Cahier de recherche N°14 - ESC Pau

3. Oil Explore: A Case IllustrationIn this research, a case study is deemed suitable for exploring the research question, namely the relationshipbetween intrinsically-motivated tacit knowledge and its transfer – a question that has not beenadequately addressed in the literature. Case study methodology is able to provide qualitative data thatoffer ‘insight into complex social processes that quantitative data cannot easily reveal’ (Eisenhardt andGraebner 2007: 26). Because the nature of this research is somewhat theoretical sampling is appropriate,which means that the case is selected because it is particularly suitable for illuminating andextending the relationship among constructs (Eisenhardt and Graebner 2007).To this effect, our empirical site involves an international oil company (pseudonymously referred to asOil Explore (OE). OE is one of the four world largest international oil companies. With operations in morethan 130 countries, OE engages in all aspects of the petroleum industry, including upstream operations(oil and gas exploration, development and production, LNG) and downstream operations (refining, marketingand the trading and shipping of crude oil and petroleum products). The company also producesbase chemicals (petrochemicals and fertilizers) and specialty chemicals for the industrial and consumermarkets (rubber processing, adhesives, resins and electroplating). The company has also interests in thecoal mining and power generation sectors. It is also developing renewable energies, such as wind andsolar power, and alternative fuels. The company employs 96000 persons; in 2006, its sales were aboutbillion 154 Euros. The net income was about billion 12.6 Euros for the same year, the larger part of itcoming from its «upstream» activities (Annual Report 2006).The company intends to ensure its competitiveness by: 1) paying careful attention to safety and environmentalprotection; 2) pursuing an investment strategy aimed at profitable organic growth; 3) leveragingits top expertise in high-growth sectors (deep offshore, LNG, heavy crudes) and implementing a wide-ranginghuman-resources program emphasising diversity at the managerial level; and finally 4) maintaininggood geographic diversity of both reserves and production.One of its competitive advantages lies in its geoscientists’ ability to discover new reserves as efficientlyas possible (Annual Report 2006). The company is very dependent on the long-term knowledge of itsexperts - tacit knowledge that is internally accumulated through years of experience. This expertise lifecycleis fairly stable over a time span of about 30 years. Within the strategic geosciences division, whichis the focus of our study, geophysicists, geologists and reservoir engineers are considered knowledgeworkers. Their work can be described in the following way: geophysicists produce and interpret undergroundimages of the earth. Geologists analyze how the petroleum system is formed and the features ofthe underground. The reservoir engineers determine the dynamic properties of the reservoir to predictthe behavior of a petroleum field, optimize its production and compute its reserves. A Wrong Decision -such as drilling a well that proves unproductive – incurs several millions of Euros. Consequently, experts’knowledge is highly valued. The average age of these experts is over 50 and many of them will retire inthe next 10 years. Their expertise is acquired through decades of practice and learning by doing. Facingthis imminent mass retirement, the company is undertaking a number of training programs and numerousefforts facilitate the transfer of expertise to younger generation. To these ends, the geo-science divisionorganizes work processes in project-based and cross-age teams. Experts are taking a leading role, assumingthe responsibility for teaching, transferring their expertise and guiding the novices. Our focus is thuson a number of these experts in order to understand this transfer of tacit knowledge.26CAHIERdeRECHERCHE N°14