Do Strategic Agility Measures Affect Overall Firm Performance of Oil and Gas Industry? An Empirical Investigation

The dynamic effect of strategic agility measures on performance of oil and gas companies have become a major challenge to and focus of scholars due to the vital role played by the oil and gas industry in the global economy. However, the industry in Nigeria have been faced with the problems of unstable overall performance indicators due to poor strategic agility approach towards price turmoil, dynamic market forces and instability of fiscal administration. Therefore, this study examined the effect of strategic agility measures on overall performance of oil and gas marketing companies in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted cross-sectional survey research design with total enumeration of population of 515 retail station managers of major oil and gas marketing companies in Lagos State, Nigeria. The research instrument was found reliable and valid with Cronbach’s alpha and KMO greater than 0.7 and 0.5 respectively and the primary data was analyzed using pre and post tests, pearson correlation, and multiple regression methods of analyses. Findings revealed that strategic agility measures except external response orientation (strategic foresight, strategic insight, internal response orientation, human resources capability, information technology capability) have positive and significant effect on overall firm performance of oil and gas marketing companies in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study concluded that strategic agility measures affected overall firm performance of the selected oil and gas marketing companies. Therefore, it was recommended that oil and gas marketing companies in Nigeria should embrace the propositions of the dynamic capabilities theory to enhance their strategic agility patterns and also adopt strategic agility measures to facilitate continuous development of their capabilities for sensing and seizing opportunities from the environment. This will enhance their proactiveness and promote agile workforce towards improving their targeted overall performance over their competitors. Implications of the results were discussed, limitations of the study highlighted, and future research directions outlined. Keywords: Dynamic capabilities, Nigeria, Overall firm performance, Strategic agility, Oil and gas marketing companies DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-3-05 Publication date: January 31st 202