Strategy- Energy Firm - Assignment Example

STRATEGY- ENERGY FIRM The contemporary corporate world is under intense scrutiny by the law and ethics. Besides selling their products, the welfare of the consumers and immediate surrounding must be taken care of. The energy industry has been in the media over alleged unethical business practices hence need to discuss case study of a given firm to address the trend. Taking the case of BP oil and the incidence of oil spill in Gulf of Mexico, it can be noted that firms are increasingly struggling to reconcile cost and price.

Environmental care is a central to energy firms when it comes to ethical issues. However, the case of BP oil shows that firms seek to reduce cost at the expense of ethical actions hence the observed problem (Tencati & Perrini, 2011). The strategies of the company are to incorporate the additional cost of meeting ethical requirements and corporate social responsibility in the final price to the consumer.Competitive strategies in various industries have gone beyond pricing. The cost of production remains a key factor in a firm’s profit level.

Ethical concern is cost related and remains a competitive dilemma among companies. Although the cost of corporate social responsibility affects the profits, it has long term benefits as far as market share is concerned (Tencati & Perrini, 2011). For profit companies can effectively balance ethical practices with competition. The consumer community is aware of the ethical practices hence significantly influence the performance of the firm. This was evident when the world frowned against the BP oil over its environmental degradation on the spill.

This means strategic costing and fair pricing would help address market size in the long run and compete favorably.The situation of BP oil would have been averted if the management had considered the high cost environment care option. The CEO would have opted for the expensive casing pipe as this would help reduce the risk significantly (Tencati & Perrini, 2011). It is evident that the wrong decision cost the firm its global image and subsequent slump in sales. The situation would have been prevented by insisting on ethical standards as a long term consumer focused strategy.

ReferenceTencati, A., & Perrini, F. (2011). Business Ethics and Corporate Sustainability. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub.