SHELL vs
BP
Once upon a time,
Shell and B.P. decided to have a boat race on the
B.P. won by a mile.
Afterwards, the
Shell team became very discouraged by the loss and the morale sagged.
Senior Management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to
be found and a Project Team was set up to investigate the problem and
recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion: The problem was the B.P. team had eight people rowing and one person steering. Shell had one person rowing and eight people steering.
Senior Management immediately hired a firm of consultants to do a study of the team structure. Thousands of pounds and several months later the consultants concluded that too many people were steering and not enough rowing.
To prevent losing to B.P. again next year, the team structure changed to Four Senior Managers (Steering), Three Senior Managers (Steering Policy) and One Senior Manager (Management Implementation Steering). A new “Quality” Performance System was set up for the person rowing the boat to give more incentive to work harder and become a valued member of the team.
“We must give him Empowerment and Enrichment. That ought to do it.”
The next year B.P. won by two miles.
Shell sacked the rower for poor performance, sold off all the paddles, halted the development of a new canoe, re-engaged the consultants at a higher fee and distributed the money saved to Senior Management as Improved Performance Related Pay.
