Description
The rapid development of an indigenous technical workforce has become more compelling than ever before against the background of the expected imminent injection of massive investment in the sector. With a current production capacity of about 30 million barrels per day (bpd), Nigeria plans to increase her production capacity to about 40 million bpd by 2010 (Utomi 2001; Obi 2003; Mathiason 2006). Already, Nigeria is the leading oil and gas producer in Africa, currently ranked the seventh highest in the world (NNPC 2004; The Guardian 2006).
© 2011 Akinyele, S.T..This is a research/review paper, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial 3.0 Unported Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction inany medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Global Journal of Management And Business Research
Volume 11 Issue 2
Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal
Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA)
Strategic Marketing: A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and
Gas Industry
By Akinyele, S.T.
Covenant University,Ota-Nigeria
Abstract- The purpose of this paper is to investigate strategic marketing as a panacea for success of the
Nigerian oil and gas industry. The specific objective of the study include determining how inter-industry
marketing commitment and company goal actualization can affect the performance of Nigerian oil and
gas marketing companies. This study adopted a survey research methodology to examine the role of
strategic marketing in enterprise growth and survival of Nigerian oil and gas marketing companies in an
attempt to attain their desired level of performance. Three hundred and forty one (341) respondents
were chosen from the target population of two thousand three hundred (2300) through stratified
random sampling. Out of the 341 copies of the questionnaire given out, two hundred and eighty six (286)
copies representing 83.87% responses were received for analysis.
one hypothesis was formulated from the statement of research problem. Analysis of Variance, Pearson
Moment Correlation Analysis, Factor Analysis among other statistical tools were used in testing the
hypothesis. The overall results suggest that strategic marketing is a driver of organizational positioning
in a dynamic environment, and that it helps to enhance the development of new product/service for
existing markets. These findings, along with other interesting findings of the study, are discussed.
From the empirical and anecdotal managerial evidence as well as from the literature implications are
drawn for the efficient and effective strategic marketing practices in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Based on the findings of the study, the concepts and principles of total quality management within a
holistic framework it is recommended that (i) efforts should be made by organizational marketers
towards understanding the relevant economic factors that affect both clients’ behaviour and the
strategic options that may be adopted to cope with such behaviours; (ii) oil and gas marketing
academics should endeavour to study holistically the relevant business functions and activities which
may enhance or hinder the understanding and application of relevant modern management concepts
and principles to oil service marketing.
Keywords: Strategic Marketing, Strategies, Dynamic environment, Deployment, Resources, Performance
Classification: GJMBR-B: JEL Classification M31
StrategicMarketing APanaceaforSuccessofNigerianoilandGasIndustry
Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of:
Version 1.0 February 2011
ISSN: 0975-5853
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
Strategic Marketing: A Panacea for Success of
Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
AKINYELE, S.T. (Ph.D)
Abstract-The purpose of this paper is to investigate strategic
marketing as a panacea for success of the Nigerian oil and
gas industry. The specific objective of the study include
determining how inter-industry marketing commitment and
company goal actualization can affect the performance of
Nigerian oil and gas marketing companies. This study
adopted a survey research methodology to examine the role
of strategic marketing in enterprise growth and survival of
Nigerian oil and gas marketing companies in an attempt to
attain their desired level of performance. Three hundred and
forty one (341) respondents were chosen from the target
population of two thousand three hundred (2300) through
stratified random sampling. Out of the 341 copies of the
questionnaire given out, two hundred and eighty six (286)
copies representing 83.87% responses were received for
analysis.
one hypothesis was formulated from the statement of
research problem. Analysis of Variance, Pearson Moment
Correlation Analysis, Factor Analysis among other statistical
tools were used in testing the hypothesis. The overall
results suggest that strategic marketing is a driver of
organizational positioning in a dynamic environment, and that
it helps to enhance the development of new product/service
for existing markets. These findings, along with other
interesting findings of the study, are discussed. From the
empirical and anecdotal managerial evidence as well as
from the literature implications are drawn for the efficient and
effective strategic marketing practices in the Nigerian oil
and gas industry. Based on the findings of the study, the
concepts and principles of total quality management within a
holistic framework it is recommended that (i) efforts should
be made by organizational marketers towards
understanding the relevant economic factors that affect
both clients’ behaviour and the strategic options that may
be adopted to cope with such behaviours; (ii) oil and gas
marketing academics should endeavour to study
holistically the relevant business functions and activities
which may enhance or hinder the understanding and
application of relevant modern management concepts and
principles to oil service marketing.
KEYWORDS: Strategic Marketing, Strategies, Dynamic
environment, Deployment, Resources, Performance
About- School of Business Studies, Covenant University,Ota-Nigeria
[email protected]
I. Introduction
The rapid development of an indigenous
technical workforce has become more compelling than
ever before against the background of the expected
imminent injection of massive investment in the sector.
With a current production capacity of about 30 million
barrels per day (bpd), Nigeria plans to increase her
production capacity to about 40 million bpd by 2010
(Utomi 2001; Obi 2003; Mathiason 2006). Already,
Nigeria is the leading oil and gas producer in Africa,
currently ranked the seventh highest in the world
(NNPC 2004; The Guardian 2006). In addition to the
above, Nigeria which is widely referred to as a gas
province, has natural gas reserves that triple crude oil
reserves, being estimated in excess of 187.5 trillion
standard cubit feet(scf) (Africa Oil and Gas 2004). The
Federal Government has stated that one of its
objectives is to achieve 50 per cent local content in the
oil and gas sector by 2010. Adegbulugbe (2002)
observes that Nigeria began exporting oil in 1958 with
crude oil production of 5000 barrels per day (bpd) rising
by 1979 to a peak of 2.3 million bpd. It ranks 5th in gas
reserves which makes the country more of a gas
rather than an oil country (CBN 2002). Indeed, Nigeria
is often described as a gas zone with some oil in it.
However, gas resources are largely untapped and
Nigeria’s gas reserves place it among the top ten
countries in the world in that category (Assael 2000 ;
Ekpu 2004). Assael (2000) and Ekpu (2004) also
observe that other energy resources such as hydro
power, wind energy, and coal, which is produced in
Enugu and Benue States abound in the country.
Nigeria is in fact the only coal-producing West African
nation. About 43% of Nigeria’s natural gas is
associated with oil which according to (Ekpu 2004) is
unfortunately largely flared to the detriment of the
economy. Energy consumption is in the area of
petroleum products, which according to (Dixton et al.,
2005), accounted for between 70% and 80% of total
energy consumed in Nigeria between 1970 and 1980,
the major consumers being the transportation,
household and industrial sectors.
This study is intended to expand the body of
knowledge in respect of the application of strategic
marketing practices to the oil and gas sector especially
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in a developing economy like Nigeria that earns over
80% of her foreign exchange from oil and particularly,
as the Federal Government is putting in place policies
and strategies to improve the oil sector’s contributions
to the Nigeria economy (Garuba 2006). According to
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Annual Report and
Statement of Account for the period 1990- 2000, oil
export earnings amounted to over US$13 billion,
representing about 95% of total National Income in
2000 (Assael 2000 ).
To achieve a set of organizational goals and
objectives, companies conceptualize, design, and
implement various strategies. Marketing has been
defined and conceptualized in various ways, depending
on the author’s background, interest, and education
(Osuagwu 1999). For example, marketing can be seen
as a matrix of business activities organized to plan,
produce, price, promote, distribute, and megamarket
goods, service, and ideas for the satisfaction of relevant
customers and clients. Achumba and Osuagwu (1994)
also posit that marketing is important for the success of
any organization, whether service- or product-oriented.
Bolaji (2003) argues that the oil and gas service sector
constitutes a service industry that has currently been
changed by aggressive strategic marketing behaviour.
According to (Okoroafo 1993), indigenous Nigerian oil
and gas marketing companies were not profoundly
entrepreneurial at the beginning for the following
reasons: lack of trained manpower, poor infrastructural
development, lack of adequate or sufficient capital base
on the part of the indigenous oil and gas marketing
companies and intense competition from superior
foreign companies.
The sensitivity of petroleum resource is clearly
reflected in the fact that it has remained or continued
to be the goose that lay a golden eggs for the Nigerian
economy as well as the supreme foreign exchange
earner contributing over 80% of government revenues
and helps the development of Nigeria’s infrastructures
and other industries (Anya 2002; Chukwu 2002; Gary
and Karl 2003; Amnesty International, 2004). However,
due largely to the highly technical nature of exploration
and production, the sector depends substantially on
imported technologies and facilities for most of its
operations. In view of the critical importance of the
sector to the nation’s economy and its capacity to
generate far-reaching multiplier effect, the grooming of
highly skilled indigenous manpower to participate
keenly in the activities of the sector to redress the
foreign dominance becomes imperative (Baker 2006).
II. Statement of Research Problem
The problem statement, according to (Wiersma
1995), describes the content for the study and it also
identifies the general analysis of issues in the research
necessitating the need for the study (Creswell 1994).
