Strategic Analysis of Inpex Australia: Environment and Performance

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Inpex Australia's business context, examining both internal and external environmental factors through SWOT and PESTLE analyses. It identifies the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors affecting its operations. The essay also discusses the risks faced by the oil and gas industry, particularly concerning resource depletion and environmental impact. Furthermore, it explores strategies for enhancing organizational performance, including employee incentives, exploration of new drilling sites, and effective leadership. The analysis highlights the positive impacts of Inpex's association with its parent company, the favorable political and social climate in Australia, and the company's initiatives related to environmental and climatic change, ultimately emphasizing the importance of considering various internal and external factors for successful business operations.

Running head: BUSINESS CONTEXT
Business Context
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Author’s Note:

1BUSINESS CONTEXT
Strategies form an indispensable part of the overall business plan of the major
companies as well as the business organizations (Barney, 2014). Therefore, the major
business organizations as well as the companies try to “develop effective strategies which
will lead to the overall growth and the development of their entire business operations”
(Barney, 2014). However, it is often seen that a “mistimed or misplaced strategy can instead
of leading to the overall growth as well as development of the business organization or the
company can hamper the prospects of the company or the business organization in the longer
run” (Eden & Ackermann, 2013). It is a reflection of this that the various companies take into
consideration the internal and the external environment of their operation for the purpose of
the development of effective strategies (Barney, 2014). This essay intends to shed light on the
business process of the Australian company “Inpex” and its related aspects.
The company “INPEX Corporation” was originally founded in the nation of Japan in
the year 1966 (INPEX in Australia, 2018). The company is one of the most reputed ones in
the “field of oil and gas industries” and explores for “oil and gas” in various parts of the
world (Tissot & Welte, 2012). According to the Forbes Magazine (2018), the company has a
current market value of $14.8 billion and is the 978th largest company in the world in terms of
the yearly revenue which it generates. It is significant to note that the company Inpex
Australia was started around 30 years ago and has become one of the major oil and gas
companies in the nation of Australia within a very short time (INPEX in Australia, 2018). In
addition to stabilizing the economy of the nation the “Ichthys LNG Project” under which the
company was founded intends to deliver jobs as well as sound economy to the nation for
many more years to come (INPEX in Australia, 2018). The company currently has its
headquarters in “Darwin, Northern Territory, Broome and The Kimberly” and operates
primarily in the “Timor Sea and the Carnarvon, Browse and Bonaparte basins” (INPEX in
Australia, 2018).

2BUSINESS CONTEXT
The internal environmental factors which affect a particular company or business
organization can be analyzed by the framework of the SWOT analysis. As per this particular
framework the strength of the company Inpex Australia can be said to be its stable
relationship with its parent company “Inpex Corporation” based in Japan and the availability
of the oil and gas resources in several parts of Australia (Eden & Ackermann, 2013). The
weakness of the company can be said to the non-renewable nature of the oil and gas
resources and also the various environmental threats which the oil and gas industry is facing
at the present moment (Ford et al., 2014). The opportunity which the company can utilize in
the near future is the by become more diversified by tapping for other kinds of energy sources
as well (Eden & Ackermann, 2013). The major threat which the “company is facing at the
moment is from the environmental cauldron” and also from the depleting nature of the natural
resources.
The external environmental factors which affect the business operations of a
particular business organization or company can be measured by the framework of PESTLE
analysis. The political climate of the nation of Australia is very suitable for the conduct of
business and the government of Australia takes active initiatives for the promotion of trade
and commerce (Eden & Ackermann, 2013). Therefore, this particular political environment is
especially suitable for the business of the company Inpex. The economic condition of the
nation of Australia is a very stable one yet it is reeling from the effects of the economic
recession which the world is facing at the moment. Therefore, this particular economical
condition is very uncongenial for the interests of the business organization Inpex. The social
environment of the nation of Australia is a very liberal one and very congenial for the
conduct of trade and commerce. It is to be noted that the people of Australia constantly need
regular supply of oil and gas and it is here that the role of the company Inpex becomes very
significant. The nation of Australia is a fairly advanced one in terms of technology and latest

3BUSINESS CONTEXT
innovations. Therefore, this will help to boost the prospects of the company Inpex in the
nation. The nation of Australia has several legislations in place like “Safety and Health Act”,
“Equity Payment Act”, “Equality Act” and others which the various companies and the
business organizations need to follow in a bid to conduct their business in the nation (INPEX
in Australia, 2018). Therefore, this is likely to hurt the prospects of the company Inpex as this
will hurt the interests of the company in the longer run (Kumar & Rabinovitch, 2013). The
company Inpex, since it belongs to the oil and the gas sector needs to take into consideration
the various environmental factors and needs to make contributions to the safety of the
environment on a regular basis (Leather et al., 2013). Therefore, this again is likely to hurt the
prospects of the company Inpex in the longer run.
The oil and gas industry faces a considerable amount of risk due to the dynamic
nature of their business (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). The primary risks which they
face in on the account of the limited nature of the oil and the gas resources which they drill
(McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). Another significant risk which the company faces is on
account of the various environmental factors which they need to take into consideration for
the conduct of their business (Haslam Mckenzie, 2013). In addition to that, they also need to
follow the various health and safety stipulated by the “World Health Organization” (Haslam
Mckenzie, 2013). Another significant risk which the company faces at the moment is the
threat from the rise of various competitors that are likely to impact the business of the
concerned company (Leather et al., 2013).
In the present day business world organizational performance forms an important
part of the overall business plan and therefore the various business organizations and
companies take the help of various strategies and policies to enhance the performance of their
organization (Truss et al., 2015). The company Inpex also takes the help of several strategies
for the enhancement of their organizational performance. The company Inpex in order to

4BUSINESS CONTEXT
enhance the performance of its company should introduce several rewards as well as
performance bonuses for the employees (Eden & Ackermann, 2013). In addition to that, the
company can also look for new sites for drilling oil and gas in a bid to overcome the threat
from the depletion of the natural resources which it is facing at the moment. Furthermore, the
company can also take the help of the process of effective leadership to enhance the
performance of not only its employees but also its overall organization (Lee, 2017). These in
short are some of the strategies which the company can take the help of in order to improve
its organizational performance.
The exploration for the new sites for drilling oil and gas resources is likely to
significantly impact the business of the organization in a positive manner. Furthermore, the
association of the company Inpex with its parent company “Inpex Corporation” of Japan is
likely to affect the “prospects of the company in the nation of Australia” in a positive manner.
In addition to that, the political as well as the social climate of the nation of Australia is also
to affect the business of the company in the nation of Australia in a positive manner.
Furthermore, the initiatives taken by the company as regards to the environmental as well as
the climatic change is also likely to affect the prospects of the company in a positive manner
(Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2012). These in short are some of the factors which is likely to
help the company Inpex in the nation of Australia in a positive manner.
Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that there are several factors
which the business of a particular company or business organization in a particular country.
The business of the Australian company Inpex is a case in instance. In addition to that, the
various companies should also take into account the various internal and the external factors
which affect their business. The identification of the risks and the formulation as well as the
implementation of effective strategies for the mitigation of those risks is also important for
the entire business process of any company concerned. Another aspect which forms an

5BUSINESS CONTEXT
important part of the overall business plan of any company or business organization is the
concept of organizational performance. It is to be noted that the various business
organizations often take the help of various strategies for the formulation and the
implementation of effective strategies which can improve their organizational performance.

6BUSINESS CONTEXT
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