Business Excellence, Vol. 8 No. 1, 2014.
Review article
THE PERSPECTIVES OF IMPLEMENTING INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN OIL INDUSTRY
Lukša Lulić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9052-0506
; Zagreb Business School
Abstract
Integrated management systems (IMS) have become a pervasive a part of contemporary
business thinking and as such they play a crucial role in the growth and competitiveness
of the EU industry. Certain industries or sectors must have a more specifi c
and rigorous management systems and have therefore developed industry-specifi c requirements
and standards. Th eir reasons include risk management, inclusion of industry
specifi c needs, compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, and increased
confi dence in supplier products and processes. Oil has many uses, and the oil industry has
many distinct sectors, such as exploration and production, and related services; refi ning;
transportation; and wholesaling and retailing.
European Union is the world’s fourth most important producer of oil and gas aft er
Russia, the United States and Saudi Arabia, although overall production is in decline.
Given the scale of Europe’s oil and gas production, the EU has a key role to play in developing
policies and guidelines that help to frame the processes that shape exploration and
production and consumption in a safe, responsible and profi table way.
To assist in the analysis of the sector-specifi c IMS framework for the EU oil industry,
this article reviews the existing integrated management systems and their auditable
standards, providing theoretical implications and guidelines for further research on the
phenomenon of sustainable competitive advantage in the oil industry. Th e author concludes
that IMS could have a signifi cant contribution to the creation of competitive advantage
in terms of implementing generic strategies of cost leadership and diff erentiation. Th e
question of cost optimization is present in all ISO management standards and quality
standards serve as an example of how revolutionary the benefi ts of IMS can really be. On
the other hand, each of the separate dimensions of quality management, including the
overall quality assurance, environment, safety and risk management may constitute a
basis for diff erentiation with respect to the company’s main competitors.
Keywords
integrated management systems; oil industry; European Union
Hrčak ID:
123577
URI
Publication date:
27.6.2014.
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