1. Introduction

Business projects associated with oil extraction, manufacturing and product development impact the environment by exploiting natural resources and increasing pollution. The study focuses on analysing the impact of ExxonMobil projects on the Guyana South America environment to understand the contribution of business projects on environmental sustainability. The focus area of the study are factors of environmental exploitation, associated benefits, appropriate project life cycle model, strength and weakness of ExxonMobil projects and criteria for succeeding in project goals and objectives. The contemporary practises in project management that can help the organisation in controlling the exploitation of Guyana from oil extraction and maintenance activity is going to be focused in the study.

2. Factor impact on ExxonMobil’s future exploitation of oil

Operational activities and marketing performances of ExxonMobil are influenced by multiple internal and external factors of the environment by effective business decisions and management practices. According to the view of Dotsenko, Chumachenko & Chumachenko (2018), availability of resources and Technology, skill labour, customer demand and perspectives along with marketing consequences plays a significant role towards control in developing advanced business strategic options. Identification of important factors that can contribute to influencing the oil extraction process and business performances of ExxonMobil is necessary for suggesting advanced project management methodology for the company to ensure their corporate survival and achievement of business goals and objectives.

PESTLE analysis of Guyana

Table 1: PESTLE

(Source: Dotsenko, Chumachenko & Chumachenko, 2019)

3. Extent of Benefit

The government of Guyana

ExxonMobil is engaged in the energy industry that produces and manages 3% of global world oil markets and 2% of world energy markets. As influenced by Galli, Kaviani & Ocampo (2019), the Guyana government achieves multiple benefits from projects and marketing operations of the company in the functional areas in the form of revenue and taxes. Operating multiple project management activities of the organisation in Guyana for producing oil and energy to support the global economy highly contributed to generating job opportunities and a way of increasing the GDP of the country. Therefore, the government receives benefits from the business operations and marketing performances from public tax collection and capital Management access from the company. Apart from that, ExxonMobil also contributed to increasing national income by creating job opportunities for the people of Guyana (Tryhuba & Bashynsky, 2019).

Local communities

Local communities of Guyana also received multiple benefits from ExxonMobil as the organisation focuses on hiring local employees for managing their operations and project management activities as per the organisational requirement. In the words of Eskerod & Larsen (2018), local communities also get the benefit of working in an International team and avail themselves of the opportunities of developing professional effectiveness along with financial growth by joining the company. Local small businesses achieve opportunities of coordinating with ExxonMobil in various projects by supporting necessary resources and helping in achieving mutual goals. Focusing on the development of Corporate Social responsibility is to protect the cultural heritage of local companies by ExxonMobil plays a significant role in funding and supporting social events in Guyana. Therefore, it can be stated that local communities get significant opportunities to benefit from International companies like ExxonMobil operations (Wen, Qiang & Gloor, 2018).

Employees

Entering international companies in the regional marketplace plays a significant role in creating job opportunities by developing vacancies for the local people to adjust to macro-environmental factors and legal implications of the country. As argued by Wen, Qiang & Gloor (2018), the hiring of local employees International marketplace highly contributed to dealing with internal and external stakeholders by adopting cultural awareness and geographical implications. People of Guyana can benefit by joining the company as an employee for financial growth and learning project management activities by contributing to achieving organisational goals. According to the view of Hartono et al. (2019), the participation of local people with multiple project management activities can help in developing ways of financial growth and professional development and contribute to reducing the unemployment percentage of the country.

Contractors

Project management of international organisations required skilled and capable contractors for managing and supporting organisational activities based on their corporate strategy and targeted goals. In the words of Hartono et al. (2019), the Prime contractor can avail the benefit by pitching their ideas and plan towards managing organisational projects effectively with minimal operational cost and maximizing positive outcomes. Contractors can avail finance opportunities by connecting with ExxonMobil for completing their business operations associated with generating energy and oil by supplying quality works with appropriate risk management.

