Nicholas Bate:Get a Life : Setting your 'Life Compass' for Success
- Paperback 2010, ISBN: 9781841126487
Hardcover
McGraw-Hill Education. Very Good. 6.3 x 1.01 x 9.3 inches. Hardcover. 2010. 304 pages. <br>The definitive account of how BP's win-at-all-cost s culture led to this era's gre… More...
McGraw-Hill Education. Very Good. 6.3 x 1.01 x 9.3 inches. Hardcover. 2010. 304 pages. <br>The definitive account of how BP's win-at-all-cost s culture led to this era's greatest industrial catastrophe A ca refully and powerfully written story. Financial Times When an a uthor uses a loaded word like 'reckless' in a book's title, the b urden of proof is high. . . . Steffy meets the burden by demonstr ating that corporate behemoth BP (formerly British Petroleum) cou ld have prevented the 11 deaths on April 20, 2010, aboard the Dee pwater Horizon. . . .The deaths and the gigantic oil spill follow ing the sinking of Deepwater Horizon will surely become a landmar k of corporate ineptness and greed for the remainder of human his tory, thanks in part to Steffy's remarkable account. San Antonio Express-News Steffy has produced a fascinating, gripping, reveal ing account. . . . The book details events aboard the Deepwater H orizon in April of 2010 to start, but it digs deeper into what is revealed as a culture of cost-cutting boiling over within BP. St effy documents years of incidents and poor management decisions, detailing the rise of key characters like John Browne and Tony Ha yward alongside riveting outlines of horrifying events in Texas C ity and at other BP locations. . . .The book reads like fiction a t times, with the author's heavily-detailed accounts of explosion s and conversations creating vivid, nearly fantastical images. Th e tragic history of BP is all-too-real, though, as the lost lives and environmental damage certainly attest to.. . . Steffy is a t horough, straightforward author. His concerns largely lie with th e loss of life and the general culture of cost-cutting of BP, pai nting an apt and terrifying picture of rampant, steady, costly ne glect. Seattle Post Intelligencer Steffy provides valuable insig ht and crucial corporate context in explaining how so much oil en ded up in the Gulf of Mexico. BusinessWeek [Steffy's] investigat ions reveal a corporate culture of cost-cutting initiatives that put profits ahead of workers' lives and the environment, with rep eated safety violations and an abysmal accident history. . . . St effy details how, in the context of BP's record, the disaster was just part of a pattern of poor decision making in the relentless pursuit by BP to become the largest and most profitable oil comp any in the world. Booklist About the Book As night settled on A pril 20, 2010, a series of explosions rocked Deepwater Horizon, t he immense semisubmersible drilling platform leased by British Pe troleum, located 40 miles off the Louisiana coast. The ensuing in ferno claimed 11 lives, and it would rage uncontained for two day s, until its wreckage sank to a final resting place nearly a mile beneath the waves. On the ocean floor, the unit's wellhead erupt ed. Over the next ten weeks, as repeated attempts to cap the geys er failed, an estimated 200 million gallons of oil?the equivalent of 20 Exxon Valdez spills?spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, eventu ally lapping up on beaches as far away as Florida. Drowning in O il, by award-winning Houston Chronicle business reporter and colu mnist Loren Steffy?considered by many to be the writer with the b est access to the story?is an unprecedented and gripping narrativ e of this catastrophe and how BP's winner-take-all business cultu re made it all but inevitable. Through never-before-published in terviews with BP executives and employees, environmental experts, and oil industry insiders, Steffy takes us behind the scenes of 100 years of BP corporate history. Beginning with the conglomerat e's early gambits in the Middle East to its recent ascent among e nergy titans, Steff unearths the roots of the Gulf oil spill in t he unwritten bargain between oil producers and consumers, whose i nsatiable appetites drive the search for new supplies faster, far ther, and deeper. Beyond this, the Deepwater Horizon disaster to ok place after a history of cost cutting in pursuit of profits, p articularly under the guidance of its two most recent ex-CEOs, Jo hn Browne and Anthony Hayward. Exhaustively researched and docum ented, Drowning in Oil is the first in-depth examination of how a lack of corporate responsibility and government oversight led to the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. It