Texaco,chevron and the Ecuadorian Oil Crisis: How the Enviornmental Disaster Impacted on Mangerial Decision Making

Level One:

Pre-conventional Morality Stage 1: Punishment-Obedience Orientation

What is right and wrong is determined by what is punishable . Moral action is essential the avoidance of punishment.

Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation ( self interest driven )

What is right and wrong is determined bby what brings rewards and what people want. Other people's needs and wants come into the picture, but only in a reciprocal sense.

Level Two:

Conventional Morality Stage 3: Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation

( interpersonal accord and conformity drive)

Being moral is being a good person in your own eyes and those of others'. What the majority think is right by definition.

Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation ( authority and social order obedience driven)

Being good means doing ones duty, showing respect for authority and maintaining the social order. Laws are unquestionably accepted and obeyed.

Level Three:

Post-Conventional Morality Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation

Individuals are viewed as holding different views and opinions. Laws are regarded as social contracts rather than dictums.

Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle Orientation

Inner laws are determined by our inner conscience and may or may not be in agreement with public opinion or society's laws.

Source: Based on Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development – Explained and Illustrated from http://www.vtaide.com/blessing/Kohlberg.htm accessed on 14.02.12

Stakeholder pressure to better address and manage ethical dilemmas has encouraged a change of thinking within Chevron's management team. This has been demonstrated through the creation of ‘ The Chevron Way' . Terlblanche (2008) concludes that The Chevron Way is an example of Chevron's management, successfully adopting an ultilitarian approach to ethics, suggesting that there has been a shift from a more individualistic view taken by Texaco management during the later half of the twentieth century. The value Chevron places on the development and extensive promotion of The Chevron Way also highlights the role external stakeholders, like mass media, can have in influencing a company's managerial and business practices. Considering the established organisational culture at Texaco/ Chevron it is clear that the company