Things are bad at BP. Very, very bad.

Tony Hayward, the company’s top exploration and production exec, posted an item to the company’s intranet slamming current leadership. Labeled, “Hayward shares candid views on 2006,” the piece listed the company’s flaws. It’s most likely no coincidence that Hayward is angling to become BP’s next top dog.

According to a Financial Times piece, Hayward took direct aim at current BP honcho Lord Browne, who retires in 2008:

We have a leadership style that probably is too directive and doesn’t listen sufficiently well. The top of the organization doesn’t listen hard enough to what the bottom of the organization is saying.

Hayward also criticized BP management’s “do more with less” philosophy.

I’m all for candor and transparency, and Hayward is probably right about the issues he raises, but you have to wonder what kind of confidence this kind of infighting among executives inspires among employees. Intranets can be used effectively for a lot of things. Campaigning for the chief executive’s job isn’t one of them, especially when the campaigning turns negative by undermining the current leadership. (And let’s not forget that the story was leaked to FT. Maybe the first rule of Fight Intranet should be: Don’t talk about Fight Intranet.) The fact that one candidate for the top job can hijack the intranet to serve his own ends also suggests a loss of control by the company’s corporate internal communications function.

Keep in mind, this was a formal feature article published to the intranet, where communication efforts should drive business objectives. If BP (or any other company) wants to allow employees (including executives) to voice their opinions, they should consider implementing intranet blogs.

After all, Bob Malone—BP’s new head of U.S. operations—recently started a blog to address problems that have riddled the unit. Wouldn’t this be a better approach for Hayward to air his personal gripes and ambitions?