The research is expected to answer questions and
provide reasons responsible for undertaking the
particular research (Pajares 2007). The problem of this
study is to measure, analyse and establish the impact
of organization expenditure on oil and gas industry
performance variables which include effect of
structure/strategies, the diversification and
concentration, environmental performance indices and
goal actualization of the organization objectives. Many
research efforts in the area of marketing practices in
developing economies have dealt with macro issues
and emphasized the management of company’s
structure and strategies, conduct and performance of
marketing activities as they relate to performance
indices such as market share, growth, efficiency and
well being of consumers and clients (Boyd et al 1994;
Baker 1995; Bauer 1998; Samli and Kaynak 1994)
lament that the key defect with this static and
macroanalysis of marketing practices in developing
economies is that it minimizes the impact of marketing
environment on the achievement of performance
measures. Also, although some research efforts have
been undertaken to explain marketing practices in
developing economies at the organizational level
(Westfall and Boyd 1990; Samli 1994;
Wadimambiaratchi 1995 ; Cravens et al 1990), many
of these research efforts do not provide answers to
issues pertaining to the impact of company’s structure
and strategies on the performance of mineral
prospecting industries particularly the oil and gas
marketing companies. The deregulation of the Nigerian
economy through the Structural Adjustment
Programme (SAP) affected the oil and gas sector in
Nigeria in many ways (Miles and Snow 1978
;Umunnaehila 1996). This resulted in oil and gas
companies seeking for clients and designing services
that would meet clients’ needs and wants.
Consequently, the Nigerian oil and gas companies
incorporated the usage of various market mix elements
to improve their market outreach/ coverage, new
product ratio, price positioning, competitive orientation,
etc to survive and grow (Umoh 1992; Udell 1998;
Osoka 1996 ; Adler 1997 ; Johne and Davies 2002).
The poor condition of some oil and gas marketing
companies in Nigeria is a function of some interrelated
problems. According to (Sheng 1999 ; Day and
Reibstein 1997 ; Kim and Mauborgne 1998 ; Johne
1999 ; Kandampully and Duddy 1999), the causes of
the oil and gas marketing companies failure or poor
performance, are due to microeconomic or
macroeconomic factors (performance industry
environmental factors indice coupled with the
management of marketing content and product
marketing). Mamman and Oluyemi (1995) ;McDonald
(1996) and Creveling (1994) have, however, posited
that oil and gas companies poor performance in Nigeria
is a function of industry environmental factor indices
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
and marketing of oil and gas services. It evolves as a
result of the interplay of the marketing mix elements and
the environmental factors, which impact on these
elements (Scnars 1991; Li et al 2000 ; Aristobulo 1997;
Jain 1993 ; Mavondo 2000). Therefore, the function of
marketing strategy deals with determining the nature,
strength, direction, and interaction between marketing
mix elements and the environmental factors in a
particular situation (Jain and Punj 1987; Osuagwu 2001;
2001; 2004). However, achieving efficient and effective
product marketing strategy by an organization is
difficult, as a result of the ambiguity and instability of
environmental factors (Brownie and Spender 1995). The
peculiarities of oil and gas marketing services may
create or set modalities for goal actualization
parameters that are different from those found in the
marketing of tangible products. Sound and robust
marketing commitment on the part of organization and
sales-people are important to the survival and growth of
the oil and gas industry, considering the subtle,
unstable and seemingly hostile business environments
in which contemporary business organizations operate
(McDonald 1996; Creveling 1994). In order to formulate
and implement effective and efficient goal actualization
and inter-industry marketing commitment in product
distribution, oil and gas companies should have a
thorough and continuous understanding of the relevant
environment that impacts on their marketing strategies
(McDonald 1989; 1992 ; 1996).
Successful organizations are those that
integrate efficient and effective management in internal
and external dimensions through external relationship
management and enhancement of inter-industry
marketing commitment and goal actualization among
internal and external customers. Internal marketing
paradigm is a mechanism for the managers to analyze
the organizational issues which need to be addressed
in implementing marketing strategies. It is therefore,
imperative for organizations to establish an important
framework of legitimacy for new directions and
transformations and accommodate the constant
process of change management and knowledge
management.
III. Objectives of the Study
The main focus of marketing activities of oil and
gas marketing companies is the identification and
satisfaction of clients’ needs and wants. These
objectives can be attained by identifying the likely
marketing mix variables and strategies, including
relevant environmental impacts on them. There is,
therefore, the need to carry out this research given the
enormity of the problem facing the oil and gas industry.
Specifically the study sought to investigate the
following:
1) To determine how inter-industry marketing
commitment and company goal actualization can affect
the performance of Nigerian oil and gas marketing
companies.
IV. Research Hypotheses
The following null and alternative hypothesis
are considered in this study:
H0: Inter-industry marketing commitment and company
goal actualization does not yield better performance of
oil and gas marketing companies.
H1: Inter-industry marketing commitment and company
goal actualization yield better performance of oil and
gas marketing companies.
V. Literature Review
The growth of oil and gas marketing
companies and business in Nigeria has been
phenomenal, with the attendant competition and other
factors. It seems that this growth in the number of
product marketing companies in Nigeria has not been
matched with an equal growth in the awareness of oil
and gas services to clients and other interested publics.
The oil and gas industry seems to have witnessed
some form of corporate performance over the years
which can be attributed to their distinct level of market
share (Okwor 1992; Falegan 1991 ; Daniel 1998 ;
Olawoyin, 1995 ; Ogunrinde 1990).
According to (Schnars 1991), marketing
strategy has been a salient focus of academic inquiry
since the 1980s. There are numerous definitions of
marketing strategy in the literature and such definitions
reflect different perspectives ( Li et al 2000). However,
the consensus is that marketing strategy provides the
avenue for utilizing the resources of an organization in
order to achieve its set goals and objectives. It evolves
from the interplay of the marketing mix elements and
the environmental factors (Li et al 2000). Therefore, the
function of marketing strategy is to determine the
nature, strength, direction, and interaction between the
marketing mix- elements and the environmental factors
in a particular situation (Jain and Punj 1997). According
to (McDonald 1992), the aim of the development of an
organization’s marketing strategy development is to
establish, build, defend and maintain its competitive
advantage. Managerial judgment is important in
coping with environmental ambiguity and uncertainty in
strategic marketing (Brownie and Spender 1995).
Marketing strategy development has the following
peculiarities:
1) It requires managerial experience, intuition and
judgment (Little 1990; Mintzberg 1994a;
1994b; 1996; Brownlie and Spender 1995;
McIntyre 1992; Alpar 1991).
2) It carries a high level of uncertainty and
ambiguity (Brownlie and Spender 1995).
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
3) It is business sphere knowledge- intensive
(McDonald and Wilson 1990; Duberlaar et al
1991).
4) It entails a broad spectrum of strategic
information (Mintzberg 1994b ; Berry 1997).
5) It is a process which usually involves subtle
decision making by organizational managers
based on exhaustive examination of relevant
environments and a synthesis of essential and
useful pieces of information (Mintzberg, 1994a
and 1994b);
6) It is specifically concerned with devising an
approach by which an organization can
effectively differentiate itself from other
competitors by emphasizing and capitalizing
on its unique strengths in order to offer better
customer/client value over a long period of time
(Jain and Punj 1997). However, it is difficult for
an organization to achieve an efficient and
effective marketing strategy (Li et al 2000).
Many factors prevent organizational managers
from designing and implementing efficient and
effective marketing strategies (McDonald
1992). The fact is that environmental factors
generally interact in an astonishing manner and
affect the efficiency and effectiveness of
managers in strategic marketing issues
(McDonald 1989; 1996). Against this
background, the present research attempts to
assess the strategic marketing as a panacea
for success of Nigerian oil and gas marketing
companies, the impacts of environmental
factors on such strategies and the
effectiveness of the marketing strategies.
Typically, marketers have a number of tools
they can use, these include megamarketing (Kotler
1996) and the so-called 4Ps of marketing (McCarthy
1995), among others. Marketing seems easy to
describe, but extremely difficult to practice (Kotler and
Connor 1997). Organizational managers in many firms
have applied the so-called marketing concept, which
may be simple or complex. Marketing thought, with its
practice, has been moving speedily into the service
industry (Kotler and Connor 1997). Literature, partly,
centres on the discussion of whether physical product
marketing is similar to, or different from, the marketing
of service and concludes that the differences between
physical product and service might be a matter of
emphasis rather than of nature or kind (Creveling
1995). Marketing is one of the salient and important
organic functions which help to service organizations to
meet their business challenges and achieve set goals
and objectives (Kotler and Connor 1997). The word “
service” is used to describe an organization or
industry that “does something” for someone, and does
not “ make something” for someone (Silvestro and
Johnston 1990). “Service” is used of companies or
firms that meet the needs and wants of society such
organizations are essentially bureaucratic (Johns
1990). “ Service” may also be described as intangible
its outcome being perceived as an activity rather than
as a tangible offering. The question of the distinction
between services and tangible products is based on
the proportion of service components that a particular
offering contains (Johns 1990).
A service may therefore be seen as an activity
or benefit which can be offered to an organization or
individual by another organization or individual and
which is essentially intangible. It is a separately
identifiable but intangible offer which produces want-
satisfaction to the client, and which may or may not be
necessarily tied to the sale of a physical product or
another service (Osuagwu 1999. Sound and robust
marketing strategies are important to the survival and
growth of any business, including oil and gas business,
considering the increasingly subtle, unstable and
seemingly hostile business environments in which
contemporary business organizations operate
(McDonald 2004 and Creveling 2005). Therefore, in
order to formulate and implement efficient and effective
marketing strategies, business organizations should
have a thorough and continuous understanding of the
relevant environment that impacts on their marketing
strategies.
VI. Definition of Strategic
Marketing
The early strategic marketing - performance
studies date from the time of rapid expansion of formal
strategic marketing in the 1960s (Henry 1999).
Although same studies employed diverse
methodologies and measures, they shared a common
interest in exploring the financial performance
consequences of the basic tools, techniques, and
activities of formal strategic marketing i.e. systematic
intelligence- gathering, market research, SWOT
analysis, portfolio analysis, mathematical and computer
model of formal planning meetings and written long-
range plans. According to Allison and Kaye (2005),
strategic marketing is making choices. It is a process
designed to support leaders in being intentional about
their goals and methods. Differently expressed,
strategic marketing is a marketing management tool
and like any tool, it is used for one purpose only namely
to help an organization to do its job better. Bryson
(2004) observes that strategic marketing is a
disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and
actions that shape and guide what an organization is,
what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the
future. Woodward (2004), argues that strategic
marketing is a process by which one can envision the
future and develop the necessary procedures and
operations to influence and achieve the future.
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
Why are we in business?
? How do we do business?
? Where are we now?
? Where do we want to be?
? How can we get there?
? How will we know that we have arrived there
Strategic marketing, according to (Berry 1997),
is the process of determining (i) what your organization
intends to accomplish and (ii) how you will direct the
organization and its resources towards attaining the
goals set over the coming months and years. In other
words, strategic marketing is a tool for finding the best
future for your organization and the best path to reach
the desired destination. Higgins and Vincze (1993);
Mintzberg (1994); Pearce and Robinson (1994) are of
the opinion that strategic marketing can be defined as
the process of using systematic criteria and rigorous
investigation to formulate, implement, and control
strategy, and formally document organizational
expectations. Kudler (1996), views strategic marketing
as the systematic process of determining the firm’s
goals and objectives for at least three years into the
future and developing the strategies that will guide the
acquisition and use of resources to achieve the set
objectives. Steiner (1997), sees strategic marketing as
the process of determining the mission, major
objectives, strategies and policies that govern the
acquisition and allocation of resources to achieve
organizational aims. Bradford and Duncan (2000),
argue that strategic marketing is an organization’s
process of defining its strategy and making decisions
on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy,
including its capital and people. The outcome is
normally a strategic plan which is used as a guide to
define functional and divisional plans, technology,
marketing among others. Hunsaker (2001) observes
that strategic plans apply to the entire organization. All
short- term and specific plans for lower- level managers
are linked and coordinated so that they may contribute
to the organization’s strategic plan. Paley (2004), sees
strategic marketing as representing the managerial
process for developing and maintaining a strategic fit
between the organization and changing market
opportunities. It relies on the development of the
following sections:
? A strategic direction or mission statement
? Objectives and goals
? Growth strategies
? A business portfolio
Gup and Whitehead (2000), on other part, see
strategic marketing as the formulation of a unified,
comprehensive and integrated plan aimed at relating
the strategic advantages of the firm to the challenges of
the environment. Anderson (2004), states that strategic
marketing is the logical and systematic process by
which top management reaches a consensus on the
major strategic direction of the company.
Paley (2004), advocating the adoption of
strategic marketing in solving organization’s problems,
remarks that the organization which does not plan for
its future does not deserve any future. Citing the work of
(Ansoff 1988), he contrasts strategic marketing with
long- range planning and concludes that both
concepts are not synonymous. He argues that long-
range planning is based upon the extrapolation of past
situations, a questionable premise on the ground that
present conditions are not the same as those of the
past. Ulrich and Barney (1984), further criticize the
traditional extrapolation techniques of long range
planning and suggest the use of scenario analysis
which encourages broad and creative thinking about
the future. The authors cite the work of (Wing 1997),
which contest that traditional forecasting techniques are
based on the assumption that tomorrow’s world will be
much like today’s. Commenting on ‘New Age’ Strategic
marketing Ginsberg (1997) explains that the present
complex environment is characterized by side effects,
time delays, non-linearity and multiple feedback
processes. He then concludes that traditional strategy
tools are no longer adequate in designing superior
strategies. He consequently advocates the use of the
holistic systems approach as opposed to the esoteric
ways of the ‘old’. Ansoff (1988), reports that newly
invented strategic marketing displaced long range
planning because of the growing discontinuity of the
environment.
Strategic marketing on the other hand does not
necessarily expect an improved future or extrapolatable
past. Hinterhuber (1992), argued that a manager is not
necessarily a strategist and that a manager’s vision is
also not an entrepreneurial vision.
VII. Methodology
A cross- sectional survey was selected for this
study because it was easy to undertake compared to
longitudinal survey and the result from the sample can
be inferred to the larger population. In addition, some
extraneous factors could have manifested in the
observed change other than the independent variable
concerned. The study adopted a survey research
methodology to examine the role of strategic marketing
in enterprise growth and survival of Nigerian oil and
gas marketing companies in an attempt to attain their
desired level of performance. Three hundred and forty
one (341) respondents were chosen from the target
population of two thousand three hundred (2300)
through stratified random sampling. Out of the 341
copies of the questionnaire given out, two hundred and
eighty six (286) copies representing 83.87% responses
were received for analysis
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The target population in the study was the
employees of petroleum product marketing companies
in Lagos, Nigeria. A structural questionnaire was used
to collect data from the respondents. The questionnaire
was developed to capture the information on the level
of respondents, knowledge on the main purpose of
performance of appraisal system and a assessment of
the awareness of performance appraisal by the
university. The questionnaire was pre-tested with
respondents in other product marketing company, to
authenticate reliability. The pre-testing was done to
avoid any possible influence on trial respondents before
the actual survey.
The analyzed data was presented using
descriptive statistics, frequency tables, Analysis of
Variance, and Correlation coefficients. Descriptive
statistics allow the generalization of the data to give an
account of the structure or the characteristics of the
population as represented by the sample.
Data Analysis, Finding and Discussions
Table 1: Reliability Coefficients of Research Measures
(Cronbach’s Alpha)
S/N Variable Measure Cronbach’s
Alpha
Coefficients
1 Management of Marketing
strategy
0.76
2 Oil and Gas Performance
Measurement
0.73
3 Effect of Environmental
factors on marketing
strategies
0.65
4 Organizational structure and
strategies
0.84
Table 1 above shows Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients of the major research measures. “
Management of marketing strategy contructs” and “Oil
and gas performance measurements” met Nunnally’s
(1978) internal consistency (reliability) standard for
newly- developed research measures, while “Effect of
environmental factors on marketing strategies” failed to
meet Nunnally’s (1978) standard for reliability.
Specifically, Nunnally (1978) recommended 0.70
Cronbach alpha value (internal consistency) for newly
developed research instruments. Therefore, subject to
the specific and usual limitations associated with this
type of research, the research instrument appears
reliable and valid.
This study has provided empirical evidence
pertaining to the perception placed on oil and gas
marketing strategies, and oil and gas performance
measures and impact of environmental factors on such
strategies. The research findings show that product and
mega marketing strategies received relatively low
perception. These findings have managerial and
research implications.
Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of Effectiveness of Strategic Marketing Using Qualitative Measures of Performance(n=
286).
Variables Mean Std.Dev. Variance Skewness
Company makes profit by selling large quantities
of goods/services
5.17 .96 .89 -.1.27
Experience to cut costs is an important goal 4.67 .99 .99 -.79
Sales executive move faster than competitors in
responding to customers needs
4.93 .98 .87 -.99
Develops an exhaustive set of alternatives before
making improvement management decision
4.79 .89 .79 -.69
Demands better services provided by customers 4.17 1.23 1.29 -.39
Emphasize opening up new branches 4.69 1.23 1.27 -.32
Ability to gain market share is high 3.57 1.39 1.79 -.34
Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics of the
effectiveness of strategic marketing practices of the
studied oil and gas industry. The finding shows that
strategic marketing practices have been reasonably
effective in oil and gas industry, with strategic marketing
effectiveness being very high from the analysis above.
The essence of strategic marketing is to achieve set
objectives, and these objectives can be measured in
terms of profit, market share, marketing cost, gross
earnings, capital employed, asset quality, quality of
marketing management, liquidity, turnover of marketing
staff, and management of departmental crisis. The
effectiveness of strategic marketing practices in the
studied oil and gas industry is encouraging. These are
the CAMEL measures of performance. According to
(Umoh 1992; McDonald 1996), the effectiveness of oil
and gas strategies determines the survival and growth
of downstream sector in Nigeria, especially in an ever-
changing environment. Effective oil and gas
management through strategic marketing assists in the
employment of capital raised, and manages the oil and
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8
gas asset portfolio in viable business options so that
the assets are seen to be performing and yielding
returns. The marketing strategies of oil and gas, in order
to show reasonable levels of effectiveness along the
CAMEL measures, have to emphasize a marketing
management team with foresight, experience, and
commitment towards the survival and growth of the oil
industry, among others. Oluyemi (1996), posit that the
most widely accepted measure of performance of oil
and gas industry is current profitability, which is
measured in terms of return on assets and return on
equity. Nigerian oil and gas industry that creates
comparatively large amounts of value (in relation to its
equity) through it strategic marketing practices can be
said to show high level of effectiveness. And as Table 3
shows, the studied oil and gas industry’s have shown
appreciable levels of effectiveness using the identified
measures of performance
.
