Beware of high fliers
2 May 2007
Never underestimate the ability of big businesses to make big mistakes, from overly ambitious mergers & acquisitions to high profile safety lapses – errors of judgment that lead to massive cost, both in human and (mere) financial terms.
Such decisions are often linked to a dominant figure in the boardroom, who is not subject to sufficient accountability when things start to go wrong. Rather, these individuals -- typically dynamic, high fliers -- are granted so much control that they can end up stamping their own personality – strengths and failings – across an entire group.
Arguably, the saga of John Browne (aka The Sun King) and his leadership of BP falls into this category. Whatever the true circumstances of his resignation, it seems odd that accountability applied in this tawdry episode, but not for BP’s real misadventures, such as the Texas City refinery accident of 2005.
