Management Research News

Purpose – This paper seeks to identify success factors of oil and gas international joint ventures (IJVs) in Russia. The paper focuses on the evaluation of the factors determining the success of IJVs.

Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study of 49 IJVs was completed using a core list of 31 success factors. Statistical and cluster analysis of the relative importance of the success factors was completed.

Findings – The results revealed that diverse importance values on the success factors were placed by Russian and foreign partners, suggesting that such an inconsistency could be the cause of high failure rates among IJVs.

Research limitations/implications – The sample size is restricted to only those companies with contact details published on the internet. No data were available on determination of the population size which may bring into question the generalizability of the results to a full population.

Practical implications – This investigation can be useful to managers, both Russian and foreign. It provides them with general indications about the most important aspects and determinants of successful energy agreements, which they can apply and tailor to their specific situations and when seeking to make agreements for IJVs in Russia.

Originality/value – The value of this research is the grouping of success factors into clusters, thus replicating and at the same time confirming previous research findings.