Oil Companies In Nigeria Research Articles

“Working Capital Management and Firms Financial Performance of Oil Companies in Nigeria”

“Working Capital Management and Firms Financial Performance of Oil Companies in Nigeria”

Differential reporting of social and environmental disclosures between local and foreign oil companies in Nigeria

PurposeThis study aims to identify the differences between local and foreign companies’ social and environmental disclosures (SEDs) practices operating in the Nigerian oil sector. It aims at distinguishing SED levels by comparing local and foreign companies operating in the oil sector.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses annual reports through content analysis. SED extent and type are measured by the number of sentences. SEDs are further classified into three subcategories according to whether they are negative, neutral or positive disclosures and then their proportions are compared through descriptive analysis. To better understand SED differences, the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon tests are used.FindingsLocal companies are found to provide more content and a wider variety of SED than foreign companies. The majority of the total SEDs in both local and foreign companies are positive with very little evidence of negative news.Research limitations/implicationsThe measurement of SEDs focuses on only annual reports, without consideration of other disclosure media such as standalone reports and corporate websites. SEDs are assumed to be voluntary for the companies and they may choose not to disclose any information in annual reports, as there are no regulations or disclosure guidelines in Nigeria to be followed.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this study lies in identifying the factors that have led to diversity and uniqueness in SED between local and foreign oil companies. As such, this study seeks to contribute to the development of understanding multiple factors that could give rise to changing patterns of SED.

Managing wickedness in the Niger Delta: Can a new approach to multi-stakeholder governance increase voice and sustainability?

Recent efforts by the largest oil companies in Nigeria have shifted their corporate social responsibility to reflect more bottom-up participatory approaches to development and environmental conflict management in the Niger Delta. The newest approach, the Global Memorandum of Understanding, is a model of network governance, clustering groups of communities together into representative boards that make decisions on local development projects. This model could prove to be an important tool for managing conflicts over resources and revenues in Nigeria's main oil producing region. However, the legacy of violent conflicts within and between indigenous groups, militias and the military, government and oil companies amid ongoing environmental devastation from destructive oil extraction practices, makes trust and cooperation difficult, at best. In this context, where conflict runs deep and power is asymmetrical, developing an effective model of local governance for sustainable development is a wicked planning problem. This paper traces the gradual shift from competition to collaboration among stakeholders through the Pan Delta movement for social and environmental justice, which has introduced new voices and values to the debate over the region's future. Qualitative content analysis of secondary data is used to apply the wicked problems framework to the problem of local governance amid the political ecology of social and natural resource conflicts and increasing expectations for public involvement in resource allocation decisions. Similar fundamental political transitions are happening in other African countries. The Niger Delta presents a model case from a region that has been under-studied in the wicked problems literature and discourse.

Local Content Policy, Human Capital Development and Sustainable Business Performance in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry

This study examined the extent to which the Local Content Policy has impacted on human capital development and sustainable business performance in the Nigerian Oil and GasIndustry, following the enactment of enabling legislation. Primary data were employed, which were obtained through the administration of structured questionnaire to purposively selected oil servicing companies in Niger Delta, the home to more than eighty percent of the indigenous oil companies in Nigeria. The results showed that Local Content Policy had significant impact on the development of human capital in the Oil and Gas Industry. There was a paradigm shift in the educational capacity of the Management of the oil servicing firms as over 70% of them had at least first degree or its equivalent. Through oil sector linkages, the firms had strengthened their absorptive capacities to internalize the technological and managerial skills that flow to them. This had consequently boosted the business performance of indigenous oil servicing firmsin terms of growth in profit, market share and returned on investment (ROI). The study concluded that the Local Content Policy had achieved significant success in enhancing the development of human capital which in turn positively influenced business performance of indigenous companies in the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria.

The Influence of Size on Organizational Climate and Corporate Performance in the Nigerian Oil Industry.

The study examined the relationship between size and influence of organizational climate on corporate performance in the Nigerian oil industry. The sample for the study consisted of three hundred and eighty two (382) employees from seven randomly selected major oil companies in Nigeria. The study utilized both quantitative data (questionnaire) and qualitative data (interview). The spearman rank correlation coefficient and Multiple Regression Model using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17 were utilized for the analysis of data. Our finding revealed a positive and significant relationship between size and the influence of organizational climate on corporate performance. Based on this finding, it was concluded that the prevailing size of the organizations had a significant positive effect on the organizational climate and corporate performance. The managerial implications of these findings were also discussed.

