E-ORDERING PRACTICES AND COMPETITIVENESS OF OIL AND GAS FIRMS IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between e-ordering practices and the competitiveness of oil and gas firms in Rivers State, Nigeria. Competitiveness was operationalized through two key measures — operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The study was theoretically anchored on the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) and the Resource-Based View (Barney, 1991), which together provide complementary explanations of how digital ordering system adoption generates competitive capabilities. A correlational research design was adopted. The study population comprised twenty (20) oil and gas firms in Rivers State, from which a stratified purposive sample of 116 respondents was drawn. A total of 110 valid responses were used for analysis. Data were collected using structured questionnaires administered to managers and senior staff across procurement, operations, marketing, and ICT functions. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) at a 0.05 significance level. The findings indicated that e-ordering has a moderate positive and statistically significant relationship with operational efficiency (r = 0.563, p < 0.05) and a moderate positive and significant relationship with customer satisfaction (r = 0.596, p < 0.05). The study concludes that e-ordering practices are significant, though moderate, drivers of competitive outcomes in oil and gas firms. It recommends that firms invest in advanced web-based ordering systems, integrate e-ordering platforms with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and build staff capacity to leverage digital ordering capabilities for enhanced operational and customer performance.