Table 3: Comparison of Environmental Characteristic a
Dimension of the Environment Company A
Total
Mean
Company B
Oando
Mean
Company C
Texaco
mean
Company D
Agip
Mean
Markets
Product diversity 4.64 4.29*** 3.22 3.12
Geographical diversity 5.40 4.22*** 2.34 3.21
Level of product information 4.89 4.80 4.33 4.02
Diversity of promotional media 4.92 4.46* 4.06 3.42
Competition
Intensity of rivalry 5.69 5.36** 4.34 4.54
Inability to influence market
conditions
4.21 3.60*** 3.34 3.18
Average profitability of the
principal market
4.32 4.26 4.21 4.65
Entry barriers to the principal
market
4.69 5.42*** 4.32 4.24
Constraints imposed by inter-
industry relationships with
major stockholders
2.84 3.09 3.33 3.24
With major distributors and
customers
2.76 3.78*** 3.43 3.11
With major suppliers-
subcontractors
2.49 3.71*** 3.34 3.54
With government 4.38 3.27*** 3.12 3.43
With competitors 2.14 2.64*** 2.42 2.56
Ability of labour market
For managers 3.64 1.79*** 3.11 3.23
For technological experts 3.47 1.99*** 2.23 2.65
Notes:
a
. The higher the mean score, the more typical is the characteristics
* Significant at 0.5 level by t-test of means
** Significant at 0.1 level by t-test of means
*** Significant at.001 level by t-test of means
From the above table, there is also a significant
difference in labour market-ability between the four
companies. Total firms face a less mobile labour market
than oando, Texaco and Agip firms. Not new, the
findings is consistent with the prevalent view that the
Total labour market is less mobile because of its many
tangible incentives incorporated into their employment
system. The strengths and range of constraints
imposed by interrelationships with other organizations
are also different in Total and other oil and gas
companies under study. Oando and other oil and gas
firms face stronger constraints imposed by government
and regulatory bodies, while Total firms feel the
constraints imposed by their relationships with
distributors, customers, suppliers and competitors to a
greater degree than Oando, Texaco and Agip firms.
This result suggests that Total companies create closer
inter-organizational networks with various kinds of
organizations. The networks, although constraining
decisions within organizations, may have a number of
benefits including risk-sharing and long term
stabilization of business. The strong constraints
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imposed by the government upon oil and gas
companies probably stem from the relatively adverse
historical relationship between business and
government in Nigeria as well as from motives to
protect the public and promote competition.
To sum up, Total firms face a less diverse, less
competitive, more volatile and high opportunity
environment, and less mobility of market. They are,
moreover, constrained by interrelationships with other
organizations to a greater extent than the other oil and
gas marketing firms under study. A firm must set
operational objectives, the priorities of which are
contingent upon the opportunities provided and
constraints imposed by its environment matched
against the internal capabilities of the organization.
Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis 1
Inter-industry marketing commitment and company
goal actualization does not yield better performance of
Nigerian oil and gas marketing companies.
Table 4: Correlation Analysis of Inter-industry Marketing Commitment and Company Goal Actualization
Interindustry marketing
commitment
Company goal
actualization
Pearson correlation 1 .0661(**)
Interindustry marketing
commitment
Sig.(2-tailed)
Sum of squares and cross products 31.254 33.116
Covariance .128 .110
N 284 284
Company goal
actualization
Pearson correlation .661(**) 1
Sig.(2-tailed) .000
Sum of squares and products 33.116 63.089
Covariance .110 .122
N 286 286
Source: Field survey, 2007.
The finding shows a significant positive
relationship between these two variables and the
pearson correlation using 2- tailed test at r= .661, 0.01
significant level and 286 degree of freedom. The sum of
squares and cross products for inter-industry marketing
commitment are 31.254 and 33.116 for company goal
actualization with covariance for the environment are
286 degree of freedom.
Table 5: Regression Model of Summary of Inter-industry
Marketing Commitment and Company Goal
Actualization
Model R Rsquare Adjusted
Rsquare
Std. Error of
the Estimate
1 .905(a) .822 .821 .20214
Source: Field Survey, 2007.
In the Table above r square is called the
coefficient of determination and referred to as r2. In this
study, 82.2% of the variability in performance can be
explained by factors like markets, competition ability of
labour markets and constraints imposed by
interindustry marketing commitment and goal
actualization relationships. The remaining 17.8% of
variability is due to other unexpected factors. Thus, this
further supported the rejection of the fourth hypothesis.
Table 6: Regression of Inter-industry Marketing Commitment and Goal Actualization
Model 1 Sum of squares DF Mean square F Sig.
1 Regression 53.164 3 15.724 442.526 .000(a)
Residual 11.841 283 .051
Total 65.005 286
Source: Field Survey, 2007.
The R-squared(R2) for the regression is 0.822
and the R-square adjusted for degrees of freedom for
the regression is 0.821. The root mean square error,
labelled ‘Root MSE’ is .20214. It should be noted that
the root mean square error is the square root of the
mean square error reported for the residual in the
ANOVA Table 5 .
VIII. Discussion of the Finding
As stated earlier, the discussion of this study
followed the hypotheses raised and tested and they are
presented below:
Hypothesis 1:Inter-industry marketing commitment and
company goal actualization does not yield better
performance of Nigerian oil and gas marketing
companies.
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This present study correlated two variables:
inter-industry marketing commitment and company
goal actualization in testing hypothesis four. The finding
showed a significant positive relationship between
these two variables. For the two variables at the same
significant level of 0.01 (2-tailed) and degree of freedom
(at 286) their Pearson correlation stood at .661. The
findings of this study also supported the results of other
studies. This result corroborates the supposition of (
Knorr and Mahoney 2005 ; Finney et al 2005; Child and
Tasi 2005 ; Schneider et al 2006). They found that the
strengths and range of constraints imposed by
interindustry marketing commitment and
interrelationships with other organizations are also
different from one oil company to another. This implied
that interindustry marketing commitment of oil and gas
marketing companies affect goal actualization. The
findings however, show that the variability in inter-
industry marketing commitment can be explained by
the factors like markets, ability of labour markets,
competition, constraints imposed by inter-industry
relationships. The remaining 17.8% of variability is due
to other unexplained factors. Thus, this supports the
rejection of the null hypothesis but support the
acceptance of alternative hypothesis.
IX. Conclusions
This section elaborates on the conclusion of the
research. Based on the findings of this research, the
following conclusions are warranted:
1. The evidence from findings suggested that oil
and gas marketing companies have
comparative advantages in adopting various
marketing strategies using different
technologies. Oil and gas marketing
companies appeared to specialize in the use of
traditional methods of marketing, which is
based on “soft” information culled from close
contacts by marketing and sales department
rather than the use of the specialized strategic
marketing methods that are based on “hard”
quantitative information.
2. Most of the findings of the research are
consistent with previous normative and
empirical works. For instance, the companies
face a less diverse, less competitive, more
volatile and high opportunity environment, and
a less mobility of market. They are however,
constrained by interrelationships with other
organizations largely.
3. The research instrument shows high validity
and reliability.
4. This study has provided empirical evidence
pertaining to the perception of oil and gas
marketing strategies, and the industry
environmental factors on such strategies.
X. Managerial and Research
Implications
The findings of this study have several
managerial implications for Nigerian downstream oil
and gas. First, Nigerian oil and gas managers are
advised to place more emphasis on the adoption of
various marketing strategies using different
technologies. Second, all organizations face an external
business environment that constantly changes.
Changes in the business environment create both
opportunities and threats to an organization’s strategic
development, and the organization cannot risk
remaining static. It must monitor its environment
continually in order to: build the business, develop
strategic capabilities that move the organization
forward, improve the ways in which it creates
products/services and develops new and existing
markets with a view to offering its customers better
services.
Third, anticipating competitors’ actions and
reactions to the organizational’ moves may be the key
determinant of success for any marketing strategy.
Fourth, with the competitive downstream oil and gas
industry of today, participants can put more emphasis
on relationship marketing to ensure effectiveness. This
essentially entails personalizing the oil and gas services
offered to clients, attending to clients’ cultural and
social activities, in relation to other non- business
activities, which are of interest to clients.
In such learning organizations, oil and gas
marketing companies staff would always be inquiring
into the total or systemic impacts of their business
behaviours, instead of just concentrating on the local
effects of their business behaviours (Chen 2004).
XI. Limitations and Suggestions for
Further Studies
This study indicates that strategic marketing
practices have a significant impact on performance
variables and that they interact with the different
components to facilitate performance. It also indicates
that different performance factors moderate strategic
marketing practice. Therefore, organizations hoping to
enhance corporate performance in a dynamic business
environment should consider the following:
Suggestions for further studies:This research
leads to some observations that might be of interest to
future researchers, as they represent the seeds from
which future research can be developed.
a) This same research can be carried out in other
nations so that a broad comparison of the
concepts of strategic marketing as it affects
firm performance can be made.
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b) Research into the combined effects of strategic
marketing practice and performance factors as
mediators of firm performance relationship.
c) Research into the effects of key characteristics
of industries environmental indices and
marketing strategy could be carried out to
further explain the differences in the firm’s
adoption of strategic marketing.
d) Finally, future research works are to be
undertaken in order to refine the cobwebs
found in the present research, and orient it to
more specific contexts (business, time,
location, etc) in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
doc_604602300.pdf
The rapid development of an indigenous technical workforce has become more compelling than ever before against the background of the expected imminent injection of massive investment in the sector. With a current production capacity of about 30 million barrels per day (bpd), Nigeria plans to increase her production capacity to about 40 million bpd by 2010 (Utomi 2001; Obi 2003; Mathiason 2006). Already, Nigeria is the leading oil and gas producer in Africa, currently ranked the seventh highest in the world (NNPC 2004; The Guardian 2006).
