BP in Russia: Settling the Joint Venture Dispute

The conflict between TNK-BP's British and Russian shareholders, which started in may 2008, led to Russians seeking to oust the company's chief executive officer, Robert Dudley. They announced Dudley had put BP's interests ahead of the JV's interests. In this educational case students are asked to evaluate the options and draw up an action plan recognizing the pros and cons of maintaining the JV's ownership structure or changing it, and also asked to identify the repercussions of this conflict for the future strategy of BP in Russia.