Research pick: Oil agility is a gas! - "The influence of organisational agility and stakeholder management on the success of projects: an empirical study from the oil and gas sectors"

All companies need to be agile and adept in their management practices to cope with the challenges of the current business landscape. Nowhere is this more marked than in the oil and gas sector. In this sector, volatile conditions stemming from fluctuating oil prices, economic shifts, geopolitical factors, environmental concerns, and dynamic market demands on this sector mean companies have additional pressures in managing their relationships with external stakeholders.

A study in the International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, has focused on the upstream oil and gas sector in Indonesia, an area known for its vibrant oil and gas industry. The research by Muh Arifuddin Budiman, Budi Widjaja Soetjipto, Ratih Dyah Kusumastuti, and Setyo Wijanto of the University of Indonesia, offers new insights into the interplay between organisational agility, stakeholder management, and project success. The team used quantitative analysis to look at data from various national and multinational companies operating within the sector.

Organisational agility is defined as how well a company can react and reallocate resources to maximize value and sustain high-yield activities. By contrast, effective stakeholder management requires something more than agility, it requires an ability to understand and address the needs and influences of all parties involved in or affected by a project. External stakeholders might include buyers, contractors, suppliers, and regulatory agencies. Together organisational agility and stakeholder management capabilities are needed to ensure high-risk, capital-intensive projects with significant social, environmental, and safety considerations are addressed effectively.

The team confirmed their hypothesis and showed that strategic management literacy plays an important part in bringing together organisational agility and stakeholder management to give them project success. Fundamentally, company success therefore needs investment in this kind of literacy.

The team adds that their analytical approach might be useful investigating other industries that operate under volatile and uncertain conditions.

Budiman, M.A., Soetjipto, B.W., Kusumastuti, R.D. and Wijanto, S. (2024) ‘The influence of organisational agility and stakeholder management on the success of projects: an empirical study from the oil and gas sectors’, Int. J. Project Organisation and Management, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp.1–23.