© 2011 Akinyele, S.T..This is a research/review paper, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial 3.0 Unported Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction inany medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Global Journal of Management And Business Research
Volume 11 Issue 2
Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal
Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA)
Strategic Marketing: A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and
Gas Industry
By Akinyele, S.T.
Covenant University,Ota-Nigeria
Abstract- The purpose of this paper is to investigate strategic marketing as a panacea for success of the
Nigerian oil and gas industry. The specific objective of the study include determining how inter-industry
marketing commitment and company goal actualization can affect the performance of Nigerian oil and
gas marketing companies. This study adopted a survey research methodology to examine the role of
strategic marketing in enterprise growth and survival of Nigerian oil and gas marketing companies in an
attempt to attain their desired level of performance. Three hundred and forty one (341) respondents
were chosen from the target population of two thousand three hundred (2300) through stratified
random sampling. Out of the 341 copies of the questionnaire given out, two hundred and eighty six (286)
copies representing 83.87% responses were received for analysis.
one hypothesis was formulated from the statement of research problem. Analysis of Variance, Pearson
Moment Correlation Analysis, Factor Analysis among other statistical tools were used in testing the
hypothesis. The overall results suggest that strategic marketing is a driver of organizational positioning
in a dynamic environment, and that it helps to enhance the development of new product/service for
existing markets. These findings, along with other interesting findings of the study, are discussed.
From the empirical and anecdotal managerial evidence as well as from the literature implications are
drawn for the efficient and effective strategic marketing practices in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Based on the findings of the study, the concepts and principles of total quality management within a
holistic framework it is recommended that (i) efforts should be made by organizational marketers
towards understanding the relevant economic factors that affect both clients’ behaviour and the
strategic options that may be adopted to cope with such behaviours; (ii) oil and gas marketing
academics should endeavour to study holistically the relevant business functions and activities which
may enhance or hinder the understanding and application of relevant modern management concepts
and principles to oil service marketing.
Keywords: Strategic Marketing, Strategies, Dynamic environment, Deployment, Resources, Performance
Classification: GJMBR-B: JEL Classification M31
StrategicMarketing APanaceaforSuccessofNigerianoilandGasIndustry
Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of:
Version 1.0 February 2011
ISSN: 0975-5853
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
Strategic Marketing: A Panacea for Success of
Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
AKINYELE, S.T. (Ph.D)
Abstract-The purpose of this paper is to investigate strategic
marketing as a panacea for success of the Nigerian oil and
gas industry. The specific objective of the study include
determining how inter-industry marketing commitment and
company goal actualization can affect the performance of
Nigerian oil and gas marketing companies. This study
adopted a survey research methodology to examine the role
of strategic marketing in enterprise growth and survival of
Nigerian oil and gas marketing companies in an attempt to
attain their desired level of performance. Three hundred and
forty one (341) respondents were chosen from the target
population of two thousand three hundred (2300) through
stratified random sampling. Out of the 341 copies of the
questionnaire given out, two hundred and eighty six (286)
copies representing 83.87% responses were received for
analysis.
one hypothesis was formulated from the statement of
research problem. Analysis of Variance, Pearson Moment
Correlation Analysis, Factor Analysis among other statistical
tools were used in testing the hypothesis. The overall
results suggest that strategic marketing is a driver of
organizational positioning in a dynamic environment, and that
it helps to enhance the development of new product/service
for existing markets. These findings, along with other
interesting findings of the study, are discussed. From the
empirical and anecdotal managerial evidence as well as
from the literature implications are drawn for the efficient and
effective strategic marketing practices in the Nigerian oil
and gas industry. Based on the findings of the study, the
concepts and principles of total quality management within a
holistic framework it is recommended that (i) efforts should
be made by organizational marketers towards
understanding the relevant economic factors that affect
both clients’ behaviour and the strategic options that may
be adopted to cope with such behaviours; (ii) oil and gas
marketing academics should endeavour to study
holistically the relevant business functions and activities
which may enhance or hinder the understanding and
application of relevant modern management concepts and
principles to oil service marketing.
KEYWORDS: Strategic Marketing, Strategies, Dynamic
environment, Deployment, Resources, Performance
About- School of Business Studies, Covenant University,Ota-Nigeria
[email protected]
I. Introduction
The rapid development of an indigenous
technical workforce has become more compelling than
ever before against the background of the expected
imminent injection of massive investment in the sector.
With a current production capacity of about 30 million
barrels per day (bpd), Nigeria plans to increase her
production capacity to about 40 million bpd by 2010
(Utomi 2001; Obi 2003; Mathiason 2006). Already,
Nigeria is the leading oil and gas producer in Africa,
currently ranked the seventh highest in the world
(NNPC 2004; The Guardian 2006). In addition to the
above, Nigeria which is widely referred to as a gas
province, has natural gas reserves that triple crude oil
reserves, being estimated in excess of 187.5 trillion
standard cubit feet(scf) (Africa Oil and Gas 2004). The
Federal Government has stated that one of its
objectives is to achieve 50 per cent local content in the
oil and gas sector by 2010. Adegbulugbe (2002)
observes that Nigeria began exporting oil in 1958 with
crude oil production of 5000 barrels per day (bpd) rising
by 1979 to a peak of 2.3 million bpd. It ranks 5th in gas
reserves which makes the country more of a gas
rather than an oil country (CBN 2002). Indeed, Nigeria
is often described as a gas zone with some oil in it.
However, gas resources are largely untapped and
Nigeria’s gas reserves place it among the top ten
countries in the world in that category (Assael 2000 ;
Ekpu 2004). Assael (2000) and Ekpu (2004) also
observe that other energy resources such as hydro
power, wind energy, and coal, which is produced in
Enugu and Benue States abound in the country.
Nigeria is in fact the only coal-producing West African
nation. About 43% of Nigeria’s natural gas is
associated with oil which according to (Ekpu 2004) is
unfortunately largely flared to the detriment of the
economy. Energy consumption is in the area of
petroleum products, which according to (Dixton et al.,
2005), accounted for between 70% and 80% of total
energy consumed in Nigeria between 1970 and 1980,
the major consumers being the transportation,
household and industrial sectors.
This study is intended to expand the body of
knowledge in respect of the application of strategic
marketing practices to the oil and gas sector especially
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in a developing economy like Nigeria that earns over
80% of her foreign exchange from oil and particularly,
as the Federal Government is putting in place policies
and strategies to improve the oil sector’s contributions
to the Nigeria economy (Garuba 2006). According to
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Annual Report and
Statement of Account for the period 1990- 2000, oil
export earnings amounted to over US$13 billion,
representing about 95% of total National Income in
2000 (Assael 2000 ).
To achieve a set of organizational goals and
objectives, companies conceptualize, design, and
implement various strategies. Marketing has been
defined and conceptualized in various ways, depending
on the author’s background, interest, and education
(Osuagwu 1999). For example, marketing can be seen
as a matrix of business activities organized to plan,
produce, price, promote, distribute, and megamarket
goods, service, and ideas for the satisfaction of relevant
customers and clients. Achumba and Osuagwu (1994)
also posit that marketing is important for the success of
any organization, whether service- or product-oriented.
Bolaji (2003) argues that the oil and gas service sector
constitutes a service industry that has currently been
changed by aggressive strategic marketing behaviour.
According to (Okoroafo 1993), indigenous Nigerian oil
and gas marketing companies were not profoundly
entrepreneurial at the beginning for the following
reasons: lack of trained manpower, poor infrastructural
development, lack of adequate or sufficient capital base
on the part of the indigenous oil and gas marketing
companies and intense competition from superior
foreign companies.
The sensitivity of petroleum resource is clearly
reflected in the fact that it has remained or continued
to be the goose that lay a golden eggs for the Nigerian
economy as well as the supreme foreign exchange
earner contributing over 80% of government revenues
and helps the development of Nigeria’s infrastructures
and other industries (Anya 2002; Chukwu 2002; Gary
and Karl 2003; Amnesty International, 2004). However,
due largely to the highly technical nature of exploration
and production, the sector depends substantially on
imported technologies and facilities for most of its
operations. In view of the critical importance of the
sector to the nation’s economy and its capacity to
generate far-reaching multiplier effect, the grooming of
highly skilled indigenous manpower to participate
keenly in the activities of the sector to redress the
foreign dominance becomes imperative (Baker 2006).
II. Statement of Research Problem
The problem statement, according to (Wiersma
1995), describes the content for the study and it also
identifies the general analysis of issues in the research
necessitating the need for the study (Creswell 1994).
