Tan Yi - The Oil and Gas Service Industry in Asia: A Comparison of Business Strategies (The Palgrave Macmillan Asian Business Series Centre for the Study of Emerging Market Series)

The Oil and Gas Service Industry in Asia

Palgrave Macmillan Asian Business Series Centre for the Study of Emerging Market Series

Series Editor: Harukiyo Hasegawa is Professor at Doshisha Business School, Kyoto, Japan, and Honourable Research Fellow at the University of Sheffields School of East Asian Studies, where he was formerly Director of the Centre for Japanese Studies.

The Palgrave Macmillan Asian Business Series seeks to publish theoretical and empirical studies that contribute forward-looking social perspectives on the study of management issues not just in Asia, but by implication elsewhere. The series specifically aims at the development of new frontiers in the scope, themes and methods of business and management studies in Asia, a region which is seen as key to studies of modern management, organisation, strategies, human resources and technologies.

The series invites practitioners, policy-makers and academic researchers to join us at the cutting edge of constructive perspectives on Asian management, seeking to contribute towards the development of civil societies in Asia and further afield.

Titles include:
Glenn D. Hook and Harukiyo Hasegawa (editors)
JAPANESE RESPONSES TO GLOBALIZATION IN THE 21st CENTURY
Politics, Security, Economics and Business

Diane Rosemary Sharpe and Harukiyo Hasegawa (editors)
NEW HORIZONS IN ASIAN MANAGEMENT
Emerging Issues and Critical Perspectives

Sten Sderman (editor)
EMERGING MULTIPLICITY
Integration and Responsiveness in Asian Business Development

Oliver H.M. Yau and Raymond P.M. Chow (editors)
HARMONY VERSUS CONFLICT IN ASIAN BUSINESS
Managing in a Turbulent Era

Tan Yi
THE OIL AND GAS SERVICE INDUSTRY IN ASIA
A Comparison of Business Strategies

Palgrave Macmillan Asian Business Series
Series Standing Order ISBN 978-1-4039-9841-5

You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above.

Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England

A Comparison of Business Strategies

Tan Yi

Senior Market Analyst, ODS-Petrodata

Tan Yi 2010

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.

Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martins Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.

Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 9780230235595 hardback

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Yi, Tan, 1966
The oil and gas service industry in Asia : a comparison of business
strategies / Tan Yi.
p.cm.
Summary: This book investigates the business strategies chosen by oil and gas service companies operating in China, Singapore and Malaysia. It provides an analytical view of the reliability of strategic theoretical frameworks based on Western business practice but applied in a non-Western business environment like AsiaProvided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780230235595 (hardback)
1. Petroleum industry and tradeChina. 2. Petroleum industry and tradeSingapore. 3. Petroleum industry and tradeMalaysia. I. Title.

HD9576.C52Y5 2010
338.47622338095dc22

2009046800

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10

Printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne

6.1 (a) Perceived uncertainty by business strategies
(b) KruskalWallis test 167
(c) MannWhitney U-test

6.4 (a) Strategic performance by competitive strategies
(b) KruskalWallis test
(c) MannWhitney U-test

6.5 (a) Strategic performance by strategic positions
(b) KruskalWallis test
(c) MannWhitney U-test

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Douglas Gourlay, Ted Mason and Alex Wilson for their supervision and input on this PhD research project. Special thanks go to Jeremy Cresswell for his editorial assistance and general help.

I am most grateful that Simmons & Company International, ASCO plc, and the Robert Gordon University awarded me a studentship for research studies.

Over 200 senior executives of energy service organisations from Asia, Europe and North America took part in the empirical research and 24 Chinese executives participated in the pilot fieldwork in China. Without their contribution, successful completion of the research project could never have been achieved. The need for anonymity prevents me from listing them individually.

I would also like to thank Palgrave Macmillan for supporting the publication of this book and Professor Harukiyo Hasegawa for his encouragement and insights on my work.

Tan Yi
Aberdeen, Scotland