A Case Study of Oil and Gas Companies in Qatar Order Instructions: The Performance of Employees within an Organization: A Case Study of Oil and Gas Companies in Qatar
The Introduction to the dissertation should set out the background to the research study and address the following areas: The context in which the research took place
• What is the background, the context, in which the research took place?
• Why is this subject or issue important
• Who are the key participants and/or
‘actors’ in the area under investigation?
• Are there important trends or pivotal variables of which the reader needs to be made aware?
• A clear and succinct statement of the aims and objectives that the dissertation is going to address.
• Have you presented a clear and unambiguous exposition of your research aim, the objectives you will address to meet this aim and your research questions?
The reasons why this study was carried out
• Was this study undertaken for example in order to test some aspect of professional or business practice or theory or framework of analysis?
• Was the research carried out to fulfill the demands of a business organisation?
The way the Dissertation is to be organized:
You should write your dissertation with the idea in mind that the intended reader and reviewer has some shared understanding of the area being investigated, however, underpinning concepts and arguments still need to be included as otherwise the depth of research will be compromised. In this way, you will not be tempted to make too many implicit assumptions, i.e. by making the erroneous assumptions that the reader has your degree of knowledge about the matters in question or can follow, exactly, your thought processes without your spelling them out. It should be a document which is ‘self-contained’ and does not need any additional explanation, or interpretation, or reference to other documents in order that it may be fully understood.
This short final section of the Introduction should tell the reader what topics are going to be discussed in each of the chapters and how the chapters are related to each other. In this way, you are, in effect, providing the reader with a ‘road map’ of the work ahead. Thus, at a glance, they can see
(1) where they are starting from,
(2) the context in which the journey is taking place,
(3) where they are going to end up, and
(4) the route which they will take to reach their final destination. Such a ‘map’ will enable the reader to navigate their way through your work much more easily and appreciate to the maximum what you have done.
A Case Study of Oil and Gas Companies in Qatar Sample Answer
THE PERFORMANCE OF EMPLOYEES WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION: A CASE STUDY OF OIL AND GAS COMPANIES IN QATAR
Dissertation
Presented by:
Supervised by:
A Dissertation Presented to …………… in Partial Fulfilment of a Masters Degree in …………………………………………
September
Chapter One
1.0 Aim, objectives and feasibility of the dissertation
1.1 Background Information
Qatar which is a member of United Arab Emirates (UAE), and also among the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is considered to have been significantly influenced negatively by the global decline of demand for petroleum products following the market glut experienced over the recent past (Qatar Oil & Gas Report, 2015). This is attributable to the fact that, there has been a decline in oil demand as well as oil prices over the recent past, which has far-reaching effects on the country’s economy as well as economies of the regional nations and members of GCC. For instance, according to Milmo (2016), there was a decline in oil prices by 70% in 2015 globally, which has to a considerable extent shaken the country’s economy. As a result, this situation has caused the country to operate below its proposed budget’s threshold, which has seen the country budget run through a deficit of approximately $13 billion, a financial figure that if compared to the economy of Qatar as a whole constitutes about 0.8% of the country’s GDP (Breunig & Tse Chern, 2015; Kulkarni, 2015; Milmo, 2016).
For an economy that is developing such as that of Qatar, an overreliance on oil and gas as well as their subsequent products as the core drivers of the economy, there is a high likelihood of the prices to decline at the slightest economic shock if this practice is replicated by the neighboring countries as well as the region (Milmo, 2016). This phenomenon would equally result to a decline in the prices of related inputs that used to produce these products, leading to far-reaching effects that negatively impact the economy as well as the performance of companies operating in the oil and gas sector (Milmo, 2016).
According to the United Arab Emirates Oil & Gas Report (2015), despite the vast wealth that Qatar has accumulated because of its oil abundance, the country is still considered a developing country mainly due to the fact that there has been no wide diversification of the economy as observed in developed nations. According to Byun and Hollander (2015), Qatar scores poorly in terms of the Gini Index, which range from zero (0) to one (1) whereby the former corresponds to perfect equality (where income is equal for everyone) and the latter corresponds to perfect inequality (where the entire income is held by one person while the income of the rest equates to zero). In this case, Qatar scores 0.41, which is considerably high compared to developed countries that in most cases tend to have a Gini Index score of approximately 0.3 meaning that Qatar has to implement the necessary measures to make sure that income levels among its population become more equally distributed (Byun & Hollander, 2015). This scenario may have a far-reaching impact on the performance of employees in oil and gas companies within an organizational context, which usually includes the departmental, managerial as well as leadership levels (Aguinis, 2012; Al Muftah & Lafi, 2011; Al-Harthy, 2013; Thao & Hwang, 2015).
