Transition Engineering co-design sprint: oil company business model

International oil companies (IOCs) face competing pressures to reduce production to meet climate targets while delivering expected shareholder value. These competing pressures create a dissonance surrounding the future business strategy of IOCs. The Systems Transition Engineering approach brings exp...

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Main Authors: Jack Boulton, Susan Krumdieck
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2025.1560119/full
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author Jack Boulton
Susan Krumdieck
author_facet Jack Boulton
Susan Krumdieck
author_sort Jack Boulton
collection DOAJ
description International oil companies (IOCs) face competing pressures to reduce production to meet climate targets while delivering expected shareholder value. These competing pressures create a dissonance surrounding the future business strategy of IOCs. The Systems Transition Engineering approach brings experts together to work through an Interdisciplinary Transition Invention, Management and Engineering (InTIME) Design Sprint, to generate novel concepts for business options that relieve competing pressures in complex and unsustainable systems. This article details a case study of an InTIME Design Sprint conducted with oil industry experts involving a series of investigative workshops. The aim of the sprint is to generate foresight for IOC business pivot opportunities that resolve the dissonance surrounding IOC futures in a climate-safe world. A pivot opportunity represents a profitable business strategy within the bounds of what is feasible and socially acceptable. A theoretical oil company was used to test out hypothetical business scenarios throughout the steps of the sprint. The design sprint was successful in moving the oil industry experts beyond the dissonance and facilitating the foresight of viable and climate-safe business pivot opportunities for an IOC. This result represents a breakthrough that was previously considered unthinkable by the sprint participants. This work contributes a novel use case of the InTIME Design Sprint to an upstream energy system and introduces novel applications of tools to navigate cognitive dissonance and complexity within InTIME Design Sprints.
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spelling doaj-art-1b16b99895054452bb222b09767a67c42025-08-20T02:57:53ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainability2673-45242025-05-01610.3389/frsus.2025.15601191560119Transition Engineering co-design sprint: oil company business modelJack BoultonSusan KrumdieckInternational oil companies (IOCs) face competing pressures to reduce production to meet climate targets while delivering expected shareholder value. These competing pressures create a dissonance surrounding the future business strategy of IOCs. The Systems Transition Engineering approach brings experts together to work through an Interdisciplinary Transition Invention, Management and Engineering (InTIME) Design Sprint, to generate novel concepts for business options that relieve competing pressures in complex and unsustainable systems. This article details a case study of an InTIME Design Sprint conducted with oil industry experts involving a series of investigative workshops. The aim of the sprint is to generate foresight for IOC business pivot opportunities that resolve the dissonance surrounding IOC futures in a climate-safe world. A pivot opportunity represents a profitable business strategy within the bounds of what is feasible and socially acceptable. A theoretical oil company was used to test out hypothetical business scenarios throughout the steps of the sprint. The design sprint was successful in moving the oil industry experts beyond the dissonance and facilitating the foresight of viable and climate-safe business pivot opportunities for an IOC. This result represents a breakthrough that was previously considered unthinkable by the sprint participants. This work contributes a novel use case of the InTIME Design Sprint to an upstream energy system and introduces novel applications of tools to navigate cognitive dissonance and complexity within InTIME Design Sprints.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2025.1560119/fullinternational oil company (IOC)oil industry transitionTransition Engineeringtransdisciplinary engineeringoil company futuresbusiness models
spellingShingle Jack Boulton
Susan Krumdieck
Transition Engineering co-design sprint: oil company business model
Frontiers in Sustainability
international oil company (IOC)
oil industry transition
Transition Engineering
transdisciplinary engineering
oil company futures
business models
title Transition Engineering co-design sprint: oil company business model
title_full Transition Engineering co-design sprint: oil company business model
title_fullStr Transition Engineering co-design sprint: oil company business model
title_full_unstemmed Transition Engineering co-design sprint: oil company business model
title_short Transition Engineering co-design sprint: oil company business model
title_sort transition engineering co design sprint oil company business model
topic international oil company (IOC)
oil industry transition
Transition Engineering
transdisciplinary engineering
oil company futures
business models
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2025.1560119/full
work_keys_str_mv AT jackboulton transitionengineeringcodesignsprintoilcompanybusinessmodel
AT susankrumdieck transitionengineeringcodesignsprintoilcompanybusinessmodel