Information flows for Ultramar Diamond

The size and diversity of UDS translates to substantial information management challenges. Both assembling relevant external information and disseminating that information internally are essential to the decision making process of the company. UDS's success in the volatile oil industry is in large part determined by its ability to react quickly to changes in the market environment. To this end, this report will focus on UDS's current information management systems and explore options for the improvement of information flows throughout the company.

UDS depends heavily on current and forecasted industry information in making budgeting and operations decisions. Information regarding industry supply capacity, market demand and crude oil prices are distributed through management and used to determine output levels at UDS refineries, as well as regional and company wide inventories (10-K filing: Annual report, 2000). Less traditional market information can play a key role for the company,

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an that such procedures do not exist. Often, a deciding factor in the extent to which penalties will be assessed under such regulations is the time at which the violating company became aware of the violation. Thus it is generally in the best interest of the company to keep internal communications regarding possible environmental violations extremely confidential, and to limit access to such information to key decision makers. The company does have a stated financial policy of reporting environmentally related liabilities "when site restoration and environmental remediation and clean-up obligations are either known or considered probable and can be reasonably estimated" (10-K filing: Annual report, 2000). This would indicate that the company at a minimum does have some form of environmental compliance auditing program. Nonetheless, sufficient channels of communication on this issue are essential. If UDS does not have such channels, including reporting procedures for even the lowest level employees, their development should be made a priority. Foreign legal issues can also impact the company. For example, European sulfur requirements have necessitated higher levels of jet fuel in that market to lower sulfur content in
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