Mission "trust".

Choudhary, Amod

INTRODUCTION

The late 2009 and most of 2010 was an unforgettable one for Toyota and BP. Toyota was accused of either stalling or not being fully truthful about accidents allegedly caused by faulty accelerators in their automobiles. By fall of 2010, Toyota had recalled approximately 8.5 million cars and trucks that could speed up and lose control due to gas pedals jamming or being stuck under floor mats (Tabuchi, 2010). Toyota's problems worsened because the CEO only acknowledged the accidents associated with accelerators some six months after the alleged problems were reported to the company. For reasons unknown--most likely the fear of potential legal liability--Toyota chose to not acknowledge the accelerator problems earlier. The result was that by February 2010, Toyota's once great engineering reputation was replaced by that of a company that is untrustworthy and one that puts profits before safety.

In spring of 2010, BP's oil rig--Deepwater Horizon--caused an explosion of an oil well in Gulf of Mexico that is now considered the worst oil spill in history of United States (Goodman, 2010). After the accident, BP took inordinate time in taking responsibility for the oil explosion, and blamed its subcontractor for the explosion. Meanwhile, the oil leaked for a much longer period than anticipated. By the time the oil leak was stopped, BP replaced its chairman and its reputation as an environmental visionary was destroyed. The accident also cost BP billions of dollars in oil cleanup and lost shareholder value (Goodman, 2010).

In March 2008, Bear Stearns--an 85 year old investment firm--was forced to sell to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., when within 72 hours Bear Stearns went from being liquid to illiquid (Kelly, 2009). When the Chief Executive of Bear Stearns announced the sale of Bear Stearns to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., he stated it was the right thing to do. The assumption being that the Bear Stearns CEO meant that the sale was beneficial for shareholders, employees and the management under the difficult circumstances. Around the same time, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, followed by acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America later in the year. All three of these venerable Wall Street firms were victims of so-called toxic mortgage-backed securities. In addition, Citigroup also faced illiquidity due to toxic mortgage-backed securities on its balance sheet. In Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch's case, their problems stemmed from few high-level employees making big bets on mortgage-backed securities that resulted in big profits in the short run and financial ruin in the long term. More importantly, these high-level employees acted in their self-interest, and not necessarily in the interest of other stakeholders of the organization.

Approximately ten years ago; Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, WorldCom, and HealthSouth Corporation either went bankrupt or suffered heavy financial losses due to the malfeasance of their senior managers. In essence, the officers of these corporations acted in their self-interest rather than of shareholders. Toyota & BP severely harmed their reputation by not communicating truthfully, the Enrons and Tycos of the world made malfeasance a common thing, and the financial firms such as Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers took catastrophic risks with the investors' money and other stakeholders trust. Ultimately, all these organizations are grouped in the whirlpool of organizations that betrayed the trust of general public, media and most importantly their shareholders. This paper analyzes the Mission Statements of these firms and the Mission Statements of Fortune magazine top 20 most admired companies in the world. It also recommends modification of Mission Statements so that they become a guiding document for navigating through life threating corporate crises.

DISCUSSION

While managing an organization during tranquil period is not necessarily easy, during a crisis the risks of decisions made increases exponentially. Experts have described a crisis as "situations that are unwanted, unexpected, unprecedented, and almost unmanageable and that cause widespread disbelief and uncertainty" (Boin, 2004). Crisis faced by BP certainly meets this definition. However, what happened to Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, Toyota, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers only meet certain parts of the above definition. The public relations crisis for Toyota was self-inflicted in sense that a problem of that magnitude would eventually find its way through to media. Toyota made it worse by not giving a timely and appropriate response. The problems faced by Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, WorldCom, and HealthSouth Corporation were expected since wrongdoing on their balance sheets--mainly by accounting gimmickry--was bound to be discovered. Unfortunately, for the stockholders and regulators, the extent of the malfeasance was unprecedented and unfathomable. Maybe a more suitable definition of a crisis given that there have been scandals involving corporations at least since the late 1800s (Jensen, n.d.) would be "an unstable period, esp of extreme trouble or danger" (Dictionary.com, 2011). Thus, in a nutshell, a crisis is an extremely troubling time wherein the survival of an organization is at stake.

