A Responsible BP Must Go Beyond Petroleum - A blog by Aman Singh

Aman Singh is the CSR Editor at Vault.com, where she focuses on how corporate diversity practices and sustainability translate into recruitment and strategic development. Her blog, In Good Company, discusses on many of these issues.
Jul 28, 2010 3:28 PM ET

A Responsible BP Must Go Beyond Petroleum

As BP prepares for a major image overhaul, what can we expect from incoming CEO Robert Dudley? It wasn’t Tony Hayward's lack of management skills or inept strategizing that have led to his departure, but a realization that he is, according to a Wall Street Journal report, "no longer seen as able to address one of the company's most crucial tasks: repairing BP's reputation and restoring its credibility in the critical U.S. market." So will a new CEO be able to turn the company around?

The biggest challenge for Dudley is going to be reconfiguring the company culture toward rigorous accountability. Going forward, corporate social responsibility (CSR) will have a new found meaning at BP. (For those who think of CSR as charity and community service, it is essential to note that it extends internally to aspects like a company's diversity practices, accountability standards, transparent business decisions, corporate governance, as well as promoting a healthy and safe work culture.)

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