The impact of environmental forces on Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation's growth strategy and profitability.

Isa, Stephen Sule

Abstract

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) operates under unprecedented environmental uncertainties, and their response to this dynamism and turbulence will determine the Corporation's success or failure. These environmental uncertainties are categorized into internal and external environmental forces. For instance, politics, regulatory, funding and technology are human aspects that can significantly impact profitability and growth strategy in the oil and gas industry. In anticipation of- and in response to the frequent changes and uncertainty facing the industry as a result of these forces, IOCs and NOCs continue to develop and improve on existing strategies, in order to promote growth and achieve profitability. Nevertheless, the literature reveals that the growth and profitability of the NNPC are still on the decline. Although there have been several studies that have investigated the underperformance of NNPC over the years, there has been limited research that has specifically investigated the influence of environmental forces on the Corporation's performance. This study therefore seeks to rectify this, guided by an interpretive paradigm and adopting a qualitative research method. Data were collected from twenty-one research participants at three levels (NNPC employees, NASS members and customers), using in-depth semi-structured interviews to gain insight into participants' experiences with the industry's environmental forces. Findings revealed the awareness and existence of growth strategies in response to environmental forces. Accordingly, to gain in-depth insight into the relevance of the current growth strategies adopted by the NNPC to achieve growth and profitability, current practices were compared to the constructs in Pettigrew's CCP theory. In the light of this, communication, decision-making and the role of human resources are identified as forces affecting the growth and profitability of NNPC. Consequently, the study recommends that the Corporation and wider industry review their risk assessments with regards to: decision-making; communications; the role of human resources; commercial and non-commercial objectives; and other aspects. The study concludes by modifying the Pettigrew CCP framework, and suggests that it should be applied by the NNPC and NOCs to achieve growth strategy and profitability.

Citation

ISA, S.S. 2021. The impact of environmental forces on Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation's growth strategy and profitability. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1603251

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Feb 23, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 23, 2022
• Keywords: Business; Management; Oil and gas industry; Nigeria
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1603251
• External URL: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1603251
• Award Date: Jul 31, 2021