ADNOC: Digital Operation Strategy and Implementation Report

This report details the implementation of a digital operations strategy for ADNOC, an oil company based in the UAE. It assesses the company's current state, identifies gaps, and proposes digital initiatives across corporate, business, and functional levels to enhance revenue, diversify products, expand global reach, and strengthen customer base. The report emphasizes the importance of aligning digital strategies with innovation, technology adoption, and employee training to achieve sustainable growth and competitive advantage. It also addresses potential risks and challenges associated with digital transformation, underscoring the need for proactive management and adaptation.

Running Head: DIGITAL OPERATION STRATEGY
Digital Operation Strategy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DIGITAL OPERATION STRATEGY
Executive Summary
The main purpose of the present report is to implement digital operations strategy in the ADNOC
company. The present report maps out the implementation of the digital operation strategies to
obtain the goals. The report also delineates the capabilities needed for those digital strategy
implementation. The report concludes by confirming the viability of the proposed strategies and
reconnect them to the overall digital transformation maturity roadmap.

2DIGITAL OPERATION STRATEGY
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................4
Digital Operation Strategy.......................................................................................................4
Selection of Priorities..............................................................................................................6
Digital Strategy Implementation..............................................................................................7
The corporate level..................................................................................................................7
The business level....................................................................................................................9
The Functional level..............................................................................................................10
The Risks and challenges.......................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference.......................................................................................................................................14

3DIGITAL OPERATION STRATEGY
Introduction
The main purpose of the present report is to implement digital operations strategy in the
ADNOC company. The full name of the ADNOC company is Abu Dhabi National Oil
Company. It is an oil company based in United Arab Emirates and state owned too. The UAE is
found to be the 7th largest reservoir of oil in the entire world. Abu Dhabi is the center of the oil
reservoir and holds up to 97.8 billion barrels oi crude oil (ADNOC Distribution 2019). As far as
production is concerned, it is the 12th largest oil company and responsible for producing 3.1
million of oil per day. The organization began in the year 1971 and Ahmed Al Jaber is the CEO
of the company. The important subsidiaries of the company produce crude oil, sour gas, natural
gas, LPG, refined crude oil, granulated sulfur and many others. The company owns two big oil
refineries which are named as Ruwais and Umm Al Nar.
The company further exports the natural gas in the form of LPG with the electricity
supplies to the domestic industries such as the petrochemical plants and many others. The
biggest capability of the company is the ability to produce millions of oil barrels with raw gas
too. The company utilizes the well-established fields and the new constructed artificial lands too
for the condensation. The company also has a good number if oil and gas assets which starts with
Lower Zakum, Satah , Upper Zakum , Umm Ai Dalkh fields and Umm Shaif. There are four of
the super complexes too off the shore (Adnoc.ae 2019). The extracted crude oil is transferred to
the Zirku Island and the Das Island for the storage process and future exportation. Another
competency of the company is its contribution to the gender diversity and women empowerment.
The current aim of the company is to produce extra 1.6 million barrels of oil each day.

4DIGITAL OPERATION STRATEGY
As recommended in assignment 1, having assessed the resource and competencies of the
company, it should aim at maximizing the financial performance and gaining the competitive
advantage in the market. It should further focus on encompassing and integrating the similar
enterprise along with the various stages in the process. The company must reach the global
consumers and enhance the over –all production and revenues. The product diversification
should also be in the list to satiate the diverse needs of different consumers. The company should
also accentuate the supply and distribution chain to enhance the distribution of the products.
Hence, the broad focus areas of the company should be revenue enhancement, product
diversification, global reach and establishment of strong customer base. The present report will
map out the implementation of the digital operation strategies to obtain the goals. The report will
also delineate the capabilities needed for those digital strategy implementation. The report will
conclude by confirming the viability of the proposed strategies and reconnect them to the overall
digital transformation maturity roadmap.
Discussion
Digital Operation Strategy
In the highly competitive industry, companies need to match the steps with the
contemporary world in order to stay sustainable. The contemporary world is a world of
digitalization. The digitalization of a particular business refers to the implementation of certain
digital strategies which helps to achieve the goals in the best possible way. The digitalization
comprises of some right digital initiatives put in the strategy, planning and execution of few
business activities (Ahmad, De Brito and Tavasszy 2015). It helps to develop the business as a
value- producing enterprise. However, digitalization is a vast topic which is composed of various
new processes, customer experiences, technologies and models in the current business strategy.

5DIGITAL OPERATION STRATEGY
It can be rather said to be a new way of doing business both with the customers as well as with
the trading partners.
The digital operation strategies are the right digital initiatives taken up by a particular
company. Notably, the process can be expensive and the organization might face a range of
choices as well as challenges. Organizations might be swayed away by expensive digital
solutions which might not result out as fruitful. It has to be kept in mind that the right digital
operation strategy can be revealed by concentrating not only on the products but on a
comprehensive strategy which is followed by the implementation of suitable technologies that
serve the strategy.
There are instances of companies facing unprecedented challenges regarding the digital
disruptions, customer-centric advances, competitive innovations and many others. Hence,
digitalization of operational strategies should not be merely a defensive measure against the
disruptors. It should be utilized as a strategy for the profitable growth of the company in the long
run (Anderson and Sun 2017). The use of smart digital operation strategies in the supply chains
can be helpful in developing fast, efficient, agile, customer-centric and sustainable supply chains.
The methodology of implementing the digital operation strategies start with the
assessment of the current state of the company in the three levels such as the operational
levels, business levels and functional level. Next the future state design of the company
needs to be examines in order to determine whether there are gaps, and how the company should
design the vision and define the strategies. This particular step is highly important because in this
phase the essential components of digital operations need to be determined (Yang, Kitchen and
Bacouel-Jentjens 2017). The final stage is road-mapping the and management of the

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change in the organization. It consists of what the organization does now, what will it do next
and how will it execute the change management process.
Selection of Priorities
As found from the analysis of assessment 1, the greatest competency of the company is to
possess the capability to produce crude oil along with raw gas condensate from various locations.
The key locations of the company include the new constructed fields as well as the already
established fields. The ADNOC company holds many oil and gas assets such as Lower Zakum,
Satah , Upper Zakum , Umm Ai Dalkh fields and Umm Shaif and others. It also operates beyond
the Das Island, Zirku Island and Arzanah Island. The supply chain of the company starts with oil
extraction from the fields and transfer of the oil to the Zirku Island for the storage purpose. The
company also has strong CSR values as it highly contributes to the women empowerment and
gender diversity (Ghasemi, Taimouri and Sayadi 2017). Among the strengths of the company the
most significant factor is that, the company has strong brand portfolio established through the
past years. It has both the resource and competency to enter new market. It also generates good
returns on investment.
However, having analyzed the weaknesses and threats too, it has been discerned that the
company needs to improve on certain areas and implement digital operation strategies for the
expected outcomes. First of all, the company has an average workforce which needs proper
training and development. There are product gaps too in the product range of the company. It is
also less active in forecasting the demands of the products which can accentuate the revenues
and help in gaining the competitive advantage (Sumitha and Padmaja 2017). The expansion of
the company to different geographies is also limited and there is also lack of technologies in the
operations. It has also been found that there is no such innovation in the production of the

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company. Therefore, after assessing the gaps in the operations of the company, it can be said that
the company should prioritize revenue enhancement, product diversification, global
reach , establishment of strong customer base along with being environmentally
friendly.
Digital Strategy Implementation
After assessing the areas of focus from the gaps found from the SWOT analysis of the
company in assessment 1, digital strategies will be implemented in three levels such as the
corporate level, the business level and the functional level.
The corporate level
The corporate level is the highest level of a business strategy where a company should
craft the strategy with the main purpose in the mind. It is the place where the company should set
long-term and lofty goals. It is the place where the ADNOC company should design the mission
and vision statements. The corporate objectives or priorities of the company should also be set
over here and the targeted, high –level goals should also be set. The goals related to the financial,
customer and internal goals must be set in this level (Teeratansirikool et al. 2013). Since the
customer satisfaction is crucial in the industry, a measurable customer satisfaction, goal needs to
be set.
The Focus
In this level the focus will be on the product diversification. Since the company lacks the
product ranges which can satiate the market demands and customer expectations, the ADNOC

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company should implement the digital operation strategy that align with the innovation and
diversification of the existing products.
The strategy
The use of digital technologies will free the ADNOC company from the traditional
constraints. The company can find value in the new operational area through the innovative
application of the digital transformers. The company can leverage technology in order to move
beyond the fulfillment of the traditional demand at the lowest cost. The application of hyper-
connectivity, cloud computing, supercomputing and cyber-security will drive innovation towards
product diversification too (Huang et al. 2016). However, this change might disrupt the
traditional vertically integrated business models. The ADNOC company is dependent on the
assets and vast reserves which will be modified by the change. In the digital economy, it is not
the access to resources but the access to the digital information. This digital transformation can
lead the ADNOC company towards energy diversification, controlling the costs. The company
can use the real –time data to transform the management to proactive model from the reactive
model. The company can also use the laser technology to find gas and oil in the shale
formations. The use of electromagnetism can help the company to search underground pockets.
Capabilities needed
It has been found from the assessment 1, that the ADNOC company has less trained
workforce. Hence, the company should build an environment of learning and train the employees
regarding the knowledge of the new technologies, their use and benefits. The employees of the
organization need to have written communication skills because they need to prepare reports
clearly and purposefully. They also need to have the verbal communication skills because they

9DIGITAL OPERATION STRATEGY
need to communicate verbally if there is any fault in the process. They also need to have the
ability to collaborate with others as a team.
The management systems needed
The management system required for the implementation of the strategies are digital
security management. It is required in order to secure the auditors and the vendors. The business
analysis is also required to measure the evolving business demands and market trends. There has
to be proper metrics for the measurement of the effectiveness of the strategies.
The business level
In this level, the ADNOC company should define the various strategies for the different
industries it operates in. In this level, the business owner must decide which area to focus on the
most that can be changed over time (Hill 2017). At the business level, a company can decide to
improve on some particular business unit levels. In this level, the ADNOC company must decide
on how it can differentiate itself from the market competition. The company has to identify its
competencies and develop strategies based on them.
The Focus
In this level, the focus will be on the revenue enhancement via global reach. The
company needs to expand beyond United Arab Emirates and enhance the competitive advantage
with potential investors aligned with it.
The Strategy
The ADNOC company can invest on fully integrating the mobile devices in the
operations of every-day. The major benefit of this technology is to have improvements on the

10DIGITAL OPERATION STRATEGY
work-flow , better group communication and heightened productivity in the workers along with
better recording of the field data. The mobile technology also allows the real-time data
monitoring through specialized software on the smartphones and also can have good impact on
the environment, health and safety. The mobile GPS service can be used to locate the workers
trapped in hazardous situations. The deployment of the mobile applications along with the radio
–frequency recognition tags can help to make the assets smart and their movements appear
(Mesu, Sanders and Riemsdijk 2015).
The capabilities needed
The company needs to spread technical skills throughout the workforce. The data
scientist re required in the organization. However, they have limited expertise in the mobile
engagements. The knowledge of the industry is essential. The people with e-commerce
experience are required too. Even after having everything, there are instances that the
organizations are needing the help of strong alliance and partnerships. The digital joint ventures
are found to be most useful
The management system needed
In order to gain the expected outcome, the digital asset life cycle management is highly
required. It is the combination of the new digital technologies with the data driven insights which
can transform, boost the agility, enable the strategic decision making and result in new modes of
operations (Patel et al. 2014). The digital operation strategies are expected to have a significant
impact on the value chain of the industry, the adjacent industries and the workforce too. The
initiatives should be taken in a way which can change the business models of the company.

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The Functional level
In the functional level, the organization is connected with the smooth conduction of the
internal operations. It consists of the way the departments interact and operate and how do they
support the corporate level strategy of the organization. In this level, the most essential step can
be taken to fulfil the objectives. It is the phase where the organizational is required to execute
actually after setting goal and projects. There should be an alignment of the goals with the
strategies and all the members should focus on that (Imran and Tanveer 2015).
The Focus
In this level, the focus of the ADNOC company should be on creating strong customer
base by being more eco –friendly, harming less to the society and environment and leaving less
carbon –footprints on the way. Since people are being more environmentally conscious, the
avoidance of CO2 emissions can help the company to create better public image to the customers
and ultimately gain their preference.
The strategy
The digital technologies have huge potential for the oil and gas companies to accentuate
the growth rates and deliver exceptional shareholders and provide environmental value too. It
can easily form a cohesive response to the industry of oil and gas (Baines and W. Lightfoot
2013). The ADNOC company can energize new energies in order to promote the environment
friendliness. It can digitalize the energy systems and support the innovative models too in order
to optimize and market the energy. For the purpose of staying relevant to the customers, the
ADNOC company must understand the full impact of the broader energy systems and the
changes too (Ghaffari et al. 2017). The strategy of consumer energy choices is possibly the best