The Enemy Within: Oil in the Niger Delta

The Enemy Within: Oil in the Niger Delta

Labor Union Leadership And Career Advancement In Major Nigerian Oil Companies

Labor related issues in the upstream sector of the Nigerian oil industry started to emerge soon after the discovery of petroleum in commercial quantities within the Niger Delta area mid- 1950s (Shell, 2000). Different groups within and outside the oil industry formed opinions about union leaders in the most strategic industry in the country. This was in part the case because the work force became better educated than their predecessors. One group among the industrys stakeholders believe labor union leaders have been ill treated, penalized, and stagnated, over the years by their managements. Supervisors and managers, it is alleged, act repulsively and harassingly towards union leaders in order to suppress their activities. Others believe the union leaders have been pampered and favorably treated by the managements of these companies in order to maintain peace. This study sets out to discover whether or not these notions about labor union leaders in the major oil companies in Nigeria are true. In this regard, ten null hypotheses were tested to accept or reject the notion that union leaders are not favored, are not educationally qualified, are not productive, are not militant, are not loyal, are not penalized for holding labor union leadership positions, cannot progress beyond executive status and cannot score more than 70 percentile on the researchers charismatic and superior leadership scale. One of the hypotheses was tested using ANOVA, two were tested using Kruskal-Wallis, and seven were tested using Chi-Square. The research findings highlighted some areas that the management of major oil companies and the federal government of Nigeria need to look into. Management of these companies need to look into the issue of the small group of managers and supervisors in the companies who still view labor unionism in negative light and consider labor union leaders as mere loafers and trouble makers. Training programs in labor unionism need to be carried out on regular basis for union leaders, managers, and supervisors in these companies. Further, the federal government of Nigeria needs to look into the perennial labor-related conflicts between the major oil companies and their host communities.

Influence of HR Practices on Autonomy and Control in Selected Upstream Multinational Oil Companies in Nigeria

This study addressed the complexities in decision-making on personnel policies and practices in the Multinational companies. The purpose was to examine the influence of human resource practices on outcome of autonomy and control in the selected Upstream Multinational oil companies in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a field survey research method with validated and tested reliable instruments, the questionnaire and the interview. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability test of all variables indicated (.876) above the recommended (0.7) cut off point of high reliability statistics. A Random Sampling Technique was adopted for selection of 5 (25.4%) of 22 companies in the Upstream Multinational oil sector as sample population while a total of 300 randomly selected research subjects represented respondents of the present study. The Chi-Square (X2) Test, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and the Regression Analysis were statistical tools used with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to test hypotheses. Findings revealed among others that influence of staff resourcing is more on outcome of autonomy and control in the subsidiaries; that when the influence of staff resourcing increases or is extensively established at the headquarters, it’s influence on outcome of autonomy and control also increases in the subsidiaries; that there is a significant direct relationship between outcome of autonomy and control and HR practice(s) which implies that when autonomy increases as a result of a corresponding increase in extensively established HR practice(s), employees gain more satisfaction on the job whereas, when control increases as a result of a corresponding increase in control strategies in HR practices, employees gain less satisfaction on the job. It was however concluded among others that a new policy redirection that is people- oriented be adopted to ensure more employee autonomy and less control in the Upstream MNC subsidiaries in Nigeria. Key Words: Influence, Autonomy, Control, Human Resource Practices, Upstream Multinational, Strategic International Human Resource Management, Nigeria.

New corporate social responsibility models for oil companies in Nigeria’s delta region: What challenges for sustainability?

Against the background of new models of corporate-community engagements in response to the failings of old models by oil transnationals, this article attempts an assessment of the implementation of the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) by Chevron and Shell on sustainable community development in host communities in Nigeria’s oil belt. It argues that though the GMoU represents a radical departure from the past in terms of participation and ownership of development projects with the benefits these entail, its potency for sustainable development is hampered by a number of old challenges, namely, the enormity of the development challenge in the Delta thrown up by the failings of an absentee state, the structural constraints imposed on corporations by the profit-maximizing motive and cultural factors that not only prevent effective participation but also promote voicelessness of marginalized groups such as women. The implications of these to sustainable development are explored.

Measuring the Contribution of Extractive Industries to Local Development: The Case of Oil Companies in Nigeria

Extractive industries face two main challenges in terms of CSR and poverty reduction: 1) recognize that societal activity is part of their core business; 2) take part in socio-economic projects that contribute to their stakeholders' empowerment and not only to their living conditions. Based on surveys achieved in Nigeria in 2008, the paper presents two societal performance indices meant to be complementary: the Poverty Exit Index (PEI) and the Relational Capability Index (RCI). We show that, while they have fostered the PEI of the local communities, the development projects of the oil companies had a rather negative impact on their RCI. We then identify key variables that can influence positively the RCI and on which a sensible development policy should focus.

