Value co‐creation between foreign firms and indigenous small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kazakhstan's oil and gas industry: The role of information technology spillovers

Abstract

Study related to the extractive sector still plays a limited role in the mainstream international business (IB) and management literature, with even less focus on ongoing liberalization and digitalization in the industry. This article was motivated by the question of how collaboration between foreign and indigenous oil and gas (O&G) companies can support small‐sized and medium‐sized indigenous technological development. The main contribution of this article is the development of a model that explains how different actors can cocreate value in the ecosystem of the O&G industry through digital technologies. A three‐stage qualitative–interpretive method based on interviews with industry experts was adopted to build three vignette case studies. This article proposes what companies and the government could do to increase the competitiveness of the local economy, diversify from O&G into high technological industries, and support industrial development through information and communication technologies (ICT).

Investments in the Digital Silk Road

“…The main gaps are lack of financial resources for investments in ICT equipment and services, which leads to a lack of modern technologies, as well as skills gaps. The reason why SMEs often cannot access financial resources is their inability to provide evidence of long-term financial stability and ability to pay the loan back (Heim et al, 2018). Kazakh companies are attempting to participate in the digital economy, but knowledge and financial resources are available to big players only, usually state-owned.…”

Big data and decision‐making in international business

“…This applies to both internal data and open public data. Some authors report on low uptake of BI&A tools among managers, especially in traditionally conservative fields such as accounting (Appelbaum et al, 2017; Balashova, Šilerová, & Melikhov, 2015) and oil and gas industry (Heim et al, 2019). More importantly, managers need to change their decision‐making culture and increase the degree of collaboration in the decision‐making process (Frisk & Bannister, 2017), which applies also to the IB context.…”

“…Moreover, in light of the COVID‐19 pandemic, it appears that managers are engaging in sensemaking and data interpretation more individually (i.e., not in group settings) both in a cross‐border and intra‐firm context (Caligiuri, De Cieri, Minbaeva, Verbeke, & Zimmermann, 2020). While the IB literature has been increasingly interested in the impact of digital transformation on MNEs and their strategies (Nambisan, Zahra, & Luo, 2019; Strange & Zucchella, 2017), research on the role of information technology (IT) in MNEs is still emerging (Cepeda & Arias‐Pérez, 2019; Heim, Kalyuzhnova, Li, & Liu, 2019). Specifically, few studies in IB have considered how digital technologies may help managers in the decision‐making process.…”

Managing, theorizing, and policymaking in an age of sociopolitical uncertainty: Introduction to the special issue

“…One of the reasons for this lack of success and meaningfulness is that many of our theories are based predominantly on institutional-level analyses and structures that are stable, persistent, and rational (Aguilera & Grøgaard, 2019), but the issue of sociopolitical disruption is not just an institutional phenomenon, nor is it limited to formal institutions such as the political structure of a country or the extent of its executive constraints. The greater challenge emerging from the 2000s has been the development of quasi-state and private actors (Heim, Kalyuzhnova, Li, & Liu, 2019), the expansion of civil society globally, and the organization of citizens into social movements with direct ramifications for business (Rana & Morgan, 2019). Some of this has been for good -such as in the expansion of ''global monitory democracy'' (Devinney, 2011) -and some not so good -as in the expansion of mercenary armies (such as Russia's notorious Wagner Group).…”