The Strategic Performance Measurement of International Oil Companies.

Performance measurement systems have received substantial attention in recent years from both practitioners and academics. Many firms have redesigned their measurement systems to make certain that they reflect their current environment and strategies. The oil industry is becoming increasingly competitive with the rising nationalisation of resources making it ever more difficult for International Oil Companies (IOC) to secure access to new oil and gas reserves. This makes the performance of IOC’s an interesting area to study at the moment as reserves disclosures are one of the most important pieces of information that the financial sector, shareholders and managers require in order to analyse, compare and contrast the past and prospective operational performance of oil and gas companies. Recent oil spills and stakeholder issues resulting from IOC exploration and production activities also bring to light the crucial nature of having effective measurement systems in place to avoid potential disasters. This doctoral thesis contributes to the research area of performance measurement systems and strategic management by establishing the fact that the development process is formed by the influence of factors in the organisational context. The initial strategic analysis in the thesis will access both the emergent and prescriptive strategy of Royal Dutch Shell. The thesis furthers already available knowledge in this area by integrating what the researcher terms projection strategies through scenarios. The thesis also contributes to knowledge and practice by incorporating a diverse range of performance measures, including traditional financial measures (Return on Average Capital Employed, Economic Value Added, Reserves Replacement Ratio ‘industry specific’) and subjective non-financial measures (Balanced Scorecard, Corporate Social Responsibility, Health, Safety and Environment ‘Industry Specific’). The introduction of industry specific measures leads to the effective analysis of a complex and unique industry like the oil sector