Logistics and Operations Management Challenges Faced by Sahara Group

Running head: LOGISTICS AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Logistics and Operations Management
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1LOGISTICS AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Executive summary
Sahara Group is a leading oil and gas company of Africa working in the upstream and midstream
operations in the Southeast Asia and West Africa. The company is facing few technical and
human behavior challenges in the supply and logistics operations that are hampering their
productivity and causing delays that is reducing their profitability. The company also supplies
lubricant oil to the B2B customers, that is, manufacturing firms for their machineries and
inefficient logistics is affecting their business. This report evaluates the major challenges of the
company and makes a comparison of its activities and challenges in two different regions. It also
reflects the human behavior challenges faced by the company and their implications on the
business operations. Based on the discussion, some recommendations are provided to address all
types of challenges and improve the logistics and operations of Sahara Group and increase
profitability.

2LOGISTICS AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Identification of challenge and critical assessment of the logistics and operation management
implications......................................................................................................................................4
3. Critical assessment of configuration and coordination of lubricant oils to manufacturing
companies including its overall economic and environmental performance...................................5
4. Comparison and contrast of the service related logistics and operations management
implications of delivering the lubricant oil to the clients in both South East Asian and African
markets.............................................................................................................................................6
5. Human behavioural challenges facing the staffs and subsequent implications for the operations
.........................................................................................................................................................7
6. Conclusion and recommendation................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................11

3LOGISTICS AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
1. Introduction
Sahara Group is one of the reputed firms operating in the Oil and Gas industry in the
Southeast Asia and West Africa. The company operates both in the upstream and midstream
section of the Oil and Gas industry in both the regions. Along with that, it also operates as a
downstream company and provided power and infrastructure (Sahara-group.com 2019). Under
the upstream operations, Sahara Group is engaged in the Exploration and Production (E&P)
activities, such as, exploring the oil fields, drilling the oil and gas wells and separating the gas
and crude oil till it is exported (Agerton et al. 2017). Under the midstream operations, the
company is involved in transportation of the oil from the oil platform to the refineries of the
crude oil and distributing and selling the end products, including the natural gas (Gülen 2016).
The company has almost 80 counterparties for trading in the midstream operations across
Europe, Asia and Africa (Sahara-group.com 2019). The operations and logistics are very crucial
for achieving the competitiveness of the company. An efficient logistics help the company to
satisfy the demand of the products through proper and cost effective delivery of the goods and
services, and hence, the logistics operations account for customer contracts, buffer level
management, supply, transportation, and storage activities (Ulrich 2017). Thus, as an upstream
and midstream oil and gas company, Sahara Group faces challenges in the operations and
logistics which need to be addressed to improve the business performance. This report will
highlight the challenges faced by the firm with global operations and a critical assessment will be
done to address the challenges. The report will also mention a critical evaluation of the
configuration and coordination of the supply chain of the lubricating oils supplied to B2B
customers, such as, the manufacturing companies, followed by a comparison and contrast of the
service related logistics and operations regarding delivery of the lubricating oils to the customers