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Sharon Silber
Professor Crystal Sears
Organizational Communication COM3120
20 September 2016
The Deepwater Horizon Disaster Case Study
The Deepwater case disaster is en example of the results of an organizations
ethical decisions that have taken a wrong turn. This disaster was made from the British
Petroleum (BP) oil drilling. Ethical decisions are made because there is a lot to consider
such as range of tension, including profits versus people and long-term versus short term
benefits. They aim for no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the
environment. (Brown, 2013) This is a great responsibility. People always try to make
ethical decisions while considering the people and environment, but at times they do not
know exactly how to make these ethical decisions. A lot needs to be taken into account
and the decision makers need to have all the information needed to consider everything in
play.
However, there are times that you cannot foresee the damage or harm that can
occur. It is always possible for accidents to happen and the environment may change
unexpectedly. That is why you have to gather as much information as possible and
research as much as you can to make sure that the decisions made are the most ethical.
In the year 2010, the worst oil spill occurred and caused the Deepwater Horizon
oil drilling rig explosion. After such a catastrophe, people always look for who was
responsible to be able to point a finger at them. The decision making approach is a
concept that organizational behavior is a complex network of decisions, with decision-

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making process that influence the behavior of an entire organization. Decisions leading
up to the catastrophe was ethical. These decisions had considerable consequences for the
organization, the community, and the environment. The decision makers may or may not
have thought that their decisions were ethical in nature, as opposed to technical, and if
they took into account the consequences that may be possible from their actions. The
organization should have made key decisions that had impacted many parties involved by
operating with standardized rules and procedures designed to emphasize rational
decision making.
Each actor involved in the project should have had different responsibilities with
detailed and well-defined job expectations in accordance with the procedure and rules of
the organization. The company should be fully responsible for each of their employees
work. That is why they have to be clear of how the job expectations are and how
qualified the person is for the job. This should be especially considered for positions that
have important decision-making and considerations. In this BP case, workers needed to
consider if the oil drilling rigs cement job was completely sealed properly so it would be
ready to use as a production well. Unfortunately, there were leaking hydrocarbons from
the well that reached the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig and caused an explosion.
Bureaucracy views the primary goal of an organization as a means to an end as
such optimum performance. Bureaucracys power structure is hierarchical with authority
centralized at the top, which helps maintain control. Therefore, bureaucracy within
organizations can help make the decisions better by exhaustive, formal, standardized
rules. The managers and people with higher positions can oversee the situations and
better control problems. In the oilrig case, a decision tree was used to determine whether

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a further evaluation of the cement job was or was not necessary. These trees are helpful,
but at times they are insufficient. If the tree is set up but the information is faulty or
insufficient, it may not lead to the best results. The MMS system caused too many
problems as well as the bureaucratic system of regulation.
Within this complex organizational structure, communication between workers is
highly recommended. Lack of communication may lead to mistakes and false
assumptions. In order to improve this, the company should work on building a
communication system that will benefit all positions so everyone can be on the same
level of knowledge in regards to where each position stands in their work process. The
key to moving forward successfully is to work together effectively.
Works Cited
Brown, E. (2013). The deepwater horizon disaster: challenges in ethical decision
making. In S. May (Ed.), Case studies in organizational communication: Ethical
perspectives and practices (pp. 233-246). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Ltd.
doi: 10.4135/9781452240572.n18