Multi-cultural complexity impact on procurement within the oil and gas sector

Recent global business trends have led the oil and gas sector to seek better solutions to overcome new challenges, such as the impact of multi-cultural complexity (MCC) on procurement strategies. Although some changes have taken place in the development of innovative procurement strategies, more still needs to be done within the oil and gas sector, which needs to be considered in its own right as it has its own characteristics, for example the size of the projects, small key players in the sector, the advanced technologies being used and the multi-cultural nature of its project teams. The MCC of the sector needs to be addressed because different approaches may be required to take into account the context that can be found in different locations and countries, not to mention the differences in business philosophy or culture within the oil and gas organisation themselves. The difference in the level of physical condition and maturity of oil and gas fields, combined with cultural issues has made competition even more demanding. The overall aim of this research is to improve understanding of procurement strategies that need to be adopted by the oil and gas sector across the globe. This paper will focus on how certain complexity theories can be used to develop contexturalised solutions for the sector, the nature of the sector and case studies could help to lead players and stakeholders to a better understanding of procurement strategies within the sector.