Critical Success Factors of the Brazilian Offshore Support Vessel Industry: A Flexible Systems Approach

The offshore support vessel (OSV) industry is essential to the successful exploration and production of oil and gas at sea. Understanding the factors that dictate this industry’s success is crucial and can indicate the actions that must be taken by industry players to survive in this market. Despite the Brazilian OSV industry being part of an extensive supply network, decision-makers operating in this industry still do not know what the critical success factors (CSFs) are, which has implications for the flexibility of companies in this industry. In this context, this paper is devoted to the identification of the CSFs of the OSV industry in Brazil, a country that obtains 95% of its oil production from the sea and that has faced economic and political turbulence in recent years. In this study, nine macro CSFs and 25 micro CSFs were identified through a mixed-methodology approach. This study provides insights both for scholars and practitioners involved in not only the OSV industry but the entire oil and gas supply chain.