The ICT Influence on Strategic Thinking. Particularities in the Oil and Gas Industry

Abstract

The oil and gas industry is of key-importance in the energy sector. Therefore, the focus of this paper is on particularities of the strategic thinking in the contemporary oil and gas industry, presented on the background of the evolution of strategic thinking to-date. More specifically, there is a third perspective (dimension of the study): the influence of the dynamic information and communication technology (ICT) on strategic thinking in the above-mentioned industry, mainly at the organization level. The methodological approach is mainly secondary research (literature survey and specific studies conducted in oil and gas industry) as well as primary research (authors’recent experience and observations as far as top management and oil and gas industry). This paper underlines some of the early stage findings – mostly qualitative – as part of larger doctoral research project. Four defining characteristics of the Industry 4.0 are presented, specifically applied to the oil and gas industry, with the perspective of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), as well as the top five drivers of the digital transformation: manufacturing execution system, cloud computing, energy analytics, internet of things (IoT), and machine learning technologies designed for operations efficiency and sustainability. The findings have managerial implications for top managers and strategists involved in decision making process in companies active in the oil and gas industry. They face the challenge of adapting the organization strategy and solving the problem of improving the operational efficiency, concurrently reducing the environment carbon footprint – which requires huge investments to be made in digitalization of operations. As research in progress, the paper has inherent limitations; next step aiming at getting more quantitative results, by opening future research paths both longitudinally and transversally in oil and gas industry. If ICT solutions are used as a response to the organization’s dynamic challenges, and if strategic thinking represents the mental process of finding opportunities to achieve the organization’s goals, then conclusion is that ICT continuously does influence strategic thinking in the oil and gas industry.