Abstract
Before Robert Horton took over as CEO and Chairman of British Petroleum (BP) in 1990, the company's situation was difficult in terms of the lack of clearness of mission and strategic policy within the top 150 managers surveyed at the beginning of 1989. This survey revealed the managers feeling in relation to the company's structure, which obstructed collaboration and operational flexibility within different business (White 1992).
Additionally in the late 1980s, BP was described as a politicized, top-heavy bureaucracy, administrated throughout by a burdensome matrix structure. An example of this is the 15 signatures required before of any financial proposals could be accepted; also the working hours of top executives were absorbed in meetings of 86 committees (Roberts 2005).
When Horton took over the company's control, he announced the Project 1990, whose main objectives were to reduce organizational complexity in order to develop the speed and effectiveness of managerial decision-making, redesign the central organization, and cost reduction. This last goal was achieved thought the transfer of authority for numerous decisions, from the corporate centre to the business streams. During this process, management positions were eliminated, and office staff was reduced by over 80 percent (Roberts 2005).
Horton's plan to change the company culture from one of secrecy to one of openness was depicted by the acronym named OPEN, meaning: openness, personal impact, empowerment and networking (Varey 1997). Though the changes above were necessary, the plan introduced by Robert Horton was not completed under his management. He was replaced by David Simon who continued the transformation at BP but in a different leadership style.
