Examination the present strategic position of the multibillion British Essay

Examination the present strategic position of the multibillion British Petroleum (BP) plc Oil Company - Essay Example Introduction Business ethics refers to the moral guidelines that govern business practices at the workplace, and these are the universally accepted principles that are expected of each business. In the contemporary business world, the concept of business ethics has gradually been popularised and it is now a buzzword all over the world. Many firms around the world today are not only concerned with making profits and meeting fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders and consumers, but also showing corporate responsibility (Dirks 2001). There is a proven parallelism between profits and Social Corporate Responsibility, with studies showing that CSR improves profits (Robins 2011). In today’s highly competitive global capital, labour and financial markets, companies in the system cannot afford to be totally unresponsive to ethical issues and concerns. In such a system, that is highly conscious corporate responsiveness, businesses have no choice but to advertently demonstrate their commitment to ethical issues in society. This paper aims at examining the business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the multibillion British Petroleum (B.P) Company that is involved in oil and alternative energy. This analysis will endeavour to determine among other things, the ethical practices of the company, and its corporate responsiveness; in other words, is B.P an ethical firm? A vast company of global influence such as BP is obliged to cautiously apply strategic managerial approaches in promotion of global business ethics in industrial sectors. This analysis is important because it will it will raise an awareness about BP’s business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, and more importantly, it will establish a relevant knowledge base for future direction to all the stakeholders involved in the oil business around the world. The paper will first outline BP’s business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility strategies, and thereafter, a detailed analysis of these approaches will be carried out in the next section using PESTLE and Carroll's (1991) CSR pyramid models. This analysis will determine how sustainable the company with respect to the 3Ps (People, Planet, Profit) or Elkington’s (1998) Triple Bottom Line (socio- and environmental goals as well as the profit bottom line). Ultimately, after the report has been concluded, what shall follow will be a set of recommendations for the company with regards to its future business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. BP’s Strategic Management BP is one of the world’s leading oil companies that majors in exploration, production, refining and marketing of petroleum oil products, including natural gas (Warren 2012). This makes BP Oil company one of the world’s companies that are hugely involved with the use of fossil fuels responsible for major global environmental challenges in the 21st century (Mallenbaker 2012). This has f orced the company to restructure its operations while stating its obligations and commitment to the creation of a stable and sustainable society. In this