CSR as corporate social responsibility or colonial structures return? A Nigeriancase study

In this paper the impact of oil and gas companies in Nigeria is explored under the umbrella concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). At one level there is acknowledgement of greater emphasis on socially responsible policies. Nevertheless these are limited in scope and ambition and the energy sector continues to create social, environmental, cultural and political problems in the region. Focussing on the concept of CSR and lack of application should not however detract from the lack of engagement by the Nigerian government which has resulted in oil companies being held responsible for the failings of politicians. Instead the nature of the critique of the energy sector bears a striking resemblance to the demands against colonial rule. The crucial difference today though is that people are demanding greater control and regulation from the ‘commercial colonialists’ rather than less. Key words: Colonialism, corporate social responsibility, energy, oil, transnational corporations (TNCs).

Why Women are at War with Chevron: Nigerian Subsistence Struggles against the International Oil Industry

This study is an inquiry into why women were at war with oil companies in Nigeria and how they internationalized their struggle. Employing the Midnight Notes Collective's concept of “the new enclosures”; Shiva, Mies, and Bennholdt-Thomsen's “subsistence perspective”; and McMurtry's concept of the “civil commons,” the study elaborates a “gendered class analysis” to consider the social anatomy of coordinated global actions by producers and consumers of oil. Part one examines the period from July 2002 to February 2003. Nigerian women occupied oil terminals and flow stations and inspired global protests against war and oil companies. Part two considers widespread Nigerian workers’ strikes in the period from February 2003 to July 2003. These included work stoppages in transport, the oil industry, and the public service; a two-week seizure by oil workers of four Trans-ocean deep-sea platforms and an eight-day general strike against increases in the price of petroleum products. Part three analyzes the July-September 2003 period. From 10 July 2003 peasant women occupied oil facilities throughout the Delta. As official government neared collapse, village and clan-based organizations assumed much of the responsibility for the oversight of their own communities. By September 2003, insurgents shut down some 40 percent of Nigerian crude oil production capacity. Villagers denied oil companies all physical access to the western Delta. Chevron/Texaco, Shell, other majors and their contractors evacuated their Warri headquarters. The autonomous village organizations, linked to each other through regional solidarity networks, coordinated pan-Delta defense against Nigerian and U.S. military counterinsurgency. The study concludes with an analysis of the roots of insurgent power and direct deals in oil.

Awareness and Environmental Management in Oil Companies in Nigeria

The term management has diverse meaning. Management is needed to run a business. Management is responsible for the success or failure of a business outfit. Some of the primary functions of management include: planning organising supervising controlling etc. In recent time the scope of management has been broadened. It now goes beyond its traditional scope of managing human material and financial resources. We now talk of office management home management time management hospital management and environmental management. Environment needs to be effectively managed in order to be conducive for human habitation and business productivity. There is need to plan organise supervise monitor and control the environment to suit desired purpose -- residential or/and business outfit. This paper focuses on the management of environment and awareness in oil companies in Nigeria. Awareness here refers to the need to create consciousness on the part of the oil companies on problems of environment with a view to provide solutions which can help them to conquer their environment in order to mitigate the high level of hostility often encountered in the areas of their operations. (excerpt)

Government pricing policy and multinational oil companies in Nigeria

For a long time there has been serious controversy between the multinational oil companies (MOCs) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), an agency of the government, about the effect of the current government pricing policy (GPP) on the operations of the MOCs. While the MOC executives have contended that the current GPP adversely affects their efficiency, the NNPC has often accused the MOC executives of escalating their operating costs, thereby depriving the country of the maximum benefits from its oil resources. This paper employs a multiperiod goal programming model to determine the impact of the GPP on the operations, efficiency and effectiveness of the MOCs. Among other things, the model results support the claims of both the MOC executives and the NNPC. However, because cost escalation is perceived as induced by the GPP, it is suggested, for effectiveness, that the GPP be reviewed to harmonize the goals of the partners in the joint venture and adequately compensate the foreign partners, in terms of returns on their capital.

Determining the Impact of Nigeria's Economic Crisis on the Multinational Oil Companies: A Goal Programming Approach

Traditionally, regression analysis has frequently been used in quantitative policy-impact analysis, but this paper utilizes goal programming methodology to examine the impact of Nigeria's economic crisis on the multinational oil companies in Nigeria. The results obtained indicate that, as the multinational oil companies are paid prices far below the world oil market prices, the current economic crisis in the country imposes losses on the companies and discourages large capital investment. In particular, the huge losses call for negotiation between the government and the multinational oil companies for better policy measures, such as a relaxation of the existing pricing policy, to reduce the losses resulting from the current economic crisis.