Experts of crisis management agree that during a crisis the organization needs to communicate. This becomes crucial for publicly owned organizations since the value of their stocks depend critically on the public and financial markets' perception. This is even more perilous in the age of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other 24x7 media sources. Financial firms such Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers could not survive the negative impact of toxic mortgage-backed securities they were saddled with on their balance sheets. Mortgage-Backed Securities are debt obligations that represent claims to the cash flows from pools of mortgage loans, most commonly on residential property (Mortgage-Backed Securities, n.d.). When the U.S. housing industry crashed, the value of the mortgage-backed securities similarly plunged. A perfect example of detrimental impact of negative news related to mortgage-backed securities on stock price was the free fall in stock prices of Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. Bear Stearns's stock price was $170 per share around March 2007 (Shan, 2008), then a year later on March 12, 2008 at $61.58, followed by March 13, 2008 at $57, March 14, 2008 at $37 and finally when acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on March 16, 2008 at $2 per share (Legal Help for Bear Stearns Investors, 2011). Essentially, "the firm spiraled from being healthy to practically insolvent in about 72 hours" (Kelly, 2009). Similarly, although not as dramatic, Merrill Lynch's stock went from $63.34 per share (Rosenbush, 2007) to $17.05 in early October 2007, and then to $29 when sold to Bank of America in fall of 2009 (Bank of America to Purchase Merrill Lynch, 2008). Thus, information disseminated through traditional media, social networks on the Internet (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to name a few) and gossip coupled with lack of proper response by an affected organization can have a crippling impact on the financial and goodwill value of the organization.

More recently, BP and Toyota experienced sharp decline in their stock values. BP's shares were trading at $52.15 per share when the Deepwater Horizon caused a huge oil fire in the Gulf of Mexico. Between the day of the fire until the time the oil well was capped, the BP shares had lost approximately 55% of its value and settled at $29.35 (BP stock chart, 2011). When Toyota's problems with accelerators became public, its shares went from $84 in September 2009 to $ 75 a month later (Toyota stock chart, 2011). Matters worsened for Toyota because it never took direct responsibility for the problems and was ultimately fined about $48.8 million by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration for not reporting the defects and fixing them (Valdes-Dapena, 2011). However, BP and Toyota have managed to survive their respective crises. Unfortunately, throughout fall of 2009 and early 2010, Toyota continued to mishandle the communication aspect of this issue and in turn completely tarnished its image.

This begs the question; if communicating the truth is so critical why do so many of the organizations mishandle it? Various experts have come up with their recommendations as it pertains to crisis communication. A common suggestion has been to disclose the bad news immediately, take responsibility and get back to doing what the company does best and try to fix the underlying problem (Goodman, 2010). Another expert states "get your message out first and repeat it over and over again--containing facts, facts, facts ..." (Zahorsky, 2010). Yet another expert states that in this day of blogs, and social media, "active listening is paramount, and engagement is the new currency for securing customer loyalty" (Cunningham & Hunt, 2010). Another advice during a crisis is to address the problem and provide direction as to what is being done to fix the problem (Ordonez, 2010). Probably the best strategy is to respond immediately and proactively in an honest manner, making sure that the cause of the problem is thoroughly investigated, and corrected, so that the same error never occurs again (Lentini, 2009).

However, it is very difficult to communicate truthfully, accept responsibility, or even be sympathetic to customers and other stakeholders due to the certainty of lawsuits. Essentially, there is a conflicting agenda pursued by and between the executives of an organization. Put differently, "[communication strategists are inclined to mollify public anger with expressions of concerns, while lawyers warn that contrition can be construed as admission of guilt in potentially expensive lawsuits" (Goodman, 2010). The result is that by delaying truthful information, the public and important stakeholders lose trust and any residual sympathy for the organization. Obfuscations also seems to imply that the organization--especially in BP and Toyota's case-places more emphasis on saving money (cutting corners during safety R&D) rather than on safety.

While a lawsuit is inevitable, it is still good idea to satisfy the other stakeholders such as the shareholders, the financial markets, media, the general public and the environmentalists. If these stakeholders are somewhat satisfied, the damage to the organization's reputation (and the share value) will not be a colossus one. Few experts advise that depending on the situation, the organizational response can be tailored to minimize legal liability. Johar, Birk & Einwiller (2010), recommend that: (i) if the brand is at fault and the crisis is severe, come clean quickly, (ii) if the brand is not at fault but the crisis is severe, defend yourself, (iii) if the accusation against the brand is not true and not severe, denial is a useful strategy, and (iv) in normal, noncrisis times, work to bolster your image and enhance consumers' brand identification.