The major advantage of ExxonMobil Oil Project

ExxonMobil Oil Project is focusing on the adaptation of green approaches for reducing their negative impact on the environment by generating general awareness regarding environmental sustainability and maintenance of CSR. According to the view of Bohlinger (2019), the development of economic growth, supporting the manufacturing and automobile sector and creating job opportunities for local people is a major benefit of the process. Successful completion of multiple oil projects of the company can highly contribute to increasing Gross domestic product by generating huge profit and revenue in Guyana. In addition, associated projects and operational activities of the company can help in reducing unemployment from 11% to 3% by providing jobs to freshly graduated graduates in different functional areas and project management sectors. As influenced by Nunes & Abreu (2020), the project can also help in increasing the national income of the country by encouraging youth towards learning new skills of generating sustainable energy.

Currently, ExxonMobil practises operations by supporting oil and energy in 6 continents and the succeeding of new projects on Oil management can help in generating support towards the manufacturing and automobile sector by providing fuels. According to the view of McNally et al. (2018), fulfilling the demand for global fuels to support economic activities can contribute to increasing benefits from other industrial sectors that depend on natural resources for managing operational areas and business activities. Focusing on the development of biofuels with innovative approaches by ExxonMobil oil projects and business goals can be beneficial for protecting the natural environment and fossil fuel by reducing carbon footprint and exploitation of resources.

4. Project lifecycle model

Identification of appropriate project life cycle models based on organisational interest and nature of targeting project is necessary for developing appropriate project scope and achieving target and goals. As per the view of Leach et al. (2020), an adaptation of agile project management methodology as the project life cycle model of the ExxonMobil Oil Project can contribute to the development of a suitable framework for managing and planning multiple phases of the process. Agile methodology has the benefit of developing systematic planning by identifying all the implications and macro-environmental factors that can influence project management for the development of appropriate strategy and monitoring processes. According to the view of Ruka & Rashidirad (2019), consideration of agile project management for controlling projects associated with oil and energy can help in maintaining structure, iterative and multiple repeat activities for ensuring achievement of targeted goals and objectives effectively.

The implication of the Agile Model

Figure 1: Agile Model

(Source: Supran & Oreskes, 2020)

Agile project life cycle designs are divided into 5 significant steps for management of sequences and systematic control over project indicators and applicable items. The five steps of project lifecycle development are creating and justification of concept, the inception of ideas, construction of team and management of implications, realising of project updates, production and project retirement. According to the view of Supran  & Oreskes (2020), the development of clear project scope and justification of targeted areas by analysing legal implications and social aspects is the initial stage of developing appropriate life cycles for the management of oil processes. The second stage involves the inception of creative ideas by considering modern technology and advanced software for identifying potential risk, calculation of estimation project expenses, operational problems and challenges.

Identification of all the operational challenges is a highly necessary element that needs to be considered for the development of a capable strategy to manage and monitor all the performance to achieve the goals of project management. As argued by Ismail et al. (2017), the common operational challenges faced by project managers in oil projects are the digitalization of workflow due to maximum complications and the adaptation of continuous change management aspects. Designing of real-time monitoring and control, development of automatic project loop and activity management and integrated supplier performance are other common challenges that need to be considered for the development of advanced ideas to manage multiple functions of projects associated with oil and energy production. According to the view of Belvederesi, Thompson & Komers (2018), the third important step associated with agile life cycle design is the construction of team and management strategy for controlling project stakeholders in a systematic way. Project managers need to focus on the development of multiple teams as per the requirement of the project to perform all the associated activities in a sequence for completing projects in an estimated timeline by identifying key performance indicators.

The next step is focusing on developing appropriate project updates by representing objectives and all the major implications for consulting with the board of directors and government bodies for initiating a project. As argued by Ismail et al. (2017), maintenance of legal competencies and ethical implementation for maintaining transparency and sustainable development is highly necessary to establish a strong relationship with the local environment and maintain the brand identity of the company. The last step associated with the Agile Model of lifecycle Framework development is project retirement. According to the view of Belvederesi, Thompson & Komers (2018), project retirement focuses on closing the project after completing all the phases with a review of the report and performance monitoring through proper risk analysis and success measurement applications. Closing of projects by ensuring justification of project objectives and achieving all the scopes is necessary for availing the maximum benefit.

