BP is deeply dysfunctional, but it could be worse

{"text":[[{"start":3.4,"text":"At some companies, getting rid of the boss is nigh impossible. Just look at US tech giants SpaceX and Meta Platforms, where leaders Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are de facto unremovable. At other companies, defenestrations seem to happen all too often. UK oil major BP is an unhappy example of one where rapid change is becoming the norm."}],[{"start":25.4,"text":"The beleaguered oil major has removed chair Albert Manifold after less than a year in the job over “serious concerns” about “important governance standards, oversight and conduct”. This adds to a long list of senior departures. Since 2023, BP has parted ways with two chief executives, Murray Auchincloss and Bernard Looney, and one board chair, Helge Lund. "}],[{"start":49.3,"text":"Companies can generally withstand high-level oustings even if they come as a nasty surprise; BP’s shares fell 4 per cent on Tuesday. In the end, single honchos have less sway than their salaries sometimes imply. At BP, there are outward indications that the underlying organisation has revved up, with resilient production and few outages on display at first-quarter results. Manifold had installed a well-respected new chief executive in Meg O’Neill, working alongside deputy Carol Howle and finance chief Kate Thomson. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":80.94999999999999,"text":"Still, BP shareholders should be concerned by the merry-go-round. Manifold had been perceived as the architect of BP’s turnaround. His plan to refocus the company around its traditional oil and gas business, selling assets and cutting costs, had played well with activist investor Elliott Investment Management and investors. BP’s share price is up almost 30 per cent since Manifold took over as chair in October, outperforming rival Shell. There’s no suggestion the board objected to his strategy, but it’s now less clear how quickly it will become reality. "}],[{"start":115.49999999999999,"text":"Manifold’s rapid-fire appointment and ejection also raise questions over BP’s selection process. The executive had never chaired a board, but he was a known quantity with a long career at cement maker CRH. Even if his management style may have been more suited to the role of chief executive than chair, it should still have been possible to get a feel for how he might interpret the role before giving him the job. "}],[{"start":138.6,"text":"Helming BP is particularly challenging, even for the best of candidates, because the company is neither one thing nor another. It cannot be entirely straightforward to find candidates who are neither too devoted to green energy nor too enamoured with the oil patch. Add in the need for human skills — the ability to shake things up without overstepping the line of what is acceptable behaviour at work — and the list shrinks further. "}],[{"start":161.2,"text":"Still, when a manager behaves in a way that is deemed unacceptable it is better for them to go than to stay. Shareholders can at least take up their gripes over the selection process with the board. That means that, in a sub-optimal world in which one has to choose between companies that fire their leaders too often and companies which can’t ever get shot of the people at the top, it might be safer to err on the side of BP. "}],[{"start":192.6,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779849814_8444.mp3"}