The research is expected to answer questions and
provide reasons responsible for undertaking the
particular research (Pajares 2007). The problem of this
study is to measure, analyse and establish the impact
of organization expenditure on oil and gas industry
performance variables which include effect of
structure/strategies, the diversification and
concentration, environmental performance indices and
goal actualization of the organization objectives. Many
research efforts in the area of marketing practices in
developing economies have dealt with macro issues
and emphasized the management of company’s
structure and strategies, conduct and performance of
marketing activities as they relate to performance
indices such as market share, growth, efficiency and
well being of consumers and clients (Boyd et al 1994;
Baker 1995; Bauer 1998; Samli and Kaynak 1994)
lament that the key defect with this static and
macroanalysis of marketing practices in developing
economies is that it minimizes the impact of marketing
environment on the achievement of performance
measures. Also, although some research efforts have
been undertaken to explain marketing practices in
developing economies at the organizational level
(Westfall and Boyd 1990; Samli 1994;
Wadimambiaratchi 1995 ; Cravens et al 1990), many
of these research efforts do not provide answers to
issues pertaining to the impact of company’s structure
and strategies on the performance of mineral
prospecting industries particularly the oil and gas
marketing companies. The deregulation of the Nigerian
economy through the Structural Adjustment
Programme (SAP) affected the oil and gas sector in
Nigeria in many ways (Miles and Snow 1978
;Umunnaehila 1996). This resulted in oil and gas
companies seeking for clients and designing services
that would meet clients’ needs and wants.
Consequently, the Nigerian oil and gas companies
incorporated the usage of various market mix elements
to improve their market outreach/ coverage, new
product ratio, price positioning, competitive orientation,
etc to survive and grow (Umoh 1992; Udell 1998;
Osoka 1996 ; Adler 1997 ; Johne and Davies 2002).
The poor condition of some oil and gas marketing
companies in Nigeria is a function of some interrelated
problems. According to (Sheng 1999 ; Day and
Reibstein 1997 ; Kim and Mauborgne 1998 ; Johne
1999 ; Kandampully and Duddy 1999), the causes of
the oil and gas marketing companies failure or poor
performance, are due to microeconomic or
macroeconomic factors (performance industry
environmental factors indice coupled with the
management of marketing content and product
marketing). Mamman and Oluyemi (1995) ;McDonald
(1996) and Creveling (1994) have, however, posited
that oil and gas companies poor performance in Nigeria
is a function of industry environmental factor indices
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
and marketing of oil and gas services. It evolves as a
result of the interplay of the marketing mix elements and
the environmental factors, which impact on these
elements (Scnars 1991; Li et al 2000 ; Aristobulo 1997;
Jain 1993 ; Mavondo 2000). Therefore, the function of
marketing strategy deals with determining the nature,
strength, direction, and interaction between marketing
mix elements and the environmental factors in a
particular situation (Jain and Punj 1987; Osuagwu 2001;
2001; 2004). However, achieving efficient and effective
product marketing strategy by an organization is
difficult, as a result of the ambiguity and instability of
environmental factors (Brownie and Spender 1995). The
peculiarities of oil and gas marketing services may
create or set modalities for goal actualization
parameters that are different from those found in the
marketing of tangible products. Sound and robust
marketing commitment on the part of organization and
sales-people are important to the survival and growth of
the oil and gas industry, considering the subtle,
unstable and seemingly hostile business environments
in which contemporary business organizations operate
(McDonald 1996; Creveling 1994). In order to formulate
and implement effective and efficient goal actualization
and inter-industry marketing commitment in product
distribution, oil and gas companies should have a
thorough and continuous understanding of the relevant
environment that impacts on their marketing strategies
(McDonald 1989; 1992 ; 1996).
Successful organizations are those that
integrate efficient and effective management in internal
and external dimensions through external relationship
management and enhancement of inter-industry
marketing commitment and goal actualization among
internal and external customers. Internal marketing
paradigm is a mechanism for the managers to analyze
the organizational issues which need to be addressed
in implementing marketing strategies. It is therefore,
imperative for organizations to establish an important
framework of legitimacy for new directions and
transformations and accommodate the constant
process of change management and knowledge
management.
III. Objectives of the Study
The main focus of marketing activities of oil and
gas marketing companies is the identification and
satisfaction of clients’ needs and wants. These
objectives can be attained by identifying the likely
marketing mix variables and strategies, including
relevant environmental impacts on them. There is,
therefore, the need to carry out this research given the
enormity of the problem facing the oil and gas industry.
Specifically the study sought to investigate the
following:
1) To determine how inter-industry marketing
commitment and company goal actualization can affect
the performance of Nigerian oil and gas marketing
companies.
IV. Research Hypotheses
The following null and alternative hypothesis
are considered in this study:
H0: Inter-industry marketing commitment and company
goal actualization does not yield better performance of
oil and gas marketing companies.
H1: Inter-industry marketing commitment and company
goal actualization yield better performance of oil and
gas marketing companies.
V. Literature Review
The growth of oil and gas marketing
companies and business in Nigeria has been
phenomenal, with the attendant competition and other
factors. It seems that this growth in the number of
product marketing companies in Nigeria has not been
matched with an equal growth in the awareness of oil
and gas services to clients and other interested publics.
The oil and gas industry seems to have witnessed
some form of corporate performance over the years
which can be attributed to their distinct level of market
share (Okwor 1992; Falegan 1991 ; Daniel 1998 ;
Olawoyin, 1995 ; Ogunrinde 1990).
According to (Schnars 1991), marketing
strategy has been a salient focus of academic inquiry
since the 1980s. There are numerous definitions of
marketing strategy in the literature and such definitions
reflect different perspectives ( Li et al 2000). However,
the consensus is that marketing strategy provides the
avenue for utilizing the resources of an organization in
order to achieve its set goals and objectives. It evolves
from the interplay of the marketing mix elements and
the environmental factors (Li et al 2000). Therefore, the
function of marketing strategy is to determine the
nature, strength, direction, and interaction between the
marketing mix- elements and the environmental factors
in a particular situation (Jain and Punj 1997). According
to (McDonald 1992), the aim of the development of an
organization’s marketing strategy development is to
establish, build, defend and maintain its competitive
advantage. Managerial judgment is important in
coping with environmental ambiguity and uncertainty in
strategic marketing (Brownie and Spender 1995).
Marketing strategy development has the following
peculiarities:
1) It requires managerial experience, intuition and
judgment (Little 1990; Mintzberg 1994a;
1994b; 1996; Brownlie and Spender 1995;
McIntyre 1992; Alpar 1991).
2) It carries a high level of uncertainty and
ambiguity (Brownlie and Spender 1995).
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
3) It is business sphere knowledge- intensive
(McDonald and Wilson 1990; Duberlaar et al
1991).
4) It entails a broad spectrum of strategic
information (Mintzberg 1994b ; Berry 1997).
5) It is a process which usually involves subtle
decision making by organizational managers
based on exhaustive examination of relevant
environments and a synthesis of essential and
useful pieces of information (Mintzberg, 1994a
and 1994b);
6) It is specifically concerned with devising an
approach by which an organization can
effectively differentiate itself from other
competitors by emphasizing and capitalizing
on its unique strengths in order to offer better
customer/client value over a long period of time
(Jain and Punj 1997). However, it is difficult for
an organization to achieve an efficient and
effective marketing strategy (Li et al 2000).
Many factors prevent organizational managers
from designing and implementing efficient and
effective marketing strategies (McDonald
1992). The fact is that environmental factors
generally interact in an astonishing manner and
affect the efficiency and effectiveness of
managers in strategic marketing issues
(McDonald 1989; 1996). Against this
background, the present research attempts to
assess the strategic marketing as a panacea
for success of Nigerian oil and gas marketing
companies, the impacts of environmental
factors on such strategies and the
effectiveness of the marketing strategies.
Typically, marketers have a number of tools
they can use, these include megamarketing (Kotler
1996) and the so-called 4Ps of marketing (McCarthy
1995), among others. Marketing seems easy to
describe, but extremely difficult to practice (Kotler and
Connor 1997). Organizational managers in many firms
have applied the so-called marketing concept, which
may be simple or complex. Marketing thought, with its
practice, has been moving speedily into the service
industry (Kotler and Connor 1997). Literature, partly,
centres on the discussion of whether physical product
marketing is similar to, or different from, the marketing
of service and concludes that the differences between
physical product and service might be a matter of
emphasis rather than of nature or kind (Creveling
1995). Marketing is one of the salient and important
organic functions which help to service organizations to
meet their business challenges and achieve set goals
and objectives (Kotler and Connor 1997). The word “
service” is used to describe an organization or
industry that “does something” for someone, and does
not “ make something” for someone (Silvestro and
Johnston 1990). “Service” is used of companies or
firms that meet the needs and wants of society such
organizations are essentially bureaucratic (Johns
1990). “ Service” may also be described as intangible
its outcome being perceived as an activity rather than
as a tangible offering. The question of the distinction
between services and tangible products is based on
the proportion of service components that a particular
offering contains (Johns 1990).
A service may therefore be seen as an activity
or benefit which can be offered to an organization or
individual by another organization or individual and
which is essentially intangible. It is a separately
identifiable but intangible offer which produces want-
satisfaction to the client, and which may or may not be
necessarily tied to the sale of a physical product or
another service (Osuagwu 1999. Sound and robust
marketing strategies are important to the survival and
growth of any business, including oil and gas business,
considering the increasingly subtle, unstable and
seemingly hostile business environments in which
contemporary business organizations operate
(McDonald 2004 and Creveling 2005). Therefore, in
order to formulate and implement efficient and effective
marketing strategies, business organizations should
have a thorough and continuous understanding of the
relevant environment that impacts on their marketing
strategies.