5. Strength and weakness of project scope

The major strength of scope associated with ExxonMobil Oil Project Management is consideration of environmental problems, reducing the energy cost of customers, supporting the manufacturing industry, and creating job opportunities for Guyana employees and contractors. In the words of Harrison et al. (2018), consideration of environmental problems in developing project strategy and management capabilities by adopting green technology and clean supply networks has the strength of contributing to reducing the negative impact of climate change. This process is also highly important for encouraging other companies in adopting green initiatives by focusing on innovations for protecting the natural environment. Reduction of the energy cost of customers by increasing oil production is another potential strength of the project because it can help in reducing expenses of people and availing maximum opportunities of market competition. According to the view of Ufomba (2021), offering fuel and energy at a reasonable cost can help in retaining customers globally by developing new customer channels and increasing organisation revenue for the achievement of long term goals.

The project also has the strength of supporting the manufacturing industry and automobile sector by availing energy sources to manage their operations and manufacturing activities. It can help in continuous product development and marketing in operating countries through supplying oil with consideration of green approaches. According to the view of Kramer & Bradshaw (2020), the development of bio-oil to a great extent can contribute to reducing carbon production by vehicles and manufacturing units. Creating multiple job opportunities to support employee development and livelihood support of people is a potential strength of the project. Targeting multiple Oil management and energy creation projects ExxonMobil can contribute to improving the Gross domestic product percentage of Guyana.

The exploitation of natural resources, development of Corporate politics and existence of operational threats are the major weaknesses of ExxonMobil Oil Projects. As argued by Ufomba (2021), initiating the project phase directly or indirectly impacts natural resources by using them as raw materials for supporting business activities. Apart from reducing carbon footprint by adopting green technology, it has capabilities of affecting the environment by degrading soil and land structure during operational activities such as drilling and waste management.

6. Success Criteria

Figure 2: Triple Constraints

(Source: Bao et al. 2018)

Defining a project success required identifying appropriate key performance indicators for measuring maintenance of quality and standards in different phases of a project to ensure quality outcomes and results. According to the view of Kramer & Bradshaw (2020), the adaptation of appropriate timeline and evaluation procedures contribute to reviewing multiple phases of a project for understanding its success and failure circumstances. The important criteria for measuring the success of the ExxonMobil Oil Project is the consideration of the triple constraint model. The triple constant model focuses on analysing three specific parts of a project to examine its project scope achievement and impact on organisational business growth and development. In the words of Bao et al. (2018), the three elements of this model are cost, scope and time whereas project cost focuses on analysing total expenses in completing the project and capabilities of generating revenue by project to support organisational profit and Business expansion. Focusing on comparing and contrasting organisational project management expenses in different activities and developing a revenue generation model contribute to understanding financial benefits that can be availed from the project completion. If the expected revenue from the project is 30% higher than the total expenses then the project can be considered a success (Ma et al. 2018).

Another element for measuring the success of the ExxonMobil project is examining project scope. According to the view of Dunmade et al. (2018), focusing on analysing whether project scope has been fulfilled or not in all the phases of a project also contributes to determining success rate by understanding the delivery of value and financial benefit. Fulfilment of all the project scope by advanced planning and strategy is highly necessary for the achievement of maximum benefit from the market competition along with a contribution towards increasing all energy availability in the competitive marketplace for supporting economic activities of other industries. According to the view of Ismail et al. (2018), for analysing project scopes the important key performance indicator can be schedule management, customer satisfaction, quality management and retaining of investors. Providing a maximum return on investment to the investors of ExxonMobil can help in analysing the results of the project. Maintenance of schedule properly and level of customer satisfaction also provide details regarding the achievement of goals and objectives by projects.

An important criterion for examiner project success percentage is analysing time constraints as an important key performance indicator to understand the fulfilment of project implications and necessity. As argued by Dunmade et al. (2018), reviewing project updates with developing schedules and planning contribute to understanding associated aspects and consequences regarding quality control and time management. Completing a project is estimated time is highly necessary for maintaining the organisational image in the competitive environment and initiating revenue generation from operational activities. Therefore, it can be stated that consideration of the Triple Constraint Model

7. Quality management

The existence of problems in quality control of project management is common and focusing on solving issues by identifying the most appropriate alternative and strategy is a potential responsibility of the project manager to ensure maintenance of project quality and outcomes. In the words of Dunmade et al. (2018), the probable issues in quality management of ExxonMobil Oil projects operating in Guyana are the existence of non-compliance, poor communication strategy, the existence of Corporate politics and weak project management initiation.

Non-compliance

Project compliance included management of appropriate standards, laws and regulations of making effective decisions and developing scope, KPI, budget, project deliveries and time management are the most important areas of quality control in managing oil projects. According to the view of Ismail et al. (2018), enabling maintenance of all the applicable project compliance due to low leadership abilities and weak decision-making process of the project manager is a highly possible issue that can negatively affect the maintenance of quality in ExxonMobil Oil projects. Therefore, an adaptation of appropriate leadership strategies such as situational and transformational and communication strategies based on the environment of Guyana by the project manager is necessary to reach goals and objectives (Supran & Oreskes, 2020).

Weak communication and planning strategies

The absence of using advanced communication tools for collecting information from underground oil drilling and underground survey processes is another potential factor that can negatively affect the quality management process of the project. According to the view of Ismail et al. (2018), an adaptation of advanced technology that can help in maintaining regular communication between all the important stakeholders of the project is highly necessary for solving quick problems and maintaining project quality effectively. Focusing on using artificial intelligence and advanced tracking processes for identifying underground oil reserves can help in maintaining project scope and objectives with appropriate KPI and deliveries (Supran & Oreskes, 2020).

The environment of Corporate politics

Possibilities of developing internal issues due to involvement of Corporate politics and interference of local power groups in managing project phases is an important factor that can contribute to creating issues for maintaining project quality. According to the view of Belvederesi, Thompson & Komers (2018), corporate politics by internal and external stakeholders reduced the flow of Information and knowledge within project groups and resulted in the weakening of team bonding and interaction. Using cross-cultural aspects and individual interest for creating chaos amongst internal stakeholders can result in reducing capabilities of maintaining higher standards and implications in the project. Therefore, it can result in a reduction of project deliverable capabilities and a delay in project completion.

Inefficient project management

The inefficiency of selected labourers and employees for the development of project management strategy is another potential issue that can negatively affect the maintenance of quality in project delivery. In the words of Belvederesi, Thompson & Komers (2018), failure in considering macro-environmental factors such as political, social and environmental in developing project objectives and management strategy can create loopholes in management procedure. This process can also result in the inability of maintaining minimum standards and identify potential risks in the project.

8. Conclusion

The study has identified the importance of adopting a sustainable project life model for aligning with environmental sustainability and interest to reduce the negative impact of project management and business operations on ecosystem and biodiversity. Protection of ecosystems and biodiversity are highly necessary for reducing the negative impact of climate change and global temperature rising problems for supporting life existence on the earth surface. Increasing people’s awareness towards environmental sustainability and the necessity of protecting from ExxonMobil oil operations are important to ensure the saving of natural resources for the next generation. The study has the benefit of considering environmental implications in project management to maintain brand identity in the competitive environment and retain customers. Selection of appropriate project life cycles with proper planning and risk analysis based on decisions by considering macro-environmental factors can help in reducing exploitation of the natural environment by future activities of the company and maintaining customer and employee retention by aligning with regional socio-cultural aspects. The study has identified the triple constraint model as appropriate for measuring the success rate of oil project management by analysing the scope, time and cost of the project.

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