Chapter 2
BP providing funding and data to companies developing new technologies for deepwater drilling
Strategic Partners
Increased regulation of banks and mortgage lenders regarding the loans they issue
General environment
Shifts in economic and political power between countries
General environment
The increasing number of elderly people in the United States, Japan, Italy, and Germany
General environment
Companies that generate energy from alternatives to oil—such as from solar, wind, and wave power—gaining customers and investor support
Competitors
BP's offering biofuels, such as ethanol-gasoline blends, at its service stations
Customers
Declining tourism along the entire Gulf of Mexico coastline
Economic
Impairing industries in the Gulf of Mexico region, including commercial fishing, seafood processing, and tourism
Economic
A worldwide recession
General environment
High job satisfaction ratings from current employees
General environment
A company adopting an open-plan design for the workstations in its new office
Internal environment
A manager's policy of letting employees have Friday afternoons off during the summer
Internal environment
President Barack Obama's placement of a 6-month moratorium on offshore drilling
Political/Legal
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ensuring that cleanup workers are protected from heat, fatigue, and other hazards
Regulators
Auditors from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent to review a company's tax records
Task environment
One employee telling another, "It's just the way we do things around here—it's our organizational culture."
Internal environment
Courts setting a precedent that 80% of civil penalties paid in connection with the oil spill be used for economic and environmental activities benefiting the Gulf Coast
Political/Legal
Conforming to BP's environmental and ethical standards to be included on BP's list of approved vendors and contractors
Suppliers
For a public university, the pool of new PhD graduates seeking jobs as professors
Task environment
Beginning to deploy deep-sea submersibles to view the oil leak and drilling infrastructure a mile beneath the ocean's surface
Technological
Using oil-absorbing polymers that bond with oil and form a spongelike material that is easily removed from the water
Technological