Training and Development Programs in National Oil Corporation & Arabian Gulf Oil Company - Research Proposal Example

Executive Summary This project is taken up to compare the training and development programs of two of the largest oil and natural gas companies, ly National Oil Corporation and Arabian Gulf Oil Company in Libya. The energy sector is the most important sector of Libyan economy and improvement of human resource management is a key way to enhance the economic growth of the country. This paper compares and contrasts the training programs of the two giants and finds out the relative strength and weakness of the training programs of the two companies to access their effectiveness in improving employee performance. The research is intended to be a qualitative one that will answer the research question based on focused group interviews with the respondents. The answers obtained from the primary research will be compared and contrasted with the previous research work of other researchers to improve the validity of the results. This research will be helpful for both the oil and gas companies of Libya by allowing them to understand the effectiveness of the training programs in terms of improving performance of the employees. Broadly speaking all the companies of the energy sector in Libya can benefit from this research. Contents 1 Contents 2 1.0 Background and Overview 4 1.1. Background of the Project 4 1.2. Overview of the training and development programs of oil companies 4 1.3. Problem Statement 5 1.4. Importance of transfer of training in organizations 5 2.0. Research Objectives 6 2.1. Aim of the project 6 2.2. Issues to be addressed 6 2.3. Importance of issues 7 2.4. Significance of research results 7 3.0. Methodology 7 3.1. Research Questions 7 3.2. Literature Review 8 3.2.1. Definition 8 3.2.2. Importance of training in the oil sector 8 3.2.3. Factors affecting training and development 9 3.2.4. Study on training and development of oil companies in Libya 9 3.3. Research Methodology 11 3.3.1. Factors to be investigated 11 3.3.2. Hypothesis 11 3.3.3. Methodology of research 12 3.3.4. Data Collection 12 3.3.5. Potential Constraints and Limitations 14 4.0. Analysis and Discussions 14 4.1. Measuring results 14 4.2. Suggestions to improve 14 4.3. Reflections 15 5.0. Structure of the final report 16 5.1. Chapter 1 Introduction and Background 16 5.2. Chapter 2 Research Objectives 16 5.3. Chapter 3 Literature Review 16 5.4. Chapter 4 Methodology 16 5.5. Chapter 5 Results 16 5.6. Chapter 6 Analysis and Findings 17 5.7. Chapter 7 Conclusion and Recommendation 17 6.0. Time table 17 Reference List 18 1.0 Background and Overview 1.1. Background of the Project Human resource challenge remains one of the most pertinent challenges faced by developing countries and hinders their progress and growth relative to developed countries. Researchers have pointed out that the industrial sector of the developing countries is characterized by lower levels of productivity and efficiency compared to the developing countries. The works of Agnaia (1996) had revealed that developing countries are in extreme need of training and development programs of management. Training and development programs help in improving the skills and knowledge of employees and enhance their productivity levels. This paper deals with two major oil corporations of Libya. The National Oil Corporation is a part of oil and gas industry and is an oil company of Libya. The oil industry of Libya is dominated by this company and even along with its small subsidiaries accounts for almost 70% of the total oil production of the company. The company recruits qualified and bright candidates to form a part of their executive cadre (Inkpen and Moffett, 2011). The Arabian Gulf Oil Company is another company in the oil and gas industry which have their operations in Benghazi, Libya. The company mainly deals with natural gas and crude oil. The operations they include are production, exploration and refining. It is a subsidiary of the National Oil Corporation. 1.2. Overview of the training and development programs of oil companies The primary goal of the training and development programs is to improve the necessary skill set of the researcher so that they can achieve organizational goals. Training programs can be considered as a function for individuals that help them to achieve a certain level of competency and productivity. Most of the existing training and development programs in the petroleum sector of Libya can be divided into two broad groups namely on-job training and overseas training. On the job training can also be considered as a local training program intended to improve the skill set of the nationals. Training to the employees are provided through tie-ups with a number of external training institutes like IIE which had worked with the Waha Oil and Zueina Oil Companies to prepare efficient workforce in collaboration with U.S. universities (Sale, Salter and Sharp, 2007). In an empirical research conducted by Mireftekhari (2013) a survey was taken up for analyzing the training and development programs of emerging countries. Results from the survey study had revealed that general education and specialist skills form an integral part of training programs of large oil companies. Elements of training include language training, basic education, locally appropriate requirements, practical experience and scholarship schemes as the most commonly agreed methods of competent training programs. Majority of oil companies in the world have their own set of training programs. For instance, in Kuwait oil companies develop special career development programs by cooperation and coordination with external consultants. Overseas development courses are also offered by companies to provide training about topics that are not covered in the local courses (Sale, Salter and Sharp, 2007). 