From NI Week: Execs Say Culture to Blame for BP Spill

A dysfunctional relationship between engineers andmanagement may have been the biggest culprit behind the British Petroleum oilspill in April, founders of National InstrumentsCorp. said yesterday.

Speaking toa NIWeek 2010 press gathering, foundersJames Truchard and Jeff Kodosky said that BP's restrictive culture may havediscouraged engineers from delivering bad news about the company's blowoutprevention measures prior to the accident.

"Managementplayed a key role in the way they handled quality and safety," said Truchard,who serves as president and CEO of NI, a maker of automated test equipment."When the environment is constrained, you can run into trouble, and I thinkthat's what happened there."

"The BPcrisis reminded me of the (Space Shuttle) Challenger explosion in that theengineers knew what was going on, but the relationship between them andmanagement was dysfunctional," added Kodosky, who is a Business and TechnologyFellow for NI.

Thecomments by Truchard and Kodosky mirror those from numerous news agencies thathave examined BP's corporate culture. In June, TheWall Street Journal reported that BP's in-house magazine actually triedto make a case for the bright side of the oil spill. "Muchof the region's (nonfishing boat) businesses - particularly the hotels - havebeen prospering because so many people have come here from BP and other oilemergency response teams," the in-house magazine wrote. Other news stories havealso detailed an internal BP culture that promotes a rosy view of its issues.

Kodosky said yesterday that corporations needto be vigilant in keeping the lines of communications open with employees. "Ifyou have an environment where failure is punished, you're going to haveproblems," he said. "You have to be able to tolerate bad news."