According to Al Muftah and Lafi (2011), in recent times a significant number of organizations have become fully aware of the imperativeness of employee performance, which has led them to embark of devising ways that are appropriate to increase employee performance. In addition, efforts of finding out and implementing the ways and/or strategies through which high-performance level among the company employees can be attained have become one of the fundamental practices and decisive factors pursued by most successful organizations (Lam, Yik & Schaubroeck, 2012; Thao & Hwang, 2015). However, irrespective of the declining global oil and gas prices, the performance of employees within an organization often stems from managerial practices adopted by a particular oil and gas company. For instance, the mission of company management with regards to its human capital is usually, to get the employees together with a purpose of accomplishing corporate goals and objectives through efficient and effective utilization of available resources (Mathis & Jackson, 2011; Northouse, 2013). Manpower or employees’ performance can be substantially boosted through heightened efforts towards promoting factors that are fundamental in enhancing the employees’ job satisfaction, creativity, motivational level, as well as ensuring that the workplace environment is comfortable and conducive, among other factors (Appiah, 2012; Armstrong & Murlis, 2004; Bartram & Casimir, 2007).
Narehan et al. (2014) noted that the prevailing social demands and economic conditions have drastically changed the role of work throughout the world. This assertion is made with reference to the previous role of work, which was primarily done as a matter of survival and necessity (Das et al., 2013; Fedor & Rensvold, 2012). Throughout the evolution of human resources capital, the role of work has progressively changed consistently together with the components of the workforce (Armstrong & Murlis, 2004). For instance, in today’s workforce, work is not only considered a necessity but employees also consider it to provide them with personal satisfaction. As a result, the management of oil and gas companies should strive to ensure appropriate motivation and leadership methods are adopted to achieve optimal performance from employees (Webb, Jeffrey & Schulz, 2011).
According to Al Muftah and Lafi (2011), work-life programs and benefits are one of the fundamental ways through which professional and personal goals and objectives among oil and gas companies’ employees can be attained. Alternatively, the behavior of individual employees with regards to attitudes and perceptions also play a significant role in influencing the performance levels, hence there is need to ensure that the right attitude is maintained through motivation and appropriate remuneration in order to maintain high efficiency and productivity (Hellriegel, Slocum & Woodman, 2011; Hu, & Kaplan, 2015). According to Hellriegel et al. (2012), various factors are attributable to the performance of employees at the workplace, since employees’ performance at the workplace is considered as the way of performing job tasks in accordance with the stipulated job description. Thus, considering that performance concerns completion of a task within prescribed boundaries, it is evidently clear that employees’ performance is affected by various factors that ought to be investigated in the context of oil and gas industry in Qatar. As a result, this research is aimed at identification and measurement of the level of factors that affect job performance effectiveness among oil and gas companies’ employees in Qatar within the context of an organization at departmental, managerial and leadership levels. The research will strive to identify the necessary variables including working environment, motivation, organizational culture, leadership, and training. The study is a quantitative one and it will strive to establish the relationship that exists between the variables mentioned above and performance of employees in Qatar’s oil and gas industry.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Human capital is among the most important assets that significantly contribute to the production levels in oil and gas companies (Narehan et al., 2014). Therefore, it is important to understand how the performance of employees or job behavior among employees of oil and gas companies in Qatar assists departments, management and executive leaders to influence organizational goals and objectives either positively or negatively. Considering that the performance of employees is affected by a wide range of workplace factors, this study focuses on investigating the oil and gas industry scenario in Qatar in order to determine the factors or variables that affect the performance of employees either positively or negatively. By doing so, the study will also play a critical role in highlighting how employees’ performance is affected either positively or negatively by these factors or variables together with the interactions between them. The variables or factors that have been determined to influence the performance of employees at a workplace in the scenario of oil and gas industry include organizational culture, leadership style, workplace environment, organization structure, financial rewards as well as job stress.