Ultimately, it can be argued that since a crisis is a life and death situation in this world of hyperactive media, crisis navigation should become an integral part of management, and should be actively planned for. In order to ensure that the crisis plan is implemented, it should become part of an organization's Mission/Vision/Value Statement.

Mission/Vision/Value Statement

An organization's mission, vision and value may be defined to mean the same thing. Sometimes organizations use the Credo or Code of Ethics/Conduct to also mean the same thing. However, academicians tend to delineate the meanings of these terms. Generally, a Mission Statement means "what is our business" while the Vision Statement means "what do we want to become (David, 2010). Others have stated that Vision and Values "set forth lofty goals and bedrock beliefs" to "please investors and customers ... and supports employee morale by reminding one and all that the company strives to do good, not just well" (Kunen, 2002). A manager states that to him, Vision is "who we are and what we are trying to do" (Langeler, 1992). In more practical terms "Vision is important in establishing the purpose of the enterprise: coordinate people actions and efforts; inspire and invite commitment; create future of the company" and Mission is "communication with external publics and motivate employees internally" (Verma, 2009-10).

Others somewhat mingle the delineation between Mission and Vision by stating that Mission "must answer fundamental questions why a company is in business, and what it wants to become and how growth is to be achieved," while Vision "involves answering questions about your identity as to who you are, where you are headed or going and what are your guiding values (emphasis added)" (Verma, 2009-10). Thus, it seems that the Vision and Mission are frequently combined to mean the same thing. My review of Mission Statements of twenty-six organizations shows that they may be combined or be separate. Practically all these statements provide guidance to various stakeholders, as to their organization's philosophies, core values, businesses and quality of treatment of their employees, customers and the environment. Finally, according to David (2010), a good Mission Statement "should reveal an organization's customers, products or services, markets, technology, concern for survival (emphasis added), growth, profitability, philosophy, self-concept, concern for public image, and concern for employees" (King, Case & Premo, 2010). If concern for survival and public image is part of an organization's mission then it is self evident that a crisis has a bearing on the survival and public image of an organization. Thus, to increase the probability of survival during a crisis, an organization's Mission/Vision/Value Statement should also include a crisis management component.

My research showed that in managing a crisis, only the managers of Verizon--a communication company--and Odwalla--a juice company--knew that their company's Values provided crisis guidance. At Odwalla, after its apple juices were recalled due to E. coli infection, its managers looked at "[their] values; honesty, integrity, respect. It was pretty easy to know what our next step would be" (Dimond, 1997). To the Odwalla managers it meant acting quickly and communicating openly during a crisis. At Verizon, their Values meant absolute commitment to serving customers and community in everything they did in the evacuation of their offices near the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 (Lee, n.d.). Although, Odwalla and Verizon executives knew what to do during a crisis, it seems that other managers either choose not to or do not know what to do during a crisis. A recent good example of crisis management has been the actions taken by Qantas Airlines. Immediately after the engine (manufactured by Rolls-Royce PLC) of one its A380s exploded, Qantas grounded all six of its A380s jetliners (Kelly & Critchlow, 2010). The Qantas CEO stated that immediately after he found out about the accident, he and his team went to the emergency and crisis executive center, and a few days after boosted Qantas' social media presence. He acknowledged that with greater communication through social media network such as Facebook and tweets, they managed to stop rumors before they became stories on the news networks.

Examples of Mission/Vision/Value/ and Credo of some Prominent Companies

Table 1 below provides a summary of Mission/Vision/Value Statement/Values/ Credo/Business Principles (together Mission Statement) of Fortune magazine's top 20 world's most admired companies in 2010. Table 2 provides the same information for some of the tarnished companies.

An analysis of the above Mission Statements shows that all organizations care about honesty, integrity, employees, business partners, preservation of natural resources and complying with the spirit and language of law where they conduct their businesses. Unfortunately, this is not surprising at all. Even the much maligned but now defunct Enron Corporation's CEO discusses these high ethical standards in its Code of Ethics (Lay, 2000). At best, all of the Mission Statements seem hollow, because during a crisis the organization seems to ignore them. In order to avoid a total meltdown of the organization during a crisis, what is needed is a crisis statement/plan in place so that the senior executives will not have to mull over and decide the finer points of integrity, honesty and accountability. A Mission Statement embedded with a crisis statement would be something that is literally right in front of the managers. Legally, having the crisis statement may expose the organization to liability if the managers chose to ignore it. However, having an implemented crisis statement/plan would help defend any future lawsuits and prevent erosion of stakeholder trust and loss in stock value. The more robust Mission Statement would be very beneficial for the organization in the long run.

