On April 20, 2010, British Petroleum (BP) became largely responsible for the worst oil spill in history when one of its off-shore drilling rigs exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. One month later, the spill still had not been contained when BP's Top Kill procedure failed to stop the leak. The oil spill had already begun to reach the shores along the Gulf Coast, and a critical issue of concern was the cleanup. The estimated cost of the cleanup was billions of dollars.
Now, imagine the task force that comes together to discuss the cleanup procedures, and the decisions they would have to make. Who pays for the cost of the cleanup? Where does it begin? What methods will be used to clean up the oil? What is the environmental impact? Imagine that the task force consists of top executives from BP, as well as the experts who designed the equipment and drilled the wells. Also, part of this task force would be people from government regulators, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, among others.
When making the decision about the cleanup, the task force decides that all decisions must be agreed upon unanimously. In other words, the decision would be made by
Multiple Choice
majority rule.
consensus.