Building Organisational Resilience: BHP Billiton - Research Paper Example

The paper "Building Organisational Resilience: BHP Billiton" is a great example of a Management research paper. This report proposes a theoretical model for BHP Billiton geared towards building change readiness in the company through appropriate organisational culture and practices. Foremost, the report has identified and analysed some of the major change challenges facing BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton is multinational oil, gas, and mining company that faces numerous challenges that have come as a result of changes in both the local and global markets. The current business environment demands that companies should respond to changes in the business environments that they operate in by employing sustainable business practices (Jacobsen 2011). Due to the nature of the industry that the company operates in, some of the key challenges that BHP Billiton faces revolve around the recruitment and retention of highly skilled personnel, health and safety uncertainties of its operations, a negative corporate image and ineffective strategic capabilities in the management of the natural environment.

• Secondly, based on the identified change challenges, a model for building change readiness and resilience has been discussed in-depth in this report. The model is based on a resource-based view of organisation culture and practices. In principle, the model proposes that the company should focus on employee motivation, empowerment, and engagement in order to ensure continuous supply of highly skilled personnel. Furthermore, the model recommends that the company should conduct regular risk assessments to identify possible environmental, health, and safety risks. In addition to this, the model accentuates the need for the company to build a positive corporate image through effective consultation, communication, and participation in community-based forums and programs.
• Introduction

BHP Billiton is among the leading diversified resources multinational companies in the world that specialises in oil, mining, and gas. The company particularly focuses on oil extraction, processing of natural gases, and the mining of aluminum, gold, coal, iron, diamond, and bauxite among many other metals. The company’s headquarters are based in Australia and the United Kingdom, the company also has its operating bases in over 25 countries with an estimate of about 100, 000 employees around the world (BHP Billiton 2012; Howard & Merrett 2007). As a company operating in the oil, mining and gas industry, BHP faces many challenges relating to its strategic and operational business practices and its public image. For instance, due to the nature of the industries that the company operates in and its wide operation base, some of the major operational challenges facing BHP Billiton include; recruitment and retention of professional and highly experienced personnel, ineffective strategic capabilities in the management of the natural environment and health and safety uncertainties of its operations. On the other hand, some of the challenges that the company faces in relation to its public image include; a wary corporate reputation and external pressures from the media and the society (Hanson & Stuart 2001; Hosking 2005). In addition to this, the company faces strategic challenges revolving around the implementation of sustainable business practices particularly in relation to resource allocation and utilization following the introduction of new government regulations on sustainable business practice (Jia 2009).

Over the years, it has become evident that in order for any business to survive and maintain its competitive edge in the market or enhance its profitability, it must be responsive to changes in its environment. In his theory of “Natural Selection,” Charles Darwin suggested, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” (Stamatis 2011, p.73). This sentiment is profoundly true for companies operating in today’s competitive business environment. The current business environment demands that companies should respond to changes in the business environments that they operate in by employing sustainable business practices (Jacobsen 2011).