scholarly journals Resilience beyond Formal Structures: A Network Perspective towards the Challenges of an Aging Workforce in the Oil and Gas Industry

Author(s):  
Fabio Bento ◽  
Luciano Garotti

Changes in workplace demographics in the oil and gas industry have raised a concern about the risks of a knowledge-loss crisis due to mass retirement. The industry response has often consisted of strategies aimed at mapping knowledge across organizational units, codifying knowledge in databases, and mentoring new staff. However, such common managerial responses show important limitations in terms of grasping tacit and network-based dimensions of knowledge in complex oil production operations. Therefore, there is an industrial need for innovative knowledge management practices. In this conceptual article, we look at the knowledge-loss crisis from the perspective of network resilience in complex systems. A central assumption here is that it is important to look at retiring staff not only in terms of their explicit knowledge, but also in relation to their roles in evolving networks of interactions. Why do some social systems adapt to the departure of some individuals, recover from eventual knowledge-loss crises, and keep performing its functions? From an anticipatory logic, network analysis may show the initial conditions of a system and identify possible loss scenarios. From an adaptive logic, network analysis may inform interventions aimed at facilitating processes of interactions from which new knowledge may emerge and spread. Integrated operations may be a step in this direction.

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (05) ◽  
pp. 2195-2208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siti Nur Shaffee ◽  
Paul F. Luckham ◽  
Omar K. Matar ◽  
Aditya Karnik ◽  
Mohd Shahrul Zamberi

Summary In many industrial processes, an effective particle–filtration system is essential for removing unwanted solids. The oil and gas industry has explored various technologies to control and manage excessive sand production, such as by installing sand screens or injecting consolidation chemicals in sand–prone wells as part of sand–management practices. However, for an unconsolidated sandstone formation, the selection and design of effective sand control remains a challenge. In recent years, the use of a computational technique known as the discrete–element method (DEM) has been explored to gain insight into the various parameters affecting sand–screen–retention behavior and the optimization of various types of sand screens (Mondal et al. 2011, 2012, 2016; Feng et al. 2012; Wu et al. 2016). In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of particle filtration using a fully coupled computational–fluid–dynamics (CFD)/DEM approach featuring polydispersed, adhesive solid particles. We found that an increase in particle adhesion reduces the amount of solid in the liquid filtrate that passes through the opening of a wire–wrapped screen, and that a solid pack of particle agglomerates is formed over the screen with time. We also determined that increasing particle adhesion gives rise to a decrease in packing density and a diminished pressure drop across the solid pack covering the screen. This finding is further supported by a Voronoi tessellation analysis, which reveals an increase in porosity of the solid pack with elevated particle adhesion. The results of this study demonstrate that increasing the level of particle agglomeration, such as by using an adhesion–promoting chemical additive, has beneficial effects on particle filtration. An important application of these findings is the design and optimization of sand–control processes for a hydrocarbon well with excessive sand production, which is a major challenge in the oil and gas industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69
Author(s):  
Moses M. Adagbabiri ◽  
Ugo Chuks Okolie

The impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on organizational performance has been subject of discourse among social scientists from a wide range of disciplines in the last two decades. But unfortunately, very insufficient number of studies in this area has been conducted in Nigeria and other developing countries. This study was undertaken to fill this obvious research gap. The author applied descriptive method and collected the data via a survey of 164 respondents in Nigerias Oil and Gas Industry. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation and t-test analysis. The study found that there is a significant relationship between HRM practices and organizational performance. As predicted, the study revealed that human resource management practices exert positive and statistically significant impact on organizational performance. Requisite conclusion and recommendations were provided in the light of theoretical and empirical findings. With this study, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the role of HRM practices in creating and sustaining organizational performance, specifically in the Nigerian context.


2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wakhid S. Ciptono ◽  
Abdul Razak Ibrahim ◽  
Ainin Sulaiman

The changing environment in an organization is forcing the organization to find a plan of integrated management framework and adequate performance measurement. Failure to plan basically means planning failure for the business. Finding the critical factors of quality management practices (QMP), themediating roles of the contextual factors of world-class performance in operations (i.e., world-class company practices or WCC, operational excellence practices or OE, company nonfinancial performance or CNFP), and the company financial performance would enable the company to facilitate the sustainability of TQM implementation model.This empirical study aims to assess how TQM—a holistic management philosophy initially developed by W. Edward Deming, which integrates improvement strategy, management practices, and organizational performance—is specifically implemented in the oil and gas companies operating in Indonesia. Relevant literature on the TQM, the world-class performance in operations (world-class company and operational performance), the company performance (financial and non-financial performances), and the amendments of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia concerning the oil and gas industry, and related research on how the oil and gas industry in Indonesia develops sustainable competitive advantage and sustainable development programs are reviewed in details in our study. The findings from data analysis provide evidence that there is a strong positive relationship between the critical factors of quality management practices and the company financial performance mediated by the three mediating variables, i.e., world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, and company non-financial performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1573-1590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Saleem Sumbal ◽  
Eric Tsui ◽  
Ricky Cheong ◽  
Eric W.K. See-to

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical types of knowledge lost when employees depart companies in the oil and gas field. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a grounded theory methodology. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with elite informants in the oil and gas sector to gain an in-depth insight into the research problem. ATLAS.ti was used for data analysis and coding. Findings In the oil and gas industry, employees generally have job rotation and work at various geographical locations during their career. The departing employees possess valuable types of knowledge depending on the role and duties they have performed over the years. These include specialized technical knowledge, contextual knowledge of working at different geographical locations, knowledge of train wrecks and history of company, knowledge of relationships and networks, knowledge of business processes and knowledge of management. Research limitations/implications The study findings might only be applicable to the oil and gas sector. Originality/value This paper fulfills an identified gap on the identification of critical areas of knowledge loss when employees depart from oil and gas companies. The study adds to the existing body of literature on this underexplored area in the knowledge management literature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 11-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abba Adam ◽  
Norhayati Zakuan ◽  
Salisu Alh. Uba Ado A. Bichi. Usman Shettima ◽  
Saif ◽  
Ali M. ◽  
...  

This study investigates the nature and context-based peculiarities of sustainability practices related to the supply chain of oil servicing firms operating in the downstream sector of Nigerian oil and gas industry. The supply chain management practices of oil servicing firms are crucial to the functioning of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry. However, the literature on their supply chain sustainability is scant and scattered. To fully explore this field; therefore, survey data were collected from key practitioners in the industry and analysed using descriptive statistics. The results show that the supply chain management practices of oil servicing companies relating to designing, producing, marketing, delivering, and supporting the products of their clients rarely factor in the requirements of sustainability practices. Accordingly, this study points out strategic interventions that could help in greening the supply chain practices of oil servicing companies operating in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document