Partnering in offshore drilling projects
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business
ISSN: 1753-8378
Article publication date: 4 January 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate to which extent partnering practices observed in earlier research focussing on the construction industry are applied in offshore development drilling projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews earlier research on project partnering and the relationship-based procurement (RBP) taxonomy. The taxonomy is then empirically applied to describe partnering practices in an incentive-based drilling project in Norway.
Findings
Many elements of project partnering observed earlier in construction projects were found to characterize offshore development drilling projects. However, as assessed using the RBP framework, the authors found that partnering elements in observed context rated consistently lower than elements previously reported in the construction industry, indicating a lower maturity of partnering practices in the studied context.
Practical implications
The present study provides a multi-dimensional and systematic description of partnering practices in offshore drilling projects. Project owners can utilize this information to identify partnering elements requiring particular emphasis when initiating and managing drilling projects. Based on the findings, such elements include transparency and open-book auditing, integrated risk mitigation and insurance practices and establishment of authentic leadership. The findings further imply that partnering models cannot be directly applied across industry boundaries but must be tailored to fit the salient characteristics of each context.
Originality/value
The paper systematically describes to which extent specific partnering elements of the RBP taxonomy are applied in offshore drilling projects.
Keywords
Citation
Børve, S., Ahola, T., Andersen, B. and Aarseth, W. (2017), "Partnering in offshore drilling projects", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 84-108. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-12-2015-0117
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited