The Oil and Gas Service Industry in Asia: A Comparison of Business Strategies (The Palgrave Macmillan Asian Business Series Centre for the Study of Emerging Market Series)

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 6
List of Figures......Page 14
List of Tables......Page 16
Acknowledgements......Page 18
List of Abbreviations......Page 20
1 Introduction......Page 22
1.1.1 Defining the oil and gas service industry......Page 23
1.1.2 Oil and gas service sector: East Asia overview......Page 24
1.1.3 Industry selection......Page 28
1.2.1 Typology of the business environment......Page 29
1.2.2 Development of strategy concepts......Page 31
1.3 Research objectives and propositions......Page 34
1.4.1 Questionnaire construction and research variables......Page 36
1.4.2 Measurement and scales......Page 37
1.4.4 Data collection......Page 40
1.4.5 Data analysis......Page 41
1.5 Significance of the research......Page 42
1.6 Organisation of the book......Page 43
2.1 Generic context and background......Page 46
2.2.1 China......Page 50
2.2.2 Malaysia......Page 54
2.2.3 Singapore......Page 56
2.2.4 Brief history of major service companies......Page 57
2.3 Key indicators......Page 59
2.4.1 Oil price volatility versus steady offshore rig counts......Page 61
2.4.2 Trends of petroleum economics......Page 66
2.5.1 China petroleum regulatory environment......Page 68
2.6 Technology factors......Page 70
2.7.1 National oil companies (NOCs)......Page 73
2.7.2 Multinational oil companies......Page 75
2.8 Service suppliers......Page 76
2.8.1 National service companies......Page 77
2.8.2 International service companies......Page 79
2.9.1 A framework of industry rivalry......Page 80
2.9.2 Competitive forces......Page 82
2.10 Summary......Page 84
3.1 The conceptual frameworks......Page 86
3.1.1 A generic model for strategic management processes......Page 87
3.1.2 Business growth-related grand strategies......Page 88
3.1.3 A model of environmental school analysis......Page 90
3.2 Perceived business environment......Page 92
3.2.1 Importance of analysing the business environment......Page 93
3.2.2 A typology of environmental dimensions......Page 94
3.3.1 A brief review of definitions......Page 97
3.3.2 Major streams of the strategy concept......Page 99
3.3.3 Evolution of strategy: a chronological review......Page 100
3.4.1 Miles and Snow\'s typology of business strategic directions......Page 104
3.4.2 Porter\'s taxonomy of generic competitive strategies......Page 106
3.4.3 Bowman\'s strategy clock: competitive positions......Page 108
3.5 Conceptual development of strategic performance......Page 109
3.6.1 The assessment of environmental sectors......Page 111
3.6.2 Category of strategies by service companies......Page 114
3.6.4 Strategic performance assessment......Page 115
3.6.5 The ESP model......Page 116
3.7 Summary......Page 119
4.1.1 Company profiles......Page 122
4.1.2 Industrial segments of the energy service sector......Page 125
4.1.3 Geographical presence in Asia......Page 126
4.1.4 Years in business......Page 127
4.1.5 Ownership......Page 128
4.2 Assessing task environment segments......Page 131
4.3.1 Preliminary observations of environmental dimensions......Page 134
4.3.2 Factors reflecting perceived complexity......Page 137
4.3.3 Factors reflecting perceived hostility......Page 139
4.3.4 Factors reflecting perceived dynamism......Page 142
4.4 Associations of business environment dimensions......Page 143
4.4.1 Correlations of uncertainty, complexity, dynamism and hostility......Page 144
4.4.2 Perceived environmental uncertainty and environmental factors......Page 146
4.4.3 Environmental dimensions and factors......Page 149
4.5.1 Conditions in China, Singapore and Malaysia......Page 156
4.5.2 Comparisons of China, Singapore and Malaysia......Page 159
4.6 Summary......Page 161
5.1.1 Generic business strategies employed by oil and gas service firms......Page 164
5.1.2 Trends of competitive strategies......Page 165
5.1.3 Strategic competitive positions......Page 166
5.2 Key competitive factors in the service industry......Page 168
5.3 Strategic performance......Page 169
5.4.1 Business strategies employed in China, Singapore and Malaysia......Page 172
5.4.2 Competitive strategies in China, Singapore and Malaysia......Page 174
5.4.3 Cross-national comparison of strategic positions......Page 177
5.5.1 An overall view of strategic performance......Page 180
5.5.2 Comparisons of strategic performance in the three selected countries......Page 181
5.6 Summary......Page 184
6 The Business Environment, Strategy and Performance......Page 186
6.1 Business environment and strategy alignment......Page 187
6.2 Environment and strategic performance relationship......Page 193
6.3.1 Strategic performance with business strategies......Page 197
6.3.2 Strategic performance with competitive strategies......Page 199
6.3.3 Strategic performance with strategic positions......Page 205
6.4.1 Cross-national strategy–performance association......Page 209
6.4.2 Cross-national environment–performance relationships......Page 218
6.5.2 Differences of performance by business strategies......Page 221
6.6 Summary......Page 224
7.1 Overview of the business environment in 2002–9......Page 228
7.1.1 Reduction in demand for services and downturn of service activities......Page 230
7.1.3 Smaller-sized service contractors\' struggle to maintain activities......Page 231
7.2.1 Economic impact......Page 232
7.2.2 Political/regulatory impact......Page 233
7.2.3 Impact of technology......Page 234
7.2.4 Impact of customers......Page 235
7.2.5 Emerging opportunities and challenges in the service sector......Page 236
7.3 Current strategic orientations of service companies......Page 237
7.3.1 Defender strategy......Page 238
7.3.3 Analyser strategy......Page 240
7.3.4 Balancer strategy......Page 241
7.4 Summary......Page 243
8.1.1 Generic trends of the service sector in East Asia......Page 246
8.1.2 The impact of the global credit crunch......Page 249
8.2 General findings of the empirical research......Page 250
8.3.1 Managerial perceptions on environmental factors......Page 251
8.3.2 Perceived environmental uncertainty......Page 252
8.3.3 Perceived complexity, hostility and unpredictability......Page 253
8.4.1 Generic directions of business strategies......Page 254
8.4.3 Strategic positioning......Page 255
8.6 The ESP alignments......Page 256
8.6.2 Strategic performance by strategic groups......Page 257
8.7 Discussions of findings and proposition verifications......Page 258
8.8 Conclusions......Page 265
8.9.1 Theoretical contribution......Page 267
8.9.2 Methodological contribution......Page 268
8.9.3 Practical implications for the industry sector in East Asia......Page 270
Appendix: Survey Questionnaire......Page 272
Bibliography......Page 280
Index......Page 294