Then, the next step is to determine the main components of a Crisis Statement/Plan. First, the crisis statement should be part of (or clearly embedded in) the Mission Statement. Second, it should state that contents of any communication via any medium to stakeholders will be truthful, balanced, and disseminated regularly and proactively. Third, the organization will fix the problem so that similar occurrence/error does not repeat. Fourth, the organization will have a crisis plan--a natural extension of the crisis statement--that is updated, tested and practiced (like a fire drill) to the extent possible. Finally, the CEO in the spirit of Sarbanes and Oxley should sign the crisis statement/plan as well. Only then, the stakeholders will regain trust in and deposit their life savings in our venerable organizations.

CONCLUSION

An analysis of the "crises" of some prominent companies shows that during a crisis, the top management was ill prepared to disseminate potentially harmful information to its stakeholders or was itself the wrongdoer. Since a crisis has huge impact on the survival of an organization, it is crucial that a crisis plan be part of an organization's Mission Statement. The Mission Statement should essentially state that the organization will communicate truthfully, and frequently with its stakeholders; and work towards a permanent fix for the problem(s) in order to maintain the good name and market value of the organization during any crisis.

The crisis plan is crucial in this day of hypermedia where whispers about an organization's poor balance sheet, or any bad news can have a devastating impact on its corporate valuation. The untimely and the quick demise of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch shows that the senior management must have a crisis plan or risk oblivion in face of mounting bad news reported by traditional and social media.

REFERENCES

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Amod Choudhary, City University of New York, Lehman College

Table 1: Summary of Mission Statements for
Fortune Top 20 World's Most Admired Companies

                                                       Crisis
                                              Management Component in
   Company          Mission Statement          the Mission Statement

Apple           Mission--Apple designs       No.
                Macs, the best personal
                computers in the world,
                along with OS X, iLife,
                iWork, and professional
                software. Apple leads the
                digital music revolution
                with its iPods and iTunes
                online store. Apple
                reinvented the mobile
                phone with its
                revolutionary iPhone and
                App Store, and has
                recently introduced its
                magical iPad which is
                defining the future of
                mobile media and computing
                devices.

Google          Mission--organize the        No. However, the code of
                world's information and      conduct does state that
                make it universally          Google will follow law,
                accessible and useful.       and act honorably.

                Code of Conduct--Don't be
                evil." Googlers generally
                apply those words to how
                we serve our users. But
                "Don't be evil" is much
                more than that. Yes, it's
                about providing our users
                unbiased access to
                information, focusing on
                their needs and giving
                them the best products and
                services that we can. But
                it's also about doing the
                right thing more
                generally--following the
                law, acting honorably and
                treating each other with
                respect.

Berkshire       Mission--strive to be        No.
Hathaway        premier insurance carrier
                in our chosen markets by
                providing compassionate
                care to injured workers,
                superior service to our
                policyholders and producer
                clients.

Johnson &       Credo--first                 No. However states that we
Johnson         responsibility is to the     must protect the
                doctors, nurses and          environment and natural
                patients, mothers and        resources. Also,
                fathers and all others who   management's actions
                use our product and          should be just and
                services. We must be good    ethical.
                citizens, and responsible
                to communities in which we
                work and to the world
                community as well.

Amazon.com      Vision--to be earth's most   No.
                customer centric company;
                to build a place where
                people can come to find
                and discover anything they
                might want to buy online.

Proctor &       Purpose--to provide          No. However wants to be a
Gamble          branded products and         good citizen and superior
                services of superior         relationships with all its
                quality and value that       partners including
                improve the lives of the     governments. Also
                world's consumers, now and   emphasizes trust between
                for generations to come.     people.
                As a result, consumers
                will reward us with
                leadership sales, profit
                and value creation,
                allowing our people, our
                shareholders and the
                communities in which we
                live and work to prosper.

                Values--Integrity,
                Leadership, Ownership,
                Passion for Winning, and
                Trust.

Toyota Motors   Vision--to be the leading    No. However, suppose to
                company in town, and to      honor the language and
                care about the local         spirit of law in every
                community and be a welcome   nation in its Guiding
                part of it and to share a    Principles.
                common future together.

