Online Intermediation and Competitiveness of Oil and Gas Exploration and Producing Companies in the South-South Region of Nigeria
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between online intermediation and the competitiveness of oil and gas exploration and producing companies in the South-South Region of Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The population of this study comprises all the oil and gas companies that operate in the South-South region of Nigeria. There are 131 companies involved in oil and gas exploration and production in the South-South region of Nigeria. Since the study population is small, the researcher handled the entire population. Two senior managers in the operations and finance of each company were considered for this study. Therefore, the total number of respondents became 262 from the 131 companies involved in oil and gas exploration and production in the South-South region of Nigeria. Primary data was collected using a 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire. The hypotheses were tested using Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Coefficient with Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.0. The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between online intermediation and the competitiveness of oil and gas exploration and producing companies in the South-South Region of Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommended that the management of oil and gas exploration and producing companies should invest in robust online platforms and digital technologies that facilitate efficient intermediation. This includes exploring or developing online platforms that connect oil and gas companies with relevant services, suppliers, and partners to streamline operations.
Downloads
References
Barney, J. B. (1991). The resource-based view of strategy: Origins, implications, and prospects.
Journal of Management, 17(1), 97-211.
Basu, S. (2011). Evolving nature of firm-level competitiveness—a technical note. Indore Management Journal, 3(3), 52-57.
Bashir, M. (2023). The influence of strategic flexibility on SME performance: is business model innovation the missing link? International Journal of Innovation Science.
Biglaiser, G., Li, F., Murry, C., & Zhou, Y. (2020). Intermediaries and product quality in used car markets. The RAND Journal of Economics, 51(3), 905-933.
Bryce, J. (2013). The technological mediation of leisure in contemporary society.
Contemporary Perspectives in Leisure, 123-138.
Büyüközkan, G., & Göçer, F. (2018). Digital Supply Chain: Literature review and a proposed framework for future research. Computers in industry, 97, 157-177.
Carrel, A., & Ebner, N. (2019). Mind the Gap: Bringing Technology to the Mediation Table.
J. Disp. Resol., 1.
Chikán, A., Czakó, E., Kiss-Dobronyi, B., & Losonci, D. (2022). Firm competitiveness: A general model and a manufacturing application. International Journal of Production Economics, 243, 108316.
Crespo del Granado, P. A., Rajasekharan, J., Pandiyan, S. V., Tomasgard, A., Kara, G., Farahmand, H., & Jaehnert, S. (2023). Flexibility Characterization, Aggregation, and Market Design Trends with a High Share of Renewables: a Review.
Dalmer, N. K. (2017). Questioning reliability assessments of health information on social media. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 105(1), 61.
De Giovanni, P., & Zaccour, G. (2023). A survey of dynamic models of product quality.
European Journal of Operational Research, 307(3), 991-1007.
Dubey, P., & Sahu, K. K. (2022). Mediation analysis of students' perceived benefits in predicting their satisfaction with technology-enhanced learning. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 16(1), 82-99.
Dvouletý, O., & Blažková, I. (2021). Determinants of competitiveness of the Czech SMEs: findings from the global competitiveness project. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 31(3), 361-378.
Fagerberg, J., & Srholec, M. (2017). Capabilities, economic development, sustainability.
Cambridge Journal of Economics, 41(3), 905-926.
Falciola, J., Jansen, M., & Rollo, V. (2020). Defining firm competitiveness: A multidimensional framework. World Development, 129, 104857.
Gerhart, B., & Feng, J. (2021). The resource-based view of the firm, human resources, and human capital: Progress and prospects. Journal of Management, 47(7), 1796-1819.
Huggins, R., & Thompson, P. (2017). Introducing regional competitiveness and development: contemporary theories and perspectives. Handbook of Regions and Competitiveness: Contemporary Theories and Perspectives on Economic Development, 1-31.
Ismail, I. J. (2023). Speaking to the hearts of the customers! The mediating effect of customer loyalty on customer orientation, technology orientation, and business performance. Technological Sustainability, 2(1), 44-66.
Jambor, A., Babu, S., Jambor, A., & Babu, S. (2016). The competitiveness of global agriculture (pp. 99-129). Springer International Publishing.
Kaine, S., & Josserand, E. (2019). The organization and experience of work in the gig economy.
Journal of Industrial Relations, 61(4), 479-501.
Khanra, S., Kaur, P., Joseph, R. P., Malik, A., & Dhir, A. (2022). A resource‐based view of green innovation as a strategic firm resource: Present status and future directions. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(4), 1395-1413.
Kiel, D., Arnold, C., & Voigt, K. I. (2017). The Influence of the Industrial Internet of Things on business models of established manufacturing companies–A business level perspective. Technovation, 68(1), 4-19.
Li, K., Wang, X., & Du, T. C. (2022). Entrepreneurial orientation, online credibility, and online performance: Evidence from SMEs in a B2B electronic market in China. Journal of Small Business Management, 60(1), 93-118.
Ling, G. M., Fern, Y. S., Boon, L. K., & Huat, T. S. (2016). Understanding customer satisfaction of Internet banking: A case study in Malacca. Procedia Economics and Finance, 37, 80-85.
Lopez-Vega, H., Tell, F., & Vanhaverbeke, W. (2016). Where and how to search? Search paths in open innovation. Research Policy, 45(1), 125-136.
Mangold, F., Stier, S., Breuer, J., & Scharkow, M. (2022). The overstated generational gap in online news use? A consolidated infrastructural perspective. New Media & Society, 24(10), 2207-2226.
Nasidi, Q. Y., Hassan, I., Ahmad, M. F., Garba, M., & Gamji, M. B. (2022). Effects of Advertising, Online Risk, Perceived Usefulness, and Reliability on Online Shopping Behavior. International Journal of Marketing, Communication and New Media, 10(18).
Oneţiu, A., Borşan, S., Popa, C., Chebeleu, I. C., & Bacter, R. V. (2021). Use of online platforms in the intermediation of tourism activity. Agricultural Management/Lucrari Stiintifice Seria I, Management Agricol, 23(3).
Owuso, S. M. (2023). Moderating Effect of Firm Size on The Relationship Between Supply Chain Collaboration and Firm Competitiveness in Paint Distribution Companies in Rivers State.
Rashid, C. A. (2023). Social capital accounting and financial performance improvement: the role of financial information reliability as a mediator. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research.
Richter, C., Kraus, S., Brem, A., Durst, S., & Giselbrecht, C. (2017). Digital entrepreneurship: Innovative business models for the sharing economy. Creativity and innovation management, 26(3), 300-310.
Sharkey, A., Kovacs, B., & Hsu, G. (2023). Expert critics, rankings, and review aggregators: The changing nature of intermediation and the rise of markets with multiple intermediaries. Academy of Management Annals, 17(1), 1-36.
Shahid Iqbal, M., Ul Hassan, M., & Habibah, U. (2018). Impact of self-service technology (SST) service quality on customer loyalty and behavioral intention: The mediating role of customer satisfaction. Cogent Business & Management, 5(1), 1.
Sahoo, P. K., Le, V., & Rath, B. N. (2022). The determinants of firm competitiveness: Evidence from the Indian manufacturing sector. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 29(2), 139-159.
Sun, L., Tang, Y., & Zuo, W. (2020). Coronavirus pushes education online. Nature Materials, 19(6), 687-687.
Suroso, A. I., Fahmi, I., Tandra, H., & Haryono, A. (2023). Assessing the Effect of Internet Indicators on Agri-Food Export Competitiveness. Economies, 11(10), 246.
Voordijk, H., & Dorrestijn, S. (2021). Smart city technologies and figures of technical mediation. Urban research & practice, 14(1), 1-26.
Xiao, Y. X., & Zhang, R. Q. (2023). Supply chain network equilibrium considering coordination between after-sale service and product quality. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 175, 108848
Copyright (c) 2024 GPH-International Journal of Business Management

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The authors and co-authors warrant that the article is their original work, does not infringe any copyright, and has not been published elsewhere. By submitting the article to GPH-International Journal of Business Management, the authors agree that the journal has the right to retract or remove the article in case of proven ethical misconduct.