Case Study: "Brities Petroleum: From The City to The Gulf of Maxico and Beyond".

QUESTIONS:

SECTION 1. MISSION, VISION, AND STAKEHOLDERS

Select and answer one of the following questions:

1.1. Write a mission and a vision statement for British Petroleum (BP).

1.2. Identify British Petroleum's (BP) key stakeholders and map these stakeholders in terms of the power/interest grid.

SECTION 2. SCENARIOS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Select and answer one of the following questions:

2.1. Describe and analyse some of the key trends and uncertainties facing the energy (oil & gas) industry over the following 10 years. Build on this analysis to generate two possible scenarios for British Petroleum (BP). What implications are there for British Petroleum's (BP) strategy?

2.2. By employing relevant data from the case, conduct a five forces analysis of the energy industry. What do you conclude about that industry's attractiveness?

SECTION 3. RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES

Select and answer one of the following questions:

3.1. Evaluate the bases of British Petroleum's (BP) strategic capabilities by utilizing the VRIO/VRIN criteria (value, rarity, inimitability, organisation and/or non-substitutability). Which are the key strategic capabilities that provide, or could provide, British Petroleum (BP) with a sustainable competitive advantage? Why?

3.2. Evaluate British Petroleum's (BP) resources and capabilities by utilizing the value chain framework. How is the company creating value? Discuss how could the company develop and improve further in respect to this?

SECTION 4. BUSINESS AND CORPORATE STRATEGIES

British Petroleum (BP) has shrunk after selling assets in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster in 2010 and is now worth considerably less than rivals Exxon Mobil or Shell (i.e. The Economist, 2014; Financial Times, 2013)*. Moreover, in April 2015, the company reported ‘a sharp fall in profit as the dramatic fall in oil prices took its tall' (BBC News, April 2015)**. What suggestions could you make to British Petroleum's (BP) senior management team to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the competitive global energy market?