                Mission--to help build the
                world of tomorrow and
                create a place for itself
                in this future.

Goldman Sachs   Our principal assets are     No. However, emphasizes
Group           our people, capital and      integrity and honesty in
                reputation. We are           its business.
                committed to maintaining a
                culture of diversity,
                integrity and strong
                business principles. One
                of the Business
                Principles-Integrity and
                honesty are at the heart
                of our business. We expect
                our people to maintain
                high ethical standards in
                everything they do, both
                in their work for the firm
                and in their personal
                lives.

Wal-Mart        Mission--we save people      No.
Stores          money so they can live
                better.

Coca-Cola       Mission--to refresh the      No. However, "be real" for
                world ... to inspire         integrity and be
                moments of optimism and      accountable for actions
                happiness ... to create      and inactions.
                value and make a
                difference.

                Vision--people; portfolio;
                partners; planet-Be a
                responsible citizen that
                makes a difference by
                helping build and support
                sustainable communities;
                Profit; Productivity.

Microsoft       Mission--to enable people    No. However, emphasizes
                and businesses throughout    integrity, honesty, and
                the world to realize their   accountability.
                full potential.

                Vision--to create
                innovative technology that
                is accessible to everyone
                and that adapts to each
                person's needs. Accessible
                technology eliminates
                barriers for people with
                disabilities and it
                enables individuals to
                take full advantage of
                their capabilities.

                Values--as a company, and
                as individuals, we value
                integrity, honesty,
                openness, personal
                excellence, constructive
                self-criticism, continual
                self-improvement, and
                mutual respect. We are
                committed to our customers
                and partners and have a
                passion for technology. We
                take on big challenges,
                and pride ourselves on
                seeing them through. We
                hold ourselves accountable
                to our customers,
                shareholders, partners,
                and employees by honoring
                our commitments, providing
                results, and striving for
                the highest quality.

Southwest       Mission--dedication to the   No. However, states that
Airlines        highest quality of           it is dedicated to do the
                Customer Service delivered   right thing, ensure safety
                with a sense of warmth,      and foster trusting
                friendliness, individual     relationship with our
                pride, and Company Spirit.   planet.

FedEx           FedEx Corporation will       No. However, emphasizes
                produce superior financial   safety and high ethical
                returns for its              and professional standard
                shareowners by providing     of conduct.
                high value-added
                logistics, transportation
                and related information
                services through focused
                operating companies.
                Customer requirements will
                be met in the highest
                quality manner appropriate
                to each market segment
                served. FedEx Corporation
                will strive to develop
                mutually rewarding
                relationships with its
                employees, partners and
                suppliers. Safety will be
                the first consideration in
                all operations. Corporate
                activities will be
                conducted to the highest
                ethical and professional
                standards.

McDonald's      Mission--is to "be our       No. However, holds itself
                customers' favorite place    and conducts business to
                and way to eat."             high standards of
                                             fairness, honesty,
                Values--we place the         integrity, and
                customer experience at the   accountability.
                core of all we do; we are
                committed to our people;
                we believe in the
                McDonald's System; we
                operate our business
                ethically; we give back to
                our communities; we grow
                our business profitably;
                we strive continually to
                improve.

IBM             Values-dedication to every   No. However, trust and
                client's success;            responsibility in all
                innovation that matters,     relationships.
                for our company and for
                the world; trust and
                personal responsibility in
                all relationships.

General         Goals--to make money, make   No. However, emphasis on
Electric        it ethically (rigorous       integrity and ethics.
                compliance with financial
                and legal rules) and make
                a difference (ethical
                actions).

                CEO's Zetter--commitment
                to integrity, a commitment
                to performance and a
                commitment to learn and
                grow stronger.

3M              Values--act with             No. However, emphasizes
                uncompromising honesty and   honesty and integrity in
                integrity in everything we   everything they do.
                do; satisfy our customers
                with innovative technology
                and superior quality,
                value and service; provide
                our investors an
                attractive return through
                sustainable, global
                growth; respect our social
                and physical environment
                around the world; value
                and develop our employees'
                diverse talents,
                initiative and leadership;
                earn the admiration of all
                those associated with 3M
                worldwide.

J.P. Morgan     Business Principles--        No. However, emphasis on
Chase           aspire to be the best;       integrity.
                execute superbly; build a
                great and winning culture
                (operate with the highest
                standards of integrity);
                train and retain great
                managers; be open and
                honest with ourselves, our
                colleagues, our
                shareholders and our
                communities; get
                incentives right; foster
                an environment of respect
                and inclusiveness; give
                back to our communities.

