Publications

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September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

BP's Macondo: Spill and Response

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

This case starts by reporting various factors that may have contributed to the massive Macondo oil spill, noting that BP, its partners and the government all made decisions that helped cause the accident. It then discusses the response to this spill by BP and the... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Metals and Minerals; Crisis Management; Infrastructure; Trade; Pollutants; Risk and Uncertainty; Business and Government Relations; Finance; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United Kingdom; United States

October 1989
Case

Exxon Corp.: Trouble at Valdez

Discusses the events leading to and repercussions following the 11 million gallon oil spill in Prince William Sound off the Alaskan coast. This was the largest spill in U.S. history. Examines the response to the spill by Exxon management, government agencies, and... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Crisis Management; Energy Sources; Shipping Industry; Energy Industry; Alaska

February 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Supplement

Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (B)

By: David F. Hawkins and Aldo Sesia

The BP Mexican Gulf Oil spill requires BP to recognize or at least disclose investor-relevant information. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Accounting; Natural Disasters; Pollutants; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; North America

January 2011 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

The IASB and FASB propose new contingency loss recognition, measurement, and disclosure rules (A case). The B and C cases apply these proposals to British Petroleum's Mexican Gulf oil spill and Union Carbide's Bhophal gas discharge. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Trade; International Finance; Standards; Strength and Weakness; Natural Disasters; Crisis Management; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Industry; India

September 1992 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Exxon: Communications After Valdez

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Nancy Langford

Focuses on the communications in the period immediately following the March 24, 1989 Alaska oil spill caused by the Exxon Valdez. Includes the text of Exxon Chairman Rawl's "open letter" in an April 3 newspaper advertisment. Addresses the timing and content of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Communication; Crisis Management; Marketing Communications

October 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Drilling Safety at BP: The Deepwater Horizon Accident

By: Stephen P. Kaufman and Laura Winig

Following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico explosion and oil spill on the Deepwater Horizon, public attention focused on BP's safety record, practices, and management culture as the primary cause of the disaster. Drawing on public sources this case traces the circumstances... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Management Practices and Processes; Managerial Roles; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Practice; Safety; Energy Industry; Mexico, Gulf of

September 2016 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Seema Amble

The case examines the career of Joan Bavaria, a pioneer of socially responsible investing and founder of Trillium Asset Management and Ceres, the nonprofit organization advocating for sustainability leadership. It describes her personal journey from art student and... View Details

Keywords: Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Personal Development and Career

January 1990
Case

Ashland Oil, Inc.: Trouble at Floreffe (A)

This case series involves a crisis in business ethics and management decision making, when one of the company's diesel fuel storage tanks collapses, releasing nearly one million gallons of oil into the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. Divided into four cases guiding the... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Making; Crisis Management; Energy Sources; Energy Industry

02 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity

United States. Along with Jiao Luo and Stephan Meier, both of Columbia Business School, Oberholzer-Gee collected data on several thousand oil and chemical spills (most of them, thankfully, quite small) over... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

2012
Working Paper

No News Is Good News: CSR Strategy and Newspaper Coverage of Negative Firm Events

By: Jiao Luo, Stephan Meier and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

One of the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, it has been argued, is that they build up a reservoir of public good will, shielding companies in times of trouble. In this paper, we test the view that CSR provides protection from public ire by... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Crisis Management; Media; Newspapers; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy