled to avoid
waking the crew by false alarms. However, on April 20, it is said that the
emergency announcement that came through the alarm system was not
false. As part of the case, Williams testifies that his attention was
captured by a thud and hissing sound that was followed by revving of
the rig’s engine system. As a result, Williams and the crew were forced
to abandon the ship by jumping into the sea that was already in flames.
According to the case, the rig burned down for 36 hours wasting the
700,000 oil gallons that were on board. The case asserts that Deep-water
Horizon sank under the sea on April 22, taking down the essential parts
of the system that was meant to prevent the occurrence of blowouts. On
this note, Deep-water Horizon disaster is regarded as the worst oil spill
as the situation exceeded the Exxon Valdez disaster that held the record
(Ingersoll, Locke, & Reavis, 2012).

Discussion of leading issues

Lack of ethical principles
Lack of ethical principles is another significant issue in the disaster.
Leaders who lack ethics are prone to making poor decisions that would
hardly be accepted by second parties (Ojo, 2022). In the case of BP and
Transocean, the supervisors are reported to conduct pressure tests
without involving the appropriate team for decision making. Rig is a
sensitive section that requires effective decision making before
execution of actions. It is unethical that the senior supervisors ignore
emergency alarms only to make casual decisions regarding pressure
tests. Also, it is unethical that the rig failed to consult with the crew
before making final decisions. This is depicted by quick tests on
pressure section by the crew supervisors.
Lack of remorse and sincerity
The case asserts that the supervisors were slow to take action despite
being aware that the situation would result in havoc. Moreover, lack of
remorse and sincerity forced the supervisors to fail considering human
life as a basic subject. On the same note, lack of sincerity and remorse
made the executive crew use faulty blow out preventers thus causing
explosion. The case reveals that the surviving crew blamed the
supervisors for failing to use quality equipment to avoid disaster. Here,
Ojo (2022) supports that lack of sincerity is a possible cause of using poor
equipment thus risking the lives of many people.
Poor leadership
The entire narration in the case is a depiction of the adverse impacts of
poor leadership. The fact that good leaders prioritize the interests of
team members reveals that the disaster is a result of poor leadership. The
supervisors ignored the emergency warnings that would save the lives of
the crew. Despite knowing that the leakage would result in further
damage and havoc, the supervisors failed to address the issue before the
company leaders for immediate response. This reveals that the leaders
took the lives of crew for granted (Bratspies, 2011). On the same note, poor
leadership is the possible cause of slow response to emergency. Leaders
who fail to prioritize the welfare of team members are regarded as poor.
Ignorance
Ignorance is a major issue that resulted in the BP and Transocean
disaster. Rig supervisors ignored the pressure warnings that raised
alarms for hours. It is the ignorance that resulted in explosion. The case
depicts that despite multiple warnings, BP failed to evacuate Deep-water
horizon on the day of explosion (Bratspies, 2011).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is right to debate that organizational decision making is
a crucial aspect when responding to crisis situations. Accountability and
responsibility are two major aspects of good leadership. Moreover,
outrage and public criticism following the disaster not only focused on
oil spill but on lack of sincerity and remorse. Failure by BP leadership to
respond to the disaster with sufficient speed and attention is a
demonstration of lack of preparedness for crisis.

Ingersoll, C., Locke, R. M., & Reavis, C. (2012). BP and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster of
2010. MIT Sloan School of Management, Case Study.

Bratspies, R. M. (2011). A regulatory wake-up call: Lessons from BP's Deepwater Horizon
Disaster. Golden Gate U. Envtl. LJ, 5, 7.

Ojo, A. (2022). Salient Features of Being a Young African and the Effects of Poor Leadership. In
Social Revolutions and Governance Aspirations of African Millennials (pp. 11-31). Springer,
Cham.