VI. Definition of Strategic
Marketing
The early strategic marketing - performance
studies date from the time of rapid expansion of formal
strategic marketing in the 1960s (Henry 1999).
Although same studies employed diverse
methodologies and measures, they shared a common
interest in exploring the financial performance
consequences of the basic tools, techniques, and
activities of formal strategic marketing i.e. systematic
intelligence- gathering, market research, SWOT
analysis, portfolio analysis, mathematical and computer
model of formal planning meetings and written long-
range plans. According to Allison and Kaye (2005),
strategic marketing is making choices. It is a process
designed to support leaders in being intentional about
their goals and methods. Differently expressed,
strategic marketing is a marketing management tool
and like any tool, it is used for one purpose only namely
to help an organization to do its job better. Bryson
(2004) observes that strategic marketing is a
disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and
actions that shape and guide what an organization is,
what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the
future. Woodward (2004), argues that strategic
marketing is a process by which one can envision the
future and develop the necessary procedures and
operations to influence and achieve the future.
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
©2011 Global Journals Inc. (US)
Why are we in business?
? How do we do business?
? Where are we now?
? Where do we want to be?
? How can we get there?
? How will we know that we have arrived there
Strategic marketing, according to (Berry 1997),
is the process of determining (i) what your organization
intends to accomplish and (ii) how you will direct the
organization and its resources towards attaining the
goals set over the coming months and years. In other
words, strategic marketing is a tool for finding the best
future for your organization and the best path to reach
the desired destination. Higgins and Vincze (1993);
Mintzberg (1994); Pearce and Robinson (1994) are of
the opinion that strategic marketing can be defined as
the process of using systematic criteria and rigorous
investigation to formulate, implement, and control
strategy, and formally document organizational
expectations. Kudler (1996), views strategic marketing
as the systematic process of determining the firm’s
goals and objectives for at least three years into the
future and developing the strategies that will guide the
acquisition and use of resources to achieve the set
objectives. Steiner (1997), sees strategic marketing as
the process of determining the mission, major
objectives, strategies and policies that govern the
acquisition and allocation of resources to achieve
organizational aims. Bradford and Duncan (2000),
argue that strategic marketing is an organization’s
process of defining its strategy and making decisions
on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy,
including its capital and people. The outcome is
normally a strategic plan which is used as a guide to
define functional and divisional plans, technology,
marketing among others. Hunsaker (2001) observes
that strategic plans apply to the entire organization. All
short- term and specific plans for lower- level managers
are linked and coordinated so that they may contribute
to the organization’s strategic plan. Paley (2004), sees
strategic marketing as representing the managerial
process for developing and maintaining a strategic fit
between the organization and changing market
opportunities. It relies on the development of the
following sections:
? A strategic direction or mission statement
? Objectives and goals
? Growth strategies
? A business portfolio
Gup and Whitehead (2000), on other part, see
strategic marketing as the formulation of a unified,
comprehensive and integrated plan aimed at relating
the strategic advantages of the firm to the challenges of
the environment. Anderson (2004), states that strategic
marketing is the logical and systematic process by
which top management reaches a consensus on the
major strategic direction of the company.
Paley (2004), advocating the adoption of
strategic marketing in solving organization’s problems,
remarks that the organization which does not plan for
its future does not deserve any future. Citing the work of
(Ansoff 1988), he contrasts strategic marketing with
long- range planning and concludes that both
concepts are not synonymous. He argues that long-
range planning is based upon the extrapolation of past
situations, a questionable premise on the ground that
present conditions are not the same as those of the
past. Ulrich and Barney (1984), further criticize the
traditional extrapolation techniques of long range
planning and suggest the use of scenario analysis
which encourages broad and creative thinking about
the future. The authors cite the work of (Wing 1997),
which contest that traditional forecasting techniques are
based on the assumption that tomorrow’s world will be
much like today’s. Commenting on ‘New Age’ Strategic
marketing Ginsberg (1997) explains that the present
complex environment is characterized by side effects,
time delays, non-linearity and multiple feedback
processes. He then concludes that traditional strategy
tools are no longer adequate in designing superior
strategies. He consequently advocates the use of the
holistic systems approach as opposed to the esoteric
ways of the ‘old’. Ansoff (1988), reports that newly
invented strategic marketing displaced long range
planning because of the growing discontinuity of the
environment.
Strategic marketing on the other hand does not
necessarily expect an improved future or extrapolatable
past. Hinterhuber (1992), argued that a manager is not
necessarily a strategist and that a manager’s vision is
also not an entrepreneurial vision.
VII. Methodology
A cross- sectional survey was selected for this
study because it was easy to undertake compared to
longitudinal survey and the result from the sample can
be inferred to the larger population. In addition, some
extraneous factors could have manifested in the
observed change other than the independent variable
concerned. The study adopted a survey research
methodology to examine the role of strategic marketing
in enterprise growth and survival of Nigerian oil and
gas marketing companies in an attempt to attain their
desired level of performance. Three hundred and forty
one (341) respondents were chosen from the target
population of two thousand three hundred (2300)
through stratified random sampling. Out of the 341
copies of the questionnaire given out, two hundred and
eighty six (286) copies representing 83.87% responses
were received for analysis
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
The target population in the study was the
employees of petroleum product marketing companies
in Lagos, Nigeria. A structural questionnaire was used
to collect data from the respondents. The questionnaire
was developed to capture the information on the level
of respondents, knowledge on the main purpose of
performance of appraisal system and a assessment of
the awareness of performance appraisal by the
university. The questionnaire was pre-tested with
respondents in other product marketing company, to
authenticate reliability. The pre-testing was done to
avoid any possible influence on trial respondents before
the actual survey.
The analyzed data was presented using
descriptive statistics, frequency tables, Analysis of
Variance, and Correlation coefficients. Descriptive
statistics allow the generalization of the data to give an
account of the structure or the characteristics of the
population as represented by the sample.
Data Analysis, Finding and Discussions
Table 1: Reliability Coefficients of Research Measures
(Cronbach’s Alpha)
S/N Variable Measure Cronbach’s
Alpha
Coefficients
1 Management of Marketing
strategy
0.76
2 Oil and Gas Performance
Measurement
0.73
3 Effect of Environmental
factors on marketing
strategies
0.65
4 Organizational structure and
strategies
0.84
Table 1 above shows Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients of the major research measures. “
Management of marketing strategy contructs” and “Oil
and gas performance measurements” met Nunnally’s
(1978) internal consistency (reliability) standard for
newly- developed research measures, while “Effect of
environmental factors on marketing strategies” failed to
meet Nunnally’s (1978) standard for reliability.
Specifically, Nunnally (1978) recommended 0.70
Cronbach alpha value (internal consistency) for newly
developed research instruments. Therefore, subject to
the specific and usual limitations associated with this
type of research, the research instrument appears
reliable and valid.
This study has provided empirical evidence
pertaining to the perception placed on oil and gas
marketing strategies, and oil and gas performance
measures and impact of environmental factors on such
strategies. The research findings show that product and
mega marketing strategies received relatively low
perception. These findings have managerial and
research implications.
Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of Effectiveness of Strategic Marketing Using Qualitative Measures of Performance(n=
286).
Variables Mean Std.Dev. Variance Skewness
Company makes profit by selling large quantities
of goods/services
5.17 .96 .89 -.1.27
Experience to cut costs is an important goal 4.67 .99 .99 -.79
Sales executive move faster than competitors in
responding to customers needs
4.93 .98 .87 -.99
Develops an exhaustive set of alternatives before
making improvement management decision
4.79 .89 .79 -.69
Demands better services provided by customers 4.17 1.23 1.29 -.39
Emphasize opening up new branches 4.69 1.23 1.27 -.32
Ability to gain market share is high 3.57 1.39 1.79 -.34
Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics of the
effectiveness of strategic marketing practices of the
studied oil and gas industry. The finding shows that
strategic marketing practices have been reasonably
effective in oil and gas industry, with strategic marketing
effectiveness being very high from the analysis above.
The essence of strategic marketing is to achieve set
objectives, and these objectives can be measured in
terms of profit, market share, marketing cost, gross
earnings, capital employed, asset quality, quality of
marketing management, liquidity, turnover of marketing
staff, and management of departmental crisis. The
effectiveness of strategic marketing practices in the
studied oil and gas industry is encouraging. These are
the CAMEL measures of performance. According to
(Umoh 1992; McDonald 1996), the effectiveness of oil
and gas strategies determines the survival and growth
of downstream sector in Nigeria, especially in an ever-
changing environment. Effective oil and gas
management through strategic marketing assists in the
employment of capital raised, and manages the oil and
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8
gas asset portfolio in viable business options so that
the assets are seen to be performing and yielding
returns. The marketing strategies of oil and gas, in order
to show reasonable levels of effectiveness along the
CAMEL measures, have to emphasize a marketing
management team with foresight, experience, and
commitment towards the survival and growth of the oil
industry, among others. Oluyemi (1996), posit that the
most widely accepted measure of performance of oil
and gas industry is current profitability, which is
measured in terms of return on assets and return on
equity. Nigerian oil and gas industry that creates
comparatively large amounts of value (in relation to its
equity) through it strategic marketing practices can be
said to show high level of effectiveness. And as Table 3
shows, the studied oil and gas industry’s have shown
appreciable levels of effectiveness using the identified
measures of performance
.