Walt Disney     Corporate Responsibility     No. However, emphasizes
                Objectives:                  safety and being a
                                             productive member of the
                Environment--we work to      society.
                embed good environmental
                stewardship in the
                Company's decision-making
                process from start to
                finish.

                Community--we aim to be a
                positive and productive
                members of the communities
                in which we work and live.

                Workplaces--we strive to
                foster safe, inclusive and
                respectful workplaces
                wherever we do business
                and wherever our products
                are safe.

                Contents and products--we
                seek to create content and
                products responsibly.

                Children and family--we
                strive to support the
                well-being of children and
                families.

Cisco Systems   Vision--changing the way     No. However, does mention
                we work, live, play and      trust/fairness/integrity
                learn.                       in its culture.

                Mission--to shape the
                future of the Internet by
                creating unprecedented
                value and opportunity for
                our customers, employees,
                investors and ecosystems
                partners.

Retrieved February 18, 2011 from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/
fortune/mostadmired/2010/full_list/. Mission and Vision retrieved
from each organization's website on February 18, 2011.

Table 2: Mission Statement of Tarnished Companies

                                          Crisis Management Component
Company         Mission Statement           in the Mission Statement

Enron      Vision--to become world's      Partially met. In one of its
           leading energy                 Values, Enron does state
           company-creating innovative    that communication and
           and efficient energy           listening is an obligation.
           solutions for growing          Although, it does not state
           economies and a better         the quality of communication
           environment worldwide.         and to whom that
           Values--respect;               communication is directed
           integrity--we work with        towards.
           customers and prospects,
           openly, honestly and
           sincerely ...;
           communication--we have an
           obligation to communicate.
           Here we take the time to
           talk with one another-and to
           listen. We believe that
           information is meant to move
           and that information moves
           people; excellence.

Lehman     Mission--our mission is to     No.
Brothers   build unrivaled partnerships
           with and value for our
           clients, through the
           knowledge, creativity, and
           dedication of our people,
           leading to superior results
           for our shareholders.

Bear       Mission--committed to the      No. However, requirement of
Stearns    highest standards of           being honest and ethical
           business conduct and ethics.   conduct.
           This Code of Business
           Conduct and Ethics, as
           written and amended from
           time to time, establishes
           standards that Bear Stearns
           deems necessary to deter
           wrongdoing and to promote
           compliance with applicable
           law, rules and regulations
           and honest and ethical
           conduct.

Adelphia   Mission--we will leverage      No. However, it will act
           our historical strengths of    with sense of urgency
           customer focus, community      accountability.
           involvement, and employee
           dedication; address issues
           that limit profitability and
           growth; and act with a sense
           of urgency accountability
           and teamwork to emerge from
           bankruptcy and to succeed as
           a broadband industry leader.
           We will develop a reputation
           as a company with
           outstanding corporate
           governance.

BP         Values/Principles              No. However, emphasizes,
           Performance--compliance with   safety, and compliance with
           law and ethics: to comply      laws and ethics.
           with all applicable laws and
           regulations in each
           jurisdiction in which the
           group operates. All
           employees will be required
           to comply with the code of
           conduct, which prohibits
           illegal, corrupt or
           unethical practices and
           demands high standards of
           probity; People and
           capability; Health, safety
           and environment-
           Environmentally sound
           operations: to conduct the
           group's activities in a
           manner that, consistent with
           the board goals, is
           environmentally responsible
           with the aspiration of 'no
           damage to the environment';
           External relationships--
           Social impact: to respect
           the quality of life and the
           economic and social progress
           of the communities in which
           the group operates and, in
           the context of the board
           goals, to give support to
           their advancement;
           Transparency: to deal
           openly and transparently
           with shareholders and third
           parties. The group will set
           appropriate external targets
           in line with its internal
           targets and report against
           them periodically. The group
           will also act in accordance
           with the principles of the
           Extractive Industries
           Transparency Initiative
           (EITI). BP is progressive;
           responsible--committed to
           safety, with aim of no
           accidents, no harm to people
           and no damage to the
            environment; innovative
           and performance driven.

The BP and Toyota Motors Values were downloaded after the
Deepwater Horizon explosion and unintended accelerations related
recalls respectively.