Comparison of Training Implemented in National Oil Corporation and Arabian Gulf Oil Company - Research Proposal Example

Ethical Approval reference number: Dissertation Supervisor: Comparison of training and development programs implemented in National Oil Corporation & Arabian Gulf Oil Company for the fresh graduate nationals Introduction The research proposal comprises of the research objective of performing 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 training programs are implemented by these companies for the fresh graduate nationals. The research questions would be – The research questions may have certain sub sections as stated below but the main focus of the research study would be – How much attention do the two companies pay towards the fresh graduate nationals? What are the new measures that have been adopted by both the organizations in order to enhance the performance and work environment of the fresh graduate nationals? What is the common objective that both the companies are trying to achieve through their training and development sessions? What is the opinion of the members in these two organization in relation to the extent that they meet the objectives of the training and development programs? 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 meet the objectives of the training session over the past years. Relation to previous research (Theoretical Framework) 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 105). Previous research on the company’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 45). 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. 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 147). 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. 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, Leffler 118).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 212). 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. Proposed methods The research methodology completely depends on the research questions and the research objective. The methods to be used in this research would be both primary and secondary research techniques. The secondary research technique is always useful when there is possibility that the data obtained through primary research would not reveal the genuine results. In this topic the research to be conducted is on the training and development programs of the specified companies (Kothari 65). The information related to the topic can be easily obtained from the internet 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 55). 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, Melville 114). 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 92). The other form of the method to be used in the research process would be primary research. The primary research would be based on a focus group study. The focus group would comprise of four groups each having four members (Maxwell 103). 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 115). 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. 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 76). 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 120). 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 121). The research methods do not involve any biasness towards any condition or person and hence would be able to deliver accurate results. Reflections The research topic that is selected is very tedious as it involves a very lengthy approach. 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, Kiecolt 135). 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. Works cited Cartwright. Roger., Implementing a Training and Development Strategy. UK: John Wiley & Sons. 2003. Print. Collins. Hilary., Creative Research: The Theory and Practice of Research. London: AVA Publishing. 2010. Print. Goddard, Wayne and Stuart Melville. Research Methodology: An Introduction. UK: Juta and Company Ltd. 2004. Print. Gratton, Chris and Ian Jones. Research Methods. New York: Taylor & Francis. 2010. Print. Inkpen, Andrew and Michael Moffett. The Global Oil & Gas Industry. USA: PennWell Books. 2011. Print. Kothari. Chandrashekhar., Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New Age International. 2004. Print. Kuada. John., Research Methodology: A Project Guide for University Students. UK: Samfundslitteratur. 2012. