The corona-virus pandemic unexpected start and steady pressure continue to influence individual lives and national economies. Definitely a direct threat on people’s health and lives, it also indirectly affected global supply chains as well as local businesses. On the other hand, by its uniqueness and relatively long duration, it is becoming a macro-laboratory not only for medical research but also for economic and business studies.

The oil and gas industry is among the most affected industries as a result of war in Ukraine, on top of other economic, political, and environmental global turbulences that culminated with the coronavirus pandemic. The purpose of this qualitative, explorative study was to identify strategic changes as well as the role played by newer technologies—digital technologies in particular—in this industry. The focus is on the Romanian oil and gas industry, more specifically on the retail fuel networks of the top companies. In addition to secondary research (literature and company documents), interview-based primary research was conducted. The data were collected during spring of 2022 by conducting interviews with two groups of subjects: the strategists—consisting of top managers from the largest companies active in the oil and gas industry in Romania; and the informed consumers—selected from people working in the oil and gas industry. The interview guides were slightly different depending on the two groups targeted, and the structure of the interview guide was developed according to research questions. Among the findings, we can observe that the fuel retail market and consumer behaviour changed due to a series of factors, such as the global economic crisis, COVID-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and inflation. Those factors forced fuel retail companies, at the global level, to invest in filling station shops, services development, digitalization, and divestment—selling gas station networks in countries with poor integration with refineries. Romanian fuel retail companies are following the global trends and focusing on filling station shops, alternative fuels development, and digitalization. The results are followed by discussions, and several managerial implications are suggested. The study limitations and several further research paths are also identified. Based on the data available, we can conclude that the strategic directions at the level of products and services are aligned, but at the execution level, specialists offer different solutions for customer expectations.

The scope of the article is to identify the leadership importance and the impact that it has on a small start-up company active in the construction materials industry. Being a small organization and at the beginning of the journey, the challenges that leaders and subordinates face are diverse and of significant importance. The literature review studied in-depth revealed to us that leadership styles and the organization in which they are applied have major importance in business development and creating common objectives. The methodology used was qualitative, interviewing all the employees of the selected start-up, based on questions to reveal the perception of the employee regarding leadership in their organization. In conclusion, the research reveals that in a young start-up, leadership is very important, and the leader must communicate with the followers; motivate, influence, and help them to develop. This study focuses on critically exploring, analyzing, and understanding the implications that different leadership styles have over a start-up company active in the construction materials industry. This case study emphasizes consistent and relevant findings regarding the role of leadership characteristics and their implications on a small organization, in a quest of understanding if different approaches adopted by leaders may facilitate follower engagement that will drive organizational goals and performance. The research method is presented, consisting of a qualitative approach, with the use of interviews performed with all the employees of the selected start-up. Throughout the report, critical judgment is endorsed by relevant literature. Based on the collected responses, findings supported a strong correlation between the dominant form of leadership style and the effects on employees’ responsiveness that is further shaping organizational achievements.