INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

Innovation Management in British Petroleum



Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion2

Innovation2

A product of Eco-Imagination3

British Petroleum3

Innovation Management at BP5

Organization5

Search6

Selection6

Implementation6

Contextual Element of BP8

People in BP9

Leadership in BP9

Conclusion10

Recommendations11

Innovation Management in British Petroleum

Introduction

Innovation has never been more powerful than it is today, as organizations face violent international competition, continuously inventing technologies and minimizing world resources. For launching new ideas successfully, it requires an array of entrepreneurial, research, design and commercialization skills, as well as the ability, to bring these skills into play at the right time; capturing value from new ideas depends upon having the right business models and management of intellectual property (Fleisher et al. 2003: 350). British Petroleum is an energy company, engaged primarily in the oil and natural gas. It is one of the largest companies in the world (since the eighth as the American magazine Forbes) and the third largest firm dedicated to oil and gas after ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell (Murray 2006: 132). Innovation in BP is considered a vital element for the purpose of surviving, growing, and significantly influencing the aim or goal of the industry. However, development does not always bring success, but the company should be able to take failure as a challenge (Murray 2006: 132).

British Petroleum is an international organization, which is operating in the oil and energy sector. There are sixteen refineries, which are partially or wholly owned by British Petroleum Company. BP provides energy for heat, electricity, fuel, retail services and petrochemical products. BP is one of the world's largest energy providers and employs over 92,000 people. In the last couple, of decades there have been many incidents where BP's actions have proved that BP considers economic profit more valuable than moral and legal obligations to the society and the environment and thus, improving on technology by continuous innovation and development. Innovation in the 21st Century focuses on the value proposition to the customer. The relationship of the customer value proposition to business success is as follows: Customers are attracted and retained by only two things, the value proposition for a particular good or service in comparison to the other offerings in that market, and the ability of the organization to deliver on customer expectations without exception i.e. - getting it “right” the first time. Price is only an influence in this relationship and only as a component of the value proposition. Within any given market, there is a range of value propositions offered by the organizations competing in that market. Some of these value propositions are better than others, and when that happens the organization attracts more new customers (while retaining more existing customers) (Branscomb et al. 2001: 39).

The BP management strategy would likely have been considered on a cost-benefit basis. But, with the business facing massive penalties/fines/loss of custom if it did not act appropriately, the costs to rectify the situation has become enormous. With the eyes of the world on the company as it continues to tackle the disaster, BP has spent more than $1bn trying to contain the ...