is an objecti ve, no-punches-pulled account of the energy industry: its environ mental impact and the intense competition among stakeholders in t oday's oil markets. This book puts all the pieces together, offe ring a definitive account of BP's pursuit of outsized profits as the industrial world awakens to the grim realities of Peak Oil. They fumbled around the darkened room and found an instruction ma nual. By flashlight, they read the starting procedures. They were doing everything right. After five or six futile tries, they gav e up and headed back toward the bridge. Back on the bridge, alarm s were shrieking and the captain knew they were running out of ti me. The subsea engineer had hit the emergency disconnect for the well, and although the control panel showed the rig should be fre e, it wasn't. The hydraulics were dead. Fire continued to shoot f rom the top of the derrick. The rig had no power, and without pow er, it had no pumps for the firefighting equipment, no way to shu t off the flow of gas from the well, and no way to disconnect the rig from the flaming umbilical that had it tethered to the wellh ead. ?from Drowning in Oil Editorial Reviews From Booklist Stef fy, business columnist for the Houston Chronicle, first began cov ering British Petroleum in 2005 after the deadly explosion at the ir Texas City refinery killed 15 people and injured 170 others. H is investigations reveal a corporate culture of cost-cutting init iatives that put profits ahead of workers? lives and the environm ent, with repeated safely violations and an abysmal accident hist ory. As we all watched helplessly for three months while the Deep water Horizon oil spill leaked millions of gallons of oil into th e Gulf of Mexico, we were led to believe that the disaster could not have been foreseen. Steffy details how, in the context of BP? s record, the disaster was just part of a pattern of poor decisio n making in the relentless pursuit by BP to become the largest an d most profitable oil company in the world. When the Deepwater Ho rizon well was finally killed for good in September 2010, the wor ld barely took notice. BP CEO Tony Hayward, who never stood amid the charred rubble and burned flesh of his own decisions, has res igned, but Steffy sees few signs of major reform at the company. --David Siegfried From the Publisher Loren C. Steffy is the busi ness columnist for the Houston Chronicle. He has been recognized by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the Asso ciated Press Managing Editors, the Houston Press Club, and other societies and organizations. In addition, his work has been cited in publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Po st Online, and Texas Monthly, and he's made numerous appearances on CNBC, FOX News, MSNBC, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and Court TV. He lives in The Woodlands, Texas. About the Author Loren C. Steffy is the business columnist for the Houston Chronicle. He h as been recognized by the Society of American Business Editors an d Writers, the Associated Press Managing Editors, the Houston Pre ss Club, and other societies and organizations. In addition, his work has been cited in publications, including the New York Times , the Washington Post Online, and Texas Monthly, and he's made nu merous appearances on CNBC, FOX News, MSNBC, The NewsHour with Ji m Lehrer, and Court TV. He lives in The Woodlands, Texas. ., McGraw-Hill Education, 2010, 3, Capstone, Great Britain, 2005. Trade Paperback. Very Good Condition/No Dust Jacket. Get a Life focuses on raising self-awareness and finding proactive ways to improve your life.Guides you through six key areas of your life: Career, Mind/Body, Finance, Relationships, Fun and Contribution.Features text case studies and challenge points all designed to help you get to the heart of what it is that motivates you and what you wish to achieve.Challenges you to reflect upon the way you think and behave and provides strategies for implementing changes. "Get a Life adds new and compelling dimensions to the idea of personal effectiveness both at work and at home. It balances some 'killer app' personal productivity tools alongside tremendous insights to manage your life goals and excellent advice on physical and mental well-being to achieve a winning performance-indispensable." Mike Dunlop, HR Mananger, Sun Microsystems 166 pages. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: Self Help::Motivational; Self Help & Motivation; ISBN: 1841126489. ISBN/EAN: 9781841126487. Inventory No: 238080. . 9781841126487, Capstone, 2005, 3<
