Bp Code Of Conduct: Taking The Highest Road

BP is a multi-national oil company based out of London, England. Truly an "oil supermajor," BP has more than 115,000 (2006) employees with operations in more than one-hundred countries throughout the world. BP has a corporate slogan that says "beyond petroleum" and such has been the corporation's nature since it adopted the slogan in 2000. They are driven not to simply provide petroleum at a reasonable price, but to go beyond that, researching new forms of energy and providing to customers beyond the automotive motorist. After careful review of its corporate code of conduct, it can be said that this vision not only pertains to BP's product and service, but also to its dedication to maintaining a ethical corporation. They do not only strive to keep themselves on the straight and narrow, but push all of their suppliers, partners, and customers to do the same. They do not only take the high road, they take the highest road.

The concept of a corporate code of conduct is a necessary rule and standard of governance that all corporations should develop and adhere to. The corporate code of conduct (CCC) is something that sets the ethical tone of your place of business. It tells your suppliers, partners, customers, and most importantly, your employees, "This is how we do business." One point made by BP's CEO, Tony Hayward, is that great companies are built on trust. In a society where everyone and everything in the public eye is constantly under scrutiny, it is important to have a positive rapport and reputation with those with whom you interact. This is how trust is developed. You do the right thing enough of the time that people will assume you are doing it all of the time without checking. The way you do this is by making sure your people are trying to do the right thing all of the time.

To not have a CCC is to not give your people the direction they need to do so. Conventional wisdom would say that people know the right thing to do in a given situation. But having a CCC cements that in their minds and affirms, "Yes, this is the right thing to do." Sometimes greed gets the better of us and unless we have a moral and/or ethical compass to direct us, we can stray from what conscience might dictate. This is the purpose of the CCC. It is not to say that people don't know what they are doing or that they are so reprobate that they are incapable of making ethical decisions on their own. To the contrary, it is the corporate culture setting standard that give everyone foundation needed to be confident about consistently making the most ethical decision. To not have a CCC robs your organization of that strength.

The CCC also adds consistency. People come from different backgrounds and cultures. They have varying concepts of what is right and wrong and the grey in between, ethically speaking. The CCC helps people to come to a common ground in regards to business ethics and what is acceptable and what is not. Because your suppliers, employees, partners, and customers' ideas of ethics can vary so much, it is important to have a CCC to hold everyone accountable to a consistent standard. Regardless of the High vs. Low-context culture of your organization, it is good from people to know where they stand. These are some of the benefits of the CCC.

The BP CCC is particularly impressive because not only is the standard it provides high, it also leaves room for greater ethical stringency. The BP CCC plainly states that when faced with a ethical decision, the employee is to follow the BP CCC or the laws of the land, "whichever sets the highest standard of behavior." For a multinational company where the host country's laws may not meet or perhaps exceed the CCC, this is most important. By making sure your employees are always behaving in accordance with the highest measure of ethics, you can avoid many if not all possible pitfalls having to do with your firm's reputation