Case study-bp struggles to resolve sustainability disaster-Ethic paper Term

Case study-bp struggles to resolve sustainability disaster-Ethic - Term Paper Example This incidence has affected the company severely damaging its reputation, costing it heavy losses and declining its business and productivity. The Deepwater Horizon disaster has produced cleanup costs that may exceed $40 b. In addition, billions more ultimately will be spent as a consequence of criminal and civil penalties and lawsuits. It also has produced an inestimable loss of reputation and goodwill for BP, a huge company that is more than a century old. The company was also blamed for acting unethically and avoiding its corporate social responsibilities. The aim of this paper is to examine key questions concerned with corporate ethics. These questions include whether any corporations believe that they must give evidence of acting ethically, whether this insistence is just politically-correct window dressing in many instances, whether it represents genuine moral concern on the part of top managers at the companies which issue them, whether it is truly good business for a corporat ion to institute ethical practices or whether these practices simply purchase a tawdry respectability within the community for a company. The answers to these key questions will be discussed in this paper in the context of BP. The role and significance of ethical considerations in corporate management Contrary to the earlier business practices and beliefs the present day corporate management provides significant importance to ethics in business and recognizes the the role and significance of ethical considerations in corporate management. Traditionally, the ethical principles were used for defining business rules and regulations and a set of standards which corporations should follow but presently, there are considered as serious issues required for the success of the organization and the top level management consider them vital issues for the business as they have to be accountable to their stakeholders including their customers who are life and blood for them and the ethical issue s are part of their social responsibility (Cavanagh, Moberg and Velasquez, 1981). The ethical considerations are still a dilemma for many corporations and they find it difficult in deciding about ethically acceptable or unacceptable behavior or situation. In the absence of clear and concrete definition of business ethics the corporations need the services of ethical consultants to resolve ethical issues. In the context of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP has been alleged for many serious ethical problems that have occurred after the incidence, but a close investigation of the issues suggests, given the facts as presented in this case, that the company has acted quite ethically and genuinely to all its stakeholders. The most critical ethical dilemma before the company was whether the company was fair and honest enough in handling the issues after the disaster. There is no limit to the expectations of the people and they always seek more than what they get. The company is spending substantially for the clean up projects for the damage caused by the Deepwater Hor