There has been a description of these variables in different studies and their influence on the performance of employees at the workplace has been confirmed (Hellriegel, Slocum & Woodman, 2011; Hu, & Kaplan, 2015). An appropriate balance must be achieved between these variables or factors in order to ensure that oil and gas companies optimally utilize the potential of their workforce. This is important because, failure to achieve this balance the workforce may become counterproductive or underutilized leading to a decline in production levels, which subsequently results in a decline in the company revenues and profitability. Since these variables or factors can either positively or negatively influence the performance of employees across sectors, it becomes inevitable to investigate them as well as their interactions to determine the appropriate combination for optimal performance among employees to be achieved.
1.3 Aims of the Study
It is highly imperative for the determination of the fact that, employees’ performance within an organization at various levels such as department, management, and leadership plays a significant role in influencing the company goals and objectives either positively or negatively. A consideration of the oil and gas company scenario, various factors in a work environment are believed to affect the performance of employees. Therefore, this study aims to focus on the internal as well as external challenges faced by employees working in oil and gas companies, especially during the surge of oil and gas prices which has negatively hit Qatar’s economy. The study will also discuss in details both the internal and external variables that affect the performance of employees in the oil and gas industry in Qatar.
1.4 Research Questions:
- What are the internal factors that affect the performance of employees within oil and gas companies within developing states such as Qatar in the face of oil price drops?
- What are the external factors that affect the performance of employees within oil and gas companies’ undeveloped states as a result of the rise of oil price drops?
- What are the approaches that can be employed in solving the internal and external factors that affect the performance of employees in these companies as a result of drops in oil prices?
1.5 Research Objectives
The primary objectives of this study include:
- Establish the internal and external factors that impact employee performance in oil and gas companies in the state of Qatar following the drop in oil prices.
- Establish appropriate recommendations and conclusions that identify approaches of solving the negative impacts of these factors on the performance of employees within organizations in Qatar.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The findings of this study have significances for the body of knowledge on employee performance as well as business practice. First, from an enterprise perspective, it is highly imperative for oil and gas companies to identify factors that affect the performance of employees, which is essential in helping the companies in this sector to formulate appropriate workforce policies and guidelines aimed at optimal utilisation of potential, skills, knowledge and expertise of employees. Thus, through this study a, methodological guidance is provided which has a practical significance towards oil and gas companies in Qatar to correctly develop human capital management and leadership practises not only at dethe partmental level but also at an executive level.
Secondly, the study may enhance employees’ performance awareness among stakeholders in oil and gas companies including managers and investors in the oil and gas industry in Qatar and across the world. For example, the research findings from this study may be of significant assistance to oil and gas industry managers in better understanding and managing of workforce and employees’ performance and investors may use employees’ performance efficiency as a benchmark of assessing the ability of a company operating in oil and gas company sector to create value. Also, the study is important in enabling oil and gas companies in Qatar to better understand the employees’ performance drivers, and have a more definite and direct understanding of the elements of employees’ performance in order to know how different elements can be combined for the optimal harnessing of companies’ workforce potential.
1.7 Structure of the Dissertation
In overall, the aim of this dissertation is to investigate employees’ performance within an organization at departmental, managerial and leadership levels at oil and gas companies operating in Qatar with the aid of survey data gathered at firm level. Following the introduction as the first chapter, which provides background information about the research topic, aim, problem statement, objectives as well as significance of the study and the research questions; the reminder of the dissertation is organized in subsequent chapters as follows. The second chapter provides the literature review by discussing the theoretical basis of the research topic based on previous studies and also describe the situation of oil and gas companies in Qatar. In this chapter, also the key terms are introduced in addition to reviewing existing theoretical and empirical literature on the research topic. The third chapter is the methodology and it describes the methods adopted to test the hypotheses, and also describes the target population, research sample and data as well as variables employed in the study. The fourth chapter is the data analysis and study findings and it presents the study results through analysed data and its interpretation. Finally, the fifth chapter is the discussion and conclusion and it is concerned with the elucidation of the research findings with reference to findings of previous studies, making of conclusions as well as highlighting limitations of the study and giving a recommendation for future research.
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