The Goals of Conducting Business Procedures Through Moral Idealism & Utilitarianism
& the Different Resulting Outcomes and Weighed Benefits
By: Igor Demidenko
Business Management 150
Since the beginning of business philosophy, man has pondered over the idea of acting in
one’s best intentions and interests for one’s own benefit and the possibilities of consequence due
to the enactment of those actions. Man has weighed the pros and cons of the situations that one
may experience and whether it truly is in the best interests of that particular individual. One can
debate that is he or she accomplished a certain objective that they have accomplished the best
they could have in that moment for themselves until they find a new goal to strive for, but being
that we are all integrated and interact with one another with a sway of emotions and individual
characteristics that change from person to person, one person’s goals may not necessarily be the
goals of another. Another may be striving for his or her set of accomplishments that may cross
paths with another’s. This may force a certain kind of decision making process for both parties to
par-take in. One may have to compromise with the other or realize the greater goal that is set in
front of both of them. The ideas of Moral Idealism and Utilitarianism dive deep into this
perception of situational possibility. That either both parties share the same outcome and that the
same reward would be granted for each individual or that one of the individuals would have to
give away a part of their path to self actualization for the other to succeed. When weighing the
odds and ends of both scenarios, one must consciously make the decision to take into
consideration the greater good of the whole or to let the abundance of a certain percentage
outweigh the abundance of the rest of the populous.
In a perfect world, finding accommodations that suit for both financial needs and give
them satisfaction of a valuable product for the consumer would be easily attainable with the
proper resources and knowledge. To allow for a brighter future and an answer to many of
societies concerns and wants would paint a picture of abundant character for anyone taking on
such a challenge and further our morals and ethic practices having been able to complete the
goals of such tasks effectively and with the greater good kept in mind. But in a world that is
forever chaotic and unpredictable, many have not been able to obtain such graces in their
pursuits of monetary possessions and the power associated with completing those tasks quickly
but sometimes carelessly un-allowing for all the necessary precautions and regulations leaving
them blindly overlooked or undervalued. One company that doesn’t follow neither ethical
stances of utilitarianism nor moral idealism is British Petroleum, better known as BP Gas, has
shown no recognizable pursuit for the progression of all mankind nor for the overall prosperity
of the vast majority.
British Petroleum has been scrutinized for years of their policy executions and the empty
promises that they have made in respect to the safety of the American public leaving devastation
in their wake as they focus on profit rather than being a reputable organization. BP is well
recognized and is considered to be “the industry’s second largest [oil] company, just being
behind Exxon Mobil,” and would be assumed to be a respectable candidate for environmental
safety, having achieved this “through deals in volatile areas, acquisitions, and by pushing the
limits on technology” (Kerin, 9). But production capacity doesn’t depict the quality that a
company retains but rather is represented by its standards of production and their environmental
impact as a result. The company’s track record is rather tainted having been fined a record
breaking $21 million and $20 million during 2005 and 2006, respectively (Kerin, 9), but doesn’t
compare to the 20 billion dollars BP agreed to pay out to claims with their most recent and most
environmentally detrimental spill of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico (Kerin, 11). On April 20, 2010,
an explosion occurred on DP’s Deepwater Horizon Rig in the Gulf, resulting with 5 Million
barrels of crude oil spilling into the surrounding waters (Kerin, 9). The oil spill lasted for 3 long
months until “a tight-fitting cap was affixed to the well” but ultimately resulting in the “worst
U.S. Deepwater drilling disaster in history [that will undoubtedly] last for years to come” (Kerin,
9).
Six years later, the United States and its surrounding countries are still heavily
implementing different ways as to clean up the Gulf and to remove the sludge that is there
effecting the different eco-systems of those regions. The consequences of BP’s actions can be
weighed on multiple scales and have been found to be catastrophic with no remnants of benefit
of any extent. To say that BP had moral idealism of the general consumer in mind when
conducting its drilling would be a blatantly ignorant statement because in order to have the entire
populous’ best interests at heart the company would have to only undergo a fail proof system of
operations leaving no room for error and to have a guarantee that desired goals are well
obtainable. They knew that certain safety procedures were being “skipped” like a “quality test of
