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50 Mapping the Field

People, Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, Amnesty International and the media) over the
environment and associated human rights issues that were played out in a variety of
public forums. These crises resulted from the public dismay around Shell UK’s pro-
posed action to dispose of Brent Spar, an enormous oil storage and loading platform,
in the waters of the North Atlantic, and Shell’s failure to take a high profile public
stance against the Nigerian government, Shell Nigeria’s local business partner, when
it executed nine Ogoni environmentalists including Ken Saro-Wiwa, an internation-
ally acclaimed journalist and writer who had spearheaded protest against Shell.
These crises, ensuing in public debates about Shell’s environmental and societal stance,
have also led to corporate reflexivity and questions of identity for the company and
effectively challenged its modernist, technical and rational way of approaching its oper-
ations. In one sense, these crises have moved the company from a taken-for-granted
discourse of economic development towards a cautious adoption of the language of
sustainable development, with attempts to balance interests of economic development
with environmental well-being. This move is well expressed in the position of former
Shell Group Chairman Cor Herkströter, who initially defined Shell’s role as strictly
economic and commercial, arguing that the company ‘lacked “license” to interfere in
politics, society or the sovereign mandate of government’, but has now become one of
the most fervent promoters of corporate social responsibility. As Herkströter said:

Most of us at Royal Dutch/Shell come from a scientific, technological back-
ground. That type of education, along with our corporate culture, teaches us
that we must identify a problem, isolate it and then fix it. That sort of approach
works well with a physical problem – but it is not so useful when we are faced
with, say, a human rights issue. For most engineering problems there is a
correct answer. For most social and political dilemmas there is a range of possi-
ble answers – almost all compromises.

The corresponding move to a stakeholder orientation in its business principles and
modes of operation, seen by some as a U-turn in managerial priorities, is evident
in a number of initiatives including platforms for stakeholder engagement and
dialogue, Shell’s Society Report, and the recent ‘Profits and Principles’ campaign where
the company explains its new-found credo. Shell now claims to ‘listen’ to all of its
stakeholders, who have explicitly told the company that ‘a commitment to sustain-
able development is key to a company’s reputation’.

British Petroleum

British Petroleum is one of the world’s largest petroleum and petrochemicals groups,
with business operations including the exploration and production of crude oil and
natural gas; refining, marketing, supply and transportation; and the manufacturing
and marketing of petrochemicals. After a period of diversification (including a move
into the nutrition business) in the 1970s and 1980s, BP rationalized its operations in
the 1990s and is now focusing again on its core activities in petroleum and chemi-
cals. In 1989, the company launched a campaign to introduce a stronger corporate
identity, featuring a restyled BP shield and an emphasis on the colour green. And in
a complementary programme BP started to reimage its global network of service
stations in a new design and livery.