Comment - Impact Issue 1, 2012

Decisions are about progress. Choosing to experiment, develop and improve leads to technical and commercial progress. The alternative is complacency and stagnation through avoiding the difficult decisions.

In business, and in life, good decisions are usually shaped by previous experiences. Perseverance, the ability to learn from our past and a willingness to consider other points of view are all crucial contributors to successful decision making.

Around the world, refinery managers have to make tough decisions regarding heavy, highsulphur feedstocks and meeting tight product specifications. These hugely significant choices will determine the shape and performance of the downstream sector for decades to come. Jose Bravo, Shell Chief Scientist for Separations, outlines the issues that need to be resolved to meet the sulphur challenge (page 4).

Group decision making (page 8) often involves a degree of disagreement and compromise. The importance of drawing together diverse views and creating a working environment where all voices can be heard and all options are considered are crucial for avoiding the dangers of “groupthink” and are central to the Shell approach to innovation.

Good decisions require relevant information and a way to bring it together so that correct value judgements can be made. The catalyst choice is a vital decision for the ethylene oxide production process (page 14) and experience from Venezuela shows how operators can use a modelling approach to make valid technical and economic assessments.

Since its beginning, Shell has looked to the future and endeavoured to improve. Many of our customers share this outlook and would agree with us that the future depends on what we decide today.