Table 3: Comparison of Environmental Characteristic a
Dimension of the Environment Company A
Total
Mean
Company B
Oando
Mean
Company C
Texaco
mean
Company D
Agip
Mean
Markets
Product diversity 4.64 4.29*** 3.22 3.12
Geographical diversity 5.40 4.22*** 2.34 3.21
Level of product information 4.89 4.80 4.33 4.02
Diversity of promotional media 4.92 4.46* 4.06 3.42
Competition
Intensity of rivalry 5.69 5.36** 4.34 4.54
Inability to influence market
conditions
4.21 3.60*** 3.34 3.18
Average profitability of the
principal market
4.32 4.26 4.21 4.65
Entry barriers to the principal
market
4.69 5.42*** 4.32 4.24
Constraints imposed by inter-
industry relationships with
major stockholders
2.84 3.09 3.33 3.24
With major distributors and
customers
2.76 3.78*** 3.43 3.11
With major suppliers-
subcontractors
2.49 3.71*** 3.34 3.54
With government 4.38 3.27*** 3.12 3.43
With competitors 2.14 2.64*** 2.42 2.56
Ability of labour market
For managers 3.64 1.79*** 3.11 3.23
For technological experts 3.47 1.99*** 2.23 2.65
Notes:
a
. The higher the mean score, the more typical is the characteristics
* Significant at 0.5 level by t-test of means
** Significant at 0.1 level by t-test of means
*** Significant at.001 level by t-test of means
From the above table, there is also a significant
difference in labour market-ability between the four
companies. Total firms face a less mobile labour market
than oando, Texaco and Agip firms. Not new, the
findings is consistent with the prevalent view that the
Total labour market is less mobile because of its many
tangible incentives incorporated into their employment
system. The strengths and range of constraints
imposed by interrelationships with other organizations
are also different in Total and other oil and gas
companies under study. Oando and other oil and gas
firms face stronger constraints imposed by government
and regulatory bodies, while Total firms feel the
constraints imposed by their relationships with
distributors, customers, suppliers and competitors to a
greater degree than Oando, Texaco and Agip firms.
This result suggests that Total companies create closer
inter-organizational networks with various kinds of
organizations. The networks, although constraining
decisions within organizations, may have a number of
benefits including risk-sharing and long term
stabilization of business. The strong constraints
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Strategic Marketing A Panacea for Success of Nigerian oil and Gas Industry
imposed by the government upon oil and gas
companies probably stem from the relatively adverse
historical relationship between business and
government in Nigeria as well as from motives to
protect the public and promote competition.
To sum up, Total firms face a less diverse, less
competitive, more volatile and high opportunity
environment, and less mobility of market. They are,
moreover, constrained by interrelationships with other
organizations to a greater extent than the other oil and
gas marketing firms under study. A firm must set
operational objectives, the priorities of which are
contingent upon the opportunities provided and
constraints imposed by its environment matched
against the internal capabilities of the organization.
Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis 1
Inter-industry marketing commitment and company
goal actualization does not yield better performance of
Nigerian oil and gas marketing companies.
Table 4: Correlation Analysis of Inter-industry Marketing Commitment and Company Goal Actualization
Interindustry marketing
commitment
Company goal
actualization
Pearson correlation 1 .0661(**)
Interindustry marketing
commitment
Sig.(2-tailed)
Sum of squares and cross products 31.254 33.116
Covariance .128 .110
N 284 284
Company goal
actualization
Pearson correlation .661(**) 1
Sig.(2-tailed) .000
Sum of squares and products 33.116 63.089
Covariance .110 .122
N 286 286
Source: Field survey, 2007.
The finding shows a significant positive
relationship between these two variables and the
pearson correlation using 2- tailed test at r= .661, 0.01
significant level and 286 degree of freedom. The sum of
squares and cross products for inter-industry marketing
commitment are 31.254 and 33.116 for company goal
actualization with covariance for the environment are
286 degree of freedom.
Table 5: Regression Model of Summary of Inter-industry
Marketing Commitment and Company Goal
Actualization
Model R Rsquare Adjusted
Rsquare
Std. Error of
the Estimate
1 .905(a) .822 .821 .20214
Source: Field Survey, 2007.
In the Table above r square is called the
coefficient of determination and referred to as r2. In this
study, 82.2% of the variability in performance can be
explained by factors like markets, competition ability of
labour markets and constraints imposed by
interindustry marketing commitment and goal
actualization relationships. The remaining 17.8% of
variability is due to other unexpected factors. Thus, this
further supported the rejection of the fourth hypothesis.
Table 6: Regression of Inter-industry Marketing Commitment and Goal Actualization
Model 1 Sum of squares DF Mean square F Sig.
1 Regression 53.164 3 15.724 442.526 .000(a)
Residual 11.841 283 .051
Total 65.005 286
Source: Field Survey, 2007.
The R-squared(R2) for the regression is 0.822
and the R-square adjusted for degrees of freedom for
the regression is 0.821. The root mean square error,
labelled ‘Root MSE’ is .20214. It should be noted that
the root mean square error is the square root of the
mean square error reported for the residual in the
ANOVA Table 5 .
VIII. Discussion of the Finding
As stated earlier, the discussion of this study
followed the hypotheses raised and tested and they are
presented below:
Hypothesis 1:Inter-industry marketing commitment and
company goal actualization does not yield better
performance of Nigerian oil and gas marketing
companies.
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This present study correlated two variables:
inter-industry marketing commitment and company
goal actualization in testing hypothesis four. The finding
showed a significant positive relationship between
these two variables. For the two variables at the same
significant level of 0.01 (2-tailed) and degree of freedom
(at 286) their Pearson correlation stood at .661. The
findings of this study also supported the results of other
studies. This result corroborates the supposition of (
Knorr and Mahoney 2005 ; Finney et al 2005; Child and
Tasi 2005 ; Schneider et al 2006). They found that the
strengths and range of constraints imposed by
interindustry marketing commitment and
interrelationships with other organizations are also
different from one oil company to another. This implied
that interindustry marketing commitment of oil and gas
marketing companies affect goal actualization. The
findings however, show that the variability in inter-
industry marketing commitment can be explained by
the factors like markets, ability of labour markets,
competition, constraints imposed by inter-industry
relationships. The remaining 17.8% of variability is due
to other unexplained factors. Thus, this supports the
rejection of the null hypothesis but support the
acceptance of alternative hypothesis.
IX. Conclusions
This section elaborates on the conclusion of the
research. Based on the findings of this research, the
following conclusions are warranted:
1. The evidence from findings suggested that oil
and gas marketing companies have
comparative advantages in adopting various
marketing strategies using different
technologies. Oil and gas marketing
companies appeared to specialize in the use of
traditional methods of marketing, which is
based on “soft” information culled from close
contacts by marketing and sales department
rather than the use of the specialized strategic
marketing methods that are based on “hard”
quantitative information.
2. Most of the findings of the research are
consistent with previous normative and
empirical works. For instance, the companies
face a less diverse, less competitive, more
volatile and high opportunity environment, and
a less mobility of market. They are however,
constrained by interrelationships with other
organizations largely.
3. The research instrument shows high validity
and reliability.
4. This study has provided empirical evidence
pertaining to the perception of oil and gas
marketing strategies, and the industry
environmental factors on such strategies.
X. Managerial and Research
Implications
The findings of this study have several
managerial implications for Nigerian downstream oil
and gas. First, Nigerian oil and gas managers are
advised to place more emphasis on the adoption of
various marketing strategies using different
technologies. Second, all organizations face an external
business environment that constantly changes.
Changes in the business environment create both
opportunities and threats to an organization’s strategic
development, and the organization cannot risk
remaining static. It must monitor its environment
continually in order to: build the business, develop
strategic capabilities that move the organization
forward, improve the ways in which it creates
products/services and develops new and existing
markets with a view to offering its customers better
services.
Third, anticipating competitors’ actions and
reactions to the organizational’ moves may be the key
determinant of success for any marketing strategy.
Fourth, with the competitive downstream oil and gas
industry of today, participants can put more emphasis
on relationship marketing to ensure effectiveness. This
essentially entails personalizing the oil and gas services
offered to clients, attending to clients’ cultural and
social activities, in relation to other non- business
activities, which are of interest to clients.
In such learning organizations, oil and gas
marketing companies staff would always be inquiring
into the total or systemic impacts of their business
behaviours, instead of just concentrating on the local
effects of their business behaviours (Chen 2004).
XI. Limitations and Suggestions for
Further Studies
This study indicates that strategic marketing
practices have a significant impact on performance
variables and that they interact with the different
components to facilitate performance. It also indicates
that different performance factors moderate strategic
marketing practice. Therefore, organizations hoping to
enhance corporate performance in a dynamic business
environment should consider the following:
Suggestions for further studies:This research
leads to some observations that might be of interest to
future researchers, as they represent the seeds from
which future research can be developed.
a) This same research can be carried out in other
nations so that a broad comparison of the
concepts of strategic marketing as it affects
firm performance can be made.
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b) Research into the combined effects of strategic
marketing practice and performance factors as
mediators of firm performance relationship.
c) Research into the effects of key characteristics
of industries environmental indices and
marketing strategy could be carried out to
further explain the differences in the firm’s
adoption of strategic marketing.
d) Finally, future research works are to be
undertaken in order to refine the cobwebs
found in the present research, and orient it to
more specific contexts (business, time,
location, etc) in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
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