Managing strategic resources in petroleum industry projects

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore how strategic resources in petroleum industry projects are to be best managed and exploited in order to deliver enhanced project performance and sustained business competitiveness. Framed upon the Resource-Based View (‘RBV’) theory, these resources should be ‘Valuable’, ‘Inimitable’, ‘Rare’ and be able to draw on ‘Organisational support’ (‘VIRO’). Qualitative data were collected from petroleum industry organizations operating in the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman between 2017 and 2019. The analysis shows that at the project level, ‘Value’ and ‘Organisational support’ attributes of resources were positively related to competitive advantage and both impacted by dynamic capabilities and innovative environment. However, the ‘Rareness’ and ‘Inimitability’ attributes showed less evolution. We also find that at the project level, the main characteristics of organizational resources were that they are ‘Valuable’, ‘Organizationally supported’, and that they could be ‘Uniquely exploited’ while being ‘Readily available’. The results suggest a desire by project-oriented organizations to replace the ‘Rareness’ and ‘Inimitability’ attributes within VIRO with two alternative attributes, namely ‘Unique exploitation’ and ‘Timely availability’ of resources.

Keywords:

• Resource-based view
• projects
• project management
• strategic resources
• petroleum industry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Moosa Ali Mas’oud Al-Hanshi

Moosa Ali Mas’oud Al-Hanshi is currently a Strategic Project Manager working in the Public Authority for Water (DIAM) based in Muscat Governorate, Sultanate of Oman. Prior to taking on this position, he held positions as a Senior Engineering Manager for over a decade with Weatherford in charge of drilling operations in Iraq. Moosa holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree obtained from Sultan Qaboos University (Sultanate of Oman), a Master of Science degree obtained from the United Arab Emirates University (United Arab Emirates) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Project Management obtained from the University of Hull (United Kingdom).

Udechukwu Ojiako

Udechukwu Ojiako is Professor of Engineering Management at the University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of Production Planning & Control. He is also a Visiting Professor in Management at the Risk Institute, University of Hull. He has held prior academic positions in the UK, South Africa and now the United Arab Emirates. Udi holds a Ph.D. in Project Management (2005, Northumbria University), a PhD in Business (2015, University of Hull), an LLB in Laws (2017, University of London) and an MPhil in Law (2019, Aberystwyth University). His articles have been accepted and published in journals such as International Journal of Project Management, Project Management Journal and Production Planning & Control.

Terry Williams

Terry Williams is Director of the Risk Institute, University of Hull. He previously served as Dean of Hull University Business School and before that, Director of the School of Management, University of Southampton. Terry has worked in both the public and private sectors, beginning as a Lecturer in Operational Research at the University of Strathclyde, while completing his Ph.D. research. He later became Professor and Department Head, where he worked in research and consultancy, modelling project behaviour and supporting $1.5bn + post-project claims. Terry is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, a Chartered Mathematician, a Fellow of the OR Society and a certified Project Manager (PMP).