1.3. Problem Statement The Libyan economy is highly dependent on the oil and the natural gas sector of the country and this sector accounts for 95% of export earnings, 99% of government income and 80% of GDP (CIA, 2014). Human resource challenges remain one of the most formidable challenges of Libya. Improving the productivity of the energy sector is one of the most crucial ways by which Libya can enhance its economic growth. The problem statement of the research can be framed as: To obtain a comprehensive understanding about the training and development programs in two of the leading oil and natural gas companies of Libya and find their impact on improving the skills of fresh graduates. 1.4. Importance of transfer of training in organizations Training and development programs are expected to expand the human intellect and develop personality of individuals. Researchers have shown that involvement of employees in the training and development programs allows them to acquire the principles of value based management and comply with the organizational standards. The research conducted by Park and Wentling (2007) had revealed that the role of the workplace is extremely crucial for transferring the skills during training to the employees. Employees pick up certain skills during the course of the training program and expected to apply their newly acquired skills in the actual job. In other words it can be argued that the transfer of training is an important way to gauge the effectiveness of the training programs. The research conducted by Gumuseli and Ergin (2002) had shown that organizations wants to transfer the skills acquired during training programs to the workplace so that employees can improve their job skills. The academic literature identifies this process as transfer of training. The works of Zhao, Mattila and Tao (2007) had shown that if training programs are highly effective then this will result in better acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the workplace which in turn has a direct impact on the productivity of the organization. Based on these research works it can be argued that if National Oil Corporation and Arabian Gulf Company can create effective training programs which can help employees to apply their training in their real jobs then this will create an environment of high productivity in the workplace and enhance organizational productivity. 2.0. Research Objectives 2.1. Aim of the project The aim of this project is to perform a comparative analysis of the training and development programs incorporated by the two oil and gas companies that is Arabian Gulf Oil Company and the National Oil Corporation. The types of training programs for the fresh graduate nationals implemented by these companies and their associated benefits and costs are to be discussed in this paper. 2.2. Issues to be addressed This paper attempts to find examine the training programs of National Oil Corporation and Arabian Gulf Company in Libya and analyze their impacts on the fresh recruits. To understand the types of training programs implemented in the oil companies. To analyze the effectiveness of the training programs by understanding the ways in which skills are imbibed by the recruits. Analyze the similarities and differences of training programs of the companies. To find whether the difference of training programs between the two has resulted in any difference of the performance of the recruits. 2.3. Importance of issues The research question has one main part and three subparts surrounding which the entire research process would be framed. The above selected questions is interesting from the researcher point of view as it would help to clearly identify the various kinds of training and development programs the companies have, and which amongst the two provides a greater career opportunity for the fresh graduates, and even help in analyzing the specific goals of the two organization behind its training programs and to the degree both the organizations has been able to meet the goals. The research questions mainly focus on the measures that both the companies has encompasses towards the fresh graduates nationals and to the extent that these organizations gives importance towards the fresh recruits. Further the question even encompasses the degree to which the organization meets the objectives of the training session over the past years. 2.4. Significance of research results The results of from this research will be helpful for both the companies. It will help them to find their relative strengths and weaknesses and allow them to rectify their weak points. Improvement in the training and development programs will help the companies to enhance their effectiveness of the programs which in turn will help to improve the productivity of employees in the long-run. 3.0. Methodology 3.1. Research Questions The research questions can be framed in the following way: What type of training and development programs are implemented by the companies? What are the perceptions of the fresh graduates regarding the attention that they are provided in both the companies? What are the objectives of training and development programs in both these companies? To what extent has the organizations achieved the goals after implementing the training and development programs? 3.2. Literature Review 3.2.1. Definition Researchers like Hamilton and Oparanma (2008) had pointed out that training can be treated as an effective way of acquiring skills under supervision. Numerous researchers have worked on the aspect of training and development of an organization yet very few have made an attempt to describe the terminology. A widely accepted definition of training and development is “training is a process of bringing employees to the desired standard of work performance by instruction and practice” (Tannenbaum and Yukl, 1992). The term employee in the definition is a broad term and can relate to anyone who is working for the organization. Desired performance in the definition can be related to the aspect of pre-determined organizational goals that are set by the top management. 3.2.2. Importance of training in the oil sector The importance of training programs in the organizations is profound as training has the power to correct the weakness of the employees during the time of their joining and allows the employees to face difficulties in work situation from innovation and organizational changes. Though training can be treated as a catalyst to accomplish organizational success yet it is difficult to measure employee success in isolation. The research conducted by Boyatzis (2008) had confirmed that employees can be evaluated in terms of the dexterity that they show in their job role, the attitude shared by the employees about his job and accomplishment of goals by the employees according to the standards set by organizations. The works of Ginsberg (1997) had shown that training and development programs of organizations should be customized in a manner that supports the needs of the organization. This view has found support in the works of other research scholars like Partlow (1996 cited in Stone, 2002) and Tihanyi et al. (2000 Stone, 2002) who had expressed similar views about training and development and stated that designing the training programs according to the need of the employees is extremely important to achieve organizational result. Improper development of training programs can lead to organizational failure by impacting the productivity and efficiency of organization. Researchers have pointed out that on-job training helps an employee to apply the knowledge imbibed during the training program in the course of the work done by him. Research conducted by Flynn, Schroeder and Sakakibara, (1995) had found out that organizations that apply on job training have the capability to reduce cost of training programs. On-job training is also a practical way of training employees that saves the time of the organization. 3.2.3. Factors affecting training and development Researchers like Amisano (2010 cited R. A. G. Khan, F. A. Khan, and M. A. Khan, 2011) had pointed out that training and development of employees are directly related to the work performance of employees and work performance in turn is related to job satisfaction and motivation of employees. There are number of factors that determine the outcome of training programs undertaken by organizations. Researchers like Haywood (1992) have found that most of the training programs pay excessive emphasis on the design of programs namely learning, behavioral change and skill development which reduces their overall effectiveness. This is because most of the training programs lack the notion of measuring the performance effectiveness which defeats the purpose of training programs. Researchers like Birdi (2005) have found that effectiveness of training programs are also impacted adversely by the unfavorable organizational culture and poor managerial support. Other researchers have established that open-mindedness is an important factor that determines the effectiveness of training programs. It is important for the trainers and the employees to work with open-mindedness in order to achieve outcome (Sahinidis and Bouris, 2008). Supportiveness of the top management, individual attitude of the employees and aligning needs of the organization to the training requirement are important factors that determine success of training. The delivery style of training in bringing out organizational effectiveness is crucial. Researchers like Griffin and Neal (2000) had found that if the training is unable to attract the attention of the employees then it will not be productive for the organization at all. 3.2.4. Study on training and development of oil companies in Libya The works of Amagada (2006) had focused on the training in the oil industries. Findings of the researcher suggests that training in the oil industry involves informing the staff about the events and changes occurring in the oil industry and provides them with opportunities to voice their opinion regarding the changes. This process helps in equipping the employees with necessary choice and tools to conduct his job. Analysis of the Libyan oil and energy sector reveals that Libya had allowed foreign oil companies to invest in the energy sector to improve the infrastructure of the country. The local oil companies in Libya and the foreign companies in the country have their own training and development programs. On-the-job training or local training is a method of training the national employees through arranging seminars and combination of theoretical and practical techniques. There are two important training centers of the country namely Administrative and Technical Development of NOC and Zauiwa Training centre. The overseas training approach comprises of training from outside the country (International Business Publications, 2008). Previous research on the National Oil Corporation’s training and development program states that the final hiring is done only after the candidates have been able to qualify in the training sessions. The fresh graduates are given induction training. This training is common for all the fresh recruits into the system so that they are familiar with the work culture of the company and even be familiar to what is their job role in the system (Cartwright, 2003). The training program that National Oil Corporation follows have both the corporate module as well division specific module. These modules help in providing the new recruits information about the macro aspect of the company in terms of business endeavors and even help to describe the various micro operations of the company (Sims, 1998). The new entrants are given classroom training as well on field training so that they are able to grasp easily the foundation on which the company lies. It is very important that the recruits pass the training program so that the final phase of recruitment is completed. The company has the objective to keep only those fresh graduates in their systems who have been able to understand well the operations of their company (Sims, 1998). The company has a significant difference in the training module that they follow in relation to that of National Oil Corporation. The training that the company imparts on its new entrants it’s on job training in which the recruits get their respective salary during the training session unlike that of the National Oil Corporation in which the entrants are finally hired when they pass the training program. The training program of Arabian Gulf Oil Company comprises of specific modules that trains the entrants about their specific job roles rather than making them aware of the overall business operations (Raymond and Leffler, 2006).There is a lot of flexibility that the company incorporates in its training modules through which the fresh graduate nationals are given the opportunity to interact with the senior management including the board members and directors so that they are able to put across any issue related to their training or learning through an open session. The training program of the company is termed as the Trainee Talent Program which enhances the skills of the new entrants (Moskowitz, 2008). There has not been much of research conducted earlier in relation to the research topic. However the information obtained from the earlier research helps to analyze the differences in the training programs of these two companies. The previous research study helps to draw answers for the research question that was related to the differences in the training programs of National Oil Corporation and Arabian Gulf Oil Company. There is a dearth of studies in the existing literature about the training and development programs of the oil companies in Libya. Only a handful of studies have been taken up in this regard and none of these studies have focused specifically on comparing the training and development programs of Arabian Gulf Oil Company and the National Oil Corporation. 3.3. Research Methodology 3.3.1. Factors to be investigated The following factors are to be investigated in the research: Analyzing the components of training and development Analyzing the effectiveness of the training programs by interacting with the employment Comparison of the training programs of the companies to locate the relative advantages and disadvantages 3.3.2. Hypothesis Though research is a qualitative research and no statistical tools will be used to interpret the results. Therefore it is not feasible to frame a hypothesis for the research topic. The primary aim is to explore whether there is a considerable difference between the training and the development programs of National Oil Corporation and Arabian Gulf Oil Company or not. The idea is to explore whether the difference in the training programs results in difference in the performance of the employees. 3.3.3. Methodology of research The research methodology completely depends on the research questions and the research objective. This research uses a qualitative technique to answer the research question. The methods to be used in this research would be both primary and secondary data. The secondary research technique is always useful when there is possibility that the data obtained through primary research would not reveal the genuine results. The rationale of using both primary and secondary research is to compare and contrast the results of this research with the works of other researchers (Kothari, 2004). In this topic the research to be conducted is on the training and development programs of the specified companies. This research will use authentic primary sources to collect data from the employees. Both focused group interviews and questionnaire surveys will be used to collect data from the employees. The information obtained from the primary research can be easily compared with results of other researchers through internet based study as the companies selected for the survey are well known names in the oil and gas industry. The secondary research is usually conducted on the existing information on the internet, books, magazines, journals etc. The information available through the secondary sources is then analyzed to derive at a concrete solution to the research question (Kumar, 2010). 3.3.4. Data Collection Primary Data The primary data will be collected by the researcher based on focus grouped interviews. In order to make this possible the researcher will personally visit the companies and obtain consent from the managers to conduct the research. The researcher will provide a clear idea that the research is strictly for academic purpose and it will lead to no harm of the employees or the organizations per se. The researcher will also convince that the interviews will take place after the office hours so that the work climate is not disrupted. On approval of the request the researcher will randomly select eight members from the respective companies and conduct four focus group interviews. The focus group would comprise of four groups each having eight members. Two groups would comprise of HR professionals of the respective companies and the other two groups would be of fresh entrants from the two companies. The interviewer would be unbiased about the topic and would be only responsible for tracking down the opinions of the group members (Patzer, 1995). The focus group study helps to unveil the hidden opinions of the individuals which are otherwise not possible in the case of questionnaire survey as the answers collected would be more of descriptive nature, and would even help the researcher to analyze the individual goals of both the organizations behind the training programs that it implements and how far they are able to succeed towards the goal (Maxwell, 2012). In this research study it is very important that the individual methods of the respective companies are clearly analyzed and this is only possible through an interview with the concerned person (Kuada, 2012). The focus group study would help to analyze the different training modules of the two companies and even identify the benefits or the issues that the new recruits have towards the training programs. This in turn would help to obtain the answers of the research question that the impact of the training sessions on the productivity level of the new recruits (Collins, 2010). The methods so adopted are beneficial in terms that they are able to clearly state and answer to the research question. The research can be carried out through an interview conducted with the staff of these two organizations mainly the fresh graduates, the management and even the HR team of National Oil Corporation & Arabian Gulf Oil Company just to observe their opinion on what they feel towards the extent to which both the companies have been able to meet the objectives of the training and development programs through different innovative measures. These methods would help to structure the issue related to the research study and formulating answers based on direct interactions with the key persons related to the research topic (Salkind, 2010). Secondary Data The secondary sources that can be used in this research study would be journals on the following two companies, their official websites, and online journals of SAGE publications and Wiley Online, and even the journals can be accessed through Google Scholar. The secondary sources would even comprise of the human resource management books that would help in analyzing what are the models of the training and development programs that a company can adopt (Goddard and Melville, 2004). Some previous research data can also be utilized to derive at a conclusion regarding the different models of training programs that these two companies undertake so as to facilitate the performance of their fresh graduate nationals (Gratton and Jones, 2010). 3.3.5. Potential Constraints and Limitations This research suffers from three main limitations:Though this research do not involve any biasness towards any condition or person and hence would be able to deliver accurate results yet the research has certain limitations. Firstly, The researcher has used human respondents in the research. There are always chances that the respondents may have given biased answers based on emotional factors. It was not possible for the researcher to verify whether the respondents have provided unbiased answers. Secondly, this research is primarily a qualitative research which does not include any statistical treatment of the data. Use of statistical analysis may have provided robust outcomes. Thirdly, the sample of the research is very small and it may not be possible to generalize the results obtained from this research. 4.0. Analysis and Discussions 4.1. Measuring results The researcher will use descriptive statistics and graphical techniques to interpret the results. The answers obtained from the research were purely categorical and it is best to represent the results in graphical manner for clear understanding on the part of the readers. The use of pie charts and bar graphs are likely to be useful to interpret the answers. 4.2. Suggestions to improve This research is essentially a qualitative research that focuses on comparing the training and development programs of the two leading oil and natural gas companies of Libya. The sample of the research is relatively small and the results cannot be generalized. Any further research with larger sample can be considered for further research. Additionally, this research has also not used any type of statistical analysis for interpreting the results. Future research using mathematical techniques will be helpful for further study. 4.3. Reflections Conducting the research was a time-consuming process. The research involves some obstacles such as not an easier access to the official website of the respective companies. The method to be used in the research process is of secondary and primary research. There may be lack of availability of data in terms of any previous research study that is conducted on the topic that is selected. The data available from the internet may not be genuine to some extent and it would in turn result into a faulty research process. The secondary obtained can also be outdated. The focus group study can have the obstacles in terms that the respondents may be reluctant towards participating in the study. Even if they participate there can be a possibility that they do not provide the right answers or disclose their actual opinions. These are some of the obstacles (Nathan and Kiecolt, 1985). The theoretical and conceptual problems would be that the researcher may not be aware of the basic concepts on human resource practices which would make it very difficult to arrive at a conclusion. The theory related to training and development approaches in human resource management should be very clear in order to carry forward the process but the obstacle towards this research can be that researcher is not at all aware about the concepts and models related to training and development programs. A very important aspect in research process is ethical consideration. The researcher needs to consider issues such as informed consent, voluntary participation, and possible harm to the participant, anonymity and confidentiality. Respondents should not be forced to take participation in the research process. Voluntary participation of the respondents into the research process may in some cases lead to no response and that would compel the investigator to force active participation by the respondents. Such a measure is very much unethical and discouraged in every research process. On an ethical perspective the respondents involved in the research process should be guaranteed that the information they would be providing for the research will be kept confidential and should not be disclosed along with their identity by the researcher in any circumstances. The confidentiality and anonymity enhances the response rates. No monetary rewards or any kind of rewards are to be provided to the respondents as it is very unethical. Being a researcher and working in this kind of field would have impact on the study as no negative outputs of the study can be highlighted and it even requires permission from the higher authorities to carry on a research on these two companies. The research encompasses various obstacles but at the same time it provides a great opportunity to the researcher to analyze the theoretical concepts in real time environment. 5.0. Structure of the final report 5.1. Chapter 1 Introduction and Background This chapter sets the background for the research and provides an idea to the readers about the way in which the research is to be conducted. 5.2. Chapter 2 Research Objectives This chapter singles out the issues that are to be dealt in the research. The research questions and the objectives of the research are the main topics of discussion in this chapter. 5.3. Chapter 3 Literature Review This chapter will involve conducting a rigorous study on the relevant theories and models of employee training and development. The research will be undertaken after a thorough understanding of the works of previous researchers in this regard. The relevant theories and models related to the topic will be discussed in this paper. The literature review sets the foreground for the paper. 5.4. Chapter 4 Methodology The research philosophy, strategy, approach, methods and the data collection techniques will be discussed in this paper. This 5.5. Chapter 5 Results The primary data collected for the purpose of this research will be analysed in this section 5.6. Chapter 6 Analysis and Findings The results obtained from the research is compared and contrasted with the research works of other scholars to improve research triangulation. The findings from the primary data can be compared to the findings of other researchers. 5.7. Chapter 7 Conclusion and Recommendation This chapter summarizes the main findings from the research after comparison of the training programs of the companies. The drawbacks of the training of any one company can be compared with the other for better analysis. Finally, based on the shortcomings of the existing training programs recommendations will be suggested. 6.0. Time table The following chart represents the series of events taken up in a chronological manner to complete the research paper. The list of activities is provided in the left most column and the time required to complete them are marked by various colors. Reference List Agnaia, A. A., 1996. Assessment of management training needs and selection for training: the case of Libyan companies. International Journal of Manpower, 17(3), pp. 31-51. Amagada, G. O., 2006. Training needs and methods of training in information technology in the oil industry libraries. Electronic Library, 24(1), pp. 11-19. Birdi, K. S., 2005. No Idea? Evaluating the Effectiveness of Creativity Training. Journal of European Industrial Training, 29(2), pp. 102-111. Boyatzis, R. E., 2008. Competencies in the 21st century. Journal of Management Development, 27(1), pp. 5-12. Cartwright, R., 2003. Implementing a Training and Development Strategy. UK: John Wiley & Sons. CIA, 2014. The World Factbook. 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