BP oil company Knowledge management - Assignment Example

This is then followed by a discussion on Knowledge management leadership provision and the research reveals that mid-level BP leadership together with excellence coordinators are responsible for tracking dialogue and knowledge exchange initiatives. The paper also contains an extensive assessment of learning cycle, and this illustrates that the learning sequence is prior to, during and subsequent to any experience and is supported by straightforward process tools. The paper recommends that it is crucial for BP to facilitate sharing of knowledge within its highest quality, in order not to sacrifice integrity of the company and the entire knowledge management system.

The group needs to assign more individuals who will be responsible for reviewing, approving and enhancing quality of knowledge and learning cycle before it is shared to other personnel. However, the paper acknowledges that knowledge and learning scheme at BP has resulted in gains amounting to more than hundreds of billions of dollars mostly due to informal personnel networks, in addition to supplementary workplace practices. Introduction BP is among the world leading global oil and Gas Company and it offers its clients with energy for transportation, retail services plus petrochemicals products.

The company makes annual sales and additional operating revenues amounting to $375,517 million as of last year. BP has over 83.400 employees spread in over 30 nations with retail sites totalling 21800 (BP Global, 2012). The company has two business segments, which are exploration, production/ refining and Marketing. However, a detached business referred to as, Alternative Energy deals with low-carbon businesses as well as future growth alternatives of oil and gas, such as solar, wind, hydrogen, and bio-fuels.

The company business activities are structured into four key areas, comprising the upstream, the downstream, the chemicals, and the gas and power divisions. They all add up to around 150 self-directed business units.  BP organizational structure has changed considerably to be more of an entrepreneurial emphasized business unit. Thus, the company board sets up the goals, come up with broader policy measures, and monitors the group CEO performance (Groot, 2009). However, the board does not manage the group businesses, but it delegates responsibility and executive authority to a single point, that of the CEO who is then responsible for refining and marketing affairs.

The argument by BP is that a flat organization enables faster decisions making, and at the same time encourages entrepreneurial creativity from its employees along with ideas being managed better. Below the chief executive officer there is the group vice president along with the senior group vice president in charge of safety and operations, and below them there are regional vice presidents whereby individuals such as refinery managers report directly to them. Thus, every business unit contains a high level of independence.

nevertheless they all share logic of interdependence, in addition to awareness that so as to fulfil their performance goals they will have to become skilled at both from and by each-other. The central corporate organization helps and supports individual business units, and as such individual performance contracts play a crucial role. This brings out commitment to a set of