Knowledge management practices in oil companies

The purpose of the study. In the economy of the 21st century, knowledge is the main source of obtaining sustainable competitive advantages of enterprises, and knowledge management (KM) is the main mechanism for ensuring and maintaining it. People and knowledge they possess, know-how, ability to innovate, trust relationships with customers and partners, and other intangible assets are becoming the most important sources of development for an organization. KM is traditionally carried out with the help of the following components: information technology, organizational processes and structures, corporate culture and people. In addition, there are complex tools of KM, which usually combine several KM components: a library of documents (knowledge base, corporate memory), communities of practice, lessons learned, etc. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the application of KM practices in companies in the oil industry of the Russian Federation.Materials and methods. This article used the analysis of secondary data sources, and also reviewed in detail two cases, describing KM in the activities of oil companies in Russia. In order to understand at what stage is the development of the knowledge management system (KMS) in oil companies of Russia it’s necessary to compare the use of KM tools in foreign and domestic practice, this paper is based on information, provided in open sources. Observations are formed and the most prominent examples of the use of KM tools are indicated. Results. The article provides an overview of KM tools, examples of their use in the oil and gas industries, and also examined the domestic practice of their use, based on cases of Russian oil companies. Examples of the use of KM tools, based on technologies and employees in foreign and Russian oil companies are pre-sented. On the example of cases of two well-known Russian oil companies, the stages of formation and de-velopment of knowledge management system in a company were considered, specific practices of KM, which appeared in companies at the respective stages of KMS development, were presented, as well as fea-tures of KM in each company.Conclusion. For a number of reasons, oil companies are advocates of the proactive use of KM systems. In the course of the analysis, the trends of KM in the oil sector of the Russian economy were identified: com-plexity of use, poor acceptance of innovations, not related to production/technological processes, the begin-ning of the emergence of a policy of active knowledge sharing, a move towards creating a flexible KM sys-tem. This article will draw the attention of Russian managers to the issue of knowledge management and other intangible assets and identify management practices that will help Russian companies to successfully develop and compete, based on their intellectual capital. The article will also be of interest for specialists in knowledge management and practitioners from related fields

Some aspects of complex interactions involving soil mesofauna: analysis of the results from a Scottish woodland

Stepwise regression modelling and canonical correspondence analysis were used to analyse data on soil properties and the abundance of soil mesofauna collected from a woodland typical of the Borders of Scotland. The pattern of relationships revealed by stepwise regression models was different for each month, and the models compiled on the overall dataset were generally weaker than those compiled for separate months. Functional relationships among different microarthropods revealed by stepwise regression modelling are summarised in a structural model of their statistical associations. Interpretation of specific relationships revealed is given and implications for dynamic simulation models are discussed. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that both microbial feeding nematodes (MF) and plant feeding nematodes (PF) appear to prefer a high level of bacteria and moisture, glomalin and organic matter in the soil. Close scrutiny, however, reveals that microbial feeding nematodes have a particularly high affinity to the sites with a high level of bacteria and organic matter, whilst plant feeding nematodes appear to be more associated with moisture and glomalin. Folsomia candida was abundant in sites with a higher pH level (pH ranged between 3.1 and 4.9), but was not abundant in sites with high ergosterol or a high bacteria, moisture, glomalin and organic matter level. However, other Collembola (mainly represented by Folsomia quadrioculata) appeared to be associated with high levels of ectomycorrhizal fungi. As F. candida is known to feed on fungal food sources, the results suggest that the relatively high local abundances of this collembolan might have caused local declines in ectomycorrhizal fungi, reflected, in turn, in the increase in pH. In addition, environmental plasticity of this species might have allowed them to expand into areas with low fungal density by utilising alternative food sources. The fact that F. candida was a dominant microarthropod in the majority of the samples collected in this research also supports this point. However, for those samples where F. candida were less abundant, overcompensatory fungal growth due to grazing by mites and other Collembola was implicated. Overall, our results suggest that both direct negative and indirect positive effects of the microarthropod community on specific fungal groups appear to take place. The differential effect of specific mesofaunal groups on other soil biota justifies their detailed representation in dynamic simulation models of soil ecosystems

Some aspects of complex interactions involving soil mesofauna:Analysis of the results from a Scottish woodland

Stepwise regression modelling and canonical correspondence analysis were used to analyse data on soil properties and the abundance of soil mesofauna collected from a woodland typical of the Borders of Scotland. The pattern of relationships revealed by stepwise regression models was different for each month, and the models compiled on the overall dataset were generally weaker than those compiled for separate months. Functional relationships among different microarthropods revealed by stepwise regression modelling are summarised in a structural model of their statistical associations. Interpretation of specific relationships revealed is given and implications for dynamic simulation models are discussed. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that both microbial feeding nematodes (MF) and plant feeding nematodes (PF) appear to prefer a high level of bacteria and moisture, glomalin and organic matter in the soil. Close scrutiny, however, reveals that microbial feeding nematodes have a particularly high affinity to the sites with a high level of bacteria and organic matter, whilst plant feeding nematodes appear to be more associated with moisture and glomalin. Folsomia candida was abundant in sites with a higher pH level (pH ranged between 3.1 and 4.9), but was not abundant in sites with high ergosterol or a high bacteria, moisture, glomalin and organic matter level. However, other Collembola (mainly represented by Folsomia quadrioculata) appeared to be associated with high levels of ectomycorrhizal fungi. As F. candida is known to feed on fungal food sources, the results suggest that the relatively high local abundances of this collembolan might have caused local declines in ectomycorrhizal fungi, reflected, in turn, in the increase in pH. In addition, environmental plasticity of this species might have allowed them to expand into areas with low fungal density by utilising alternative food sources. The fact that F. candida was a dominant microarthropod in the majority of the samples collected in this research also supports this point. However, for those samples where F. candida were less abundant, overcompensatory fungal growth due to grazing by mites and other Collembola was implicated. Overall, our results suggest that both direct negative and indirect positive effects of the microarthropod community on specific fungal groups appear to take place. The differential effect of specific mesofaunal groups on other soil biota justifies their detailed representation in dynamic simulation models of soil ecosystems.</p