Organizational climate in large-scale projects in the oil and gas industry: A competing values perspective

• We examined the climate in a large-scale project in the oil and gas industry.
• Existing models do not cover the climate in this context adequately.
• Internal and external cooperation and communication are salient climate dimensions.
• We propose a multi-dimensional model of climate for this context.

The aim of the present study was to identify central dimensions and develop a model of organizational climate in large-scale project organizations in the oil and gas industry. Interviews with 18 employees (15 men, 3 women) in a project organization in the Norwegian oil and gas industry were content-analyzed on two models: The global instrument, the Organizational Climate Measure (OCM) based on the Competing Values Framework, and the domain-specific instrument, Project People Survey (PPS). The findings indicate that a climate characterized by a strong focus on a) communication and cooperation with actors in the external environment such as vendors, and b) internal cooperation and communication with other projects and with the line organization, is perceived as critical to success in large-scale projects in the oil and gas industry. We propose a new model called the Organizational Climate Measure for Large-Scale Project Organizations in the Oil and Gas Industry (OCMP).