Building A Transnational Organization For Bp Oil

Global competition in the oil industry has intensified, and this has led the new chairman of BP, Robert Horton to drive through changes in the management structure, process and culture under the banner Project 1990. At BP Oil, the 24bn pound sterling downstream refining and marketing arm, this led to a high level change process called the International Management Project. The task was both to reduce overhead costs and to develop an effective framework through which the recently-expanded business could be managed. When implemented the IMP process helped to resolve the conflicts and ambiguities which arise from senior management's multiple priorities in an international, matrix-type organization. The essential elements of this process are: the achievement of consensus on roles and accountabilities; commitment to information sharing; and the switch from formal meetings to flexible networks. The resulting structure carries commitment in the organization because it was formulated, and understood in detail, by the managers who now use it. At BP Oil, the top level organizational structure has been radically altered, improving the speed and quality of decision making and substantially reducing the burden of bureaucracy.