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Like most Americans, I’m horrified and sickened by the disaster in the Gulf (which is not, as some seem to think, a “natural” disaster). And I’m enraged by BP’s response.

BP CEO Tony Hayward’s performance this week in front of Congress provided further proof of BP’s sociopathic inability to empathize with the incalculable destruction the company has wrought–the deaths of 11 people and injuries of 17, the destruction of livelihoods, and the massive killing of wildlife and fouling of the ocean and wetlands. My heart aches as I write these words and consider what is continuing to happen.

In the June 9-22 edition of Knowledge@Wharton, two management professors — Hamid Bouchikhi of the ESSEC Business School in France and John R. Kimberly of the Wharton School — share their recommendations for what BP should have done. And they know what they’re talking about. They wrote a book on how BP handled the 2005 oil spill at the Texas City refinery. The company apparently learned nothing from the 2005 experience, nor from the actions of other companies when faced with crises of their own making.

One of the most interesting recommendations they make is that BP should have acknowledged its moral responsibility first, before dealing with legal liabilities. Taking moral responsibility for one’s actions–what a novel idea!

They also point out how Perrier took responsibility and showed they cared about their customers when they recalled all product in 1990 when traces of benzene were found. “While the recall hurt the company’s sales and market share badly, its broad and dramatic action showed that it cared more about its customers’ health and its reputation with them than about immediate sales and profits.” And they ask the question that we have all been asking:

“When are BP managers going to show that they too care as much about the environment and the communities as they do about profitability? “

It’s a question that all businesses, and we who are shareholders, need to be asking.

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