Introduction
Most organizations follow a similar set of rudiments when approaching management; hence, BP is no exception. The core basics of management principles are; leading, organizing, planning and controlling. BP management, overtime, has continuously embraced planning, as one function of the directorate in its core business activities. Managers play a fundamental role in assisting organizations achieves its goals through crafting and implementing operational, tactical and strategic plans.
BP Oil Company at a Glance
BP is one of the largest oil suppliers in the world. BP is present in over 70 countries and has a total of 79,800 employees (BP, 2016). The company had been enjoying steady operations until 2010 when it experienced the worst loss due to the oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. It is reported that around 174 million gallons spilled over an area of 25, 000 square miles (BP, 2016). The sustained loss has adversely affected the company’s performance since over $ 6 billion was immediately allocated to clean the spill while the whole process was estimated to be about $40 billion (BP, 2016). Overtime, BP has continued to deliver value by establishing fitting priorities and managing quality portfolios prudently. The core values of the company are anchored on excellence, respect, safety, courage and team spirit.
Managers Role in Guiding Strategy of BP Oil Company
The role of strategic management has been a tradition defining BP Oil Company for several years. Managers have been instrumental in embracing the concepts of management to enable BP to achieve its production and market targets. One instrumental functional role undertaken by BP managers is planning. BP managers have utilized time and resources to gather information relevant to planning through the situational analysis in their respective departments. Situational analysis is a system that managers embrace with resources and time, to collect, evaluate and summarize pertinent information relating to planning issue under investigation (Bateman & Snell, 2011).
Also, managers in an organization need to craft departmental or unit strategy. BP has managed to achieve this plan. According to BP (2016) BP managers craft short-term strategy and long-term strategy. Short term plan constitutes increasing energy mix that integrates all available sources, that is, the wind, oil, and solar. The plan also seeks to enhance the company’s efficiency to reduce an emission and, therefore, curb environmental pollution (Hayward, 2010). The organization has a strategy to increase its portfolio balance, which currently stands at 60 percent oil and 40 percent gas. Also, the long-term plan created by managers aims at strengthening the organization expansion both in geographical and geographical frontiers (Hayward, 2010).
Evaluation, as a functional role has also defined BP managers. The managers have continuously evaluated its plans to ensure it meets the organization's strategy. This has been through establishing strategic planning benchmarks. Hence, over the last few years, BP has recorded improved performance both in profitability and in the volume of business participation through effective planning strategy. The strategy improvement has been credited to the quality management plan and the ever-increasing demand for the petroleum products.
Planning
The main planning strategies embraced by managers are strategic, tactical and operational. Managers at the top management echelon make strategic plans. These plans are intended to cover the entire organization (Bateman and Snell, 2011). On the other hand, tactical strategies sustain the strategic plans and are often crafted by middle-level managers. Finally, operational plans are plans created by frontline managers. Operational plans are tailored towards specific procedures and practice that happening at the bottom end of the organization.
A modern business environment is dynamic; hence, aspects such as globalization, business outsourcing, business ethics, and technology have a significant bearing on the manager’s role in day to day business practices.
Over the years, planning has manifested itself based on the changing landscape of the business environment. A manager in a similar position faced encountered some challenges in making operational, strategic or tactical plans (Bateman and Snell, 2011). The challenges were as a result of various factors such as constant innovation and improvement in business practices, talent development and retention among other problems.
References List
BP. (2016). BP at a Glance. Retrieved from http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about- bp/bp- at-a-glance.html
Bateman, T.S., and Snell, S.A., (2011). Management: Leading and Collaborating in a competitive World. New York: MacGraw-Hill Irwin
Hayward, T. (2010). BP 2010;Strategy Presentation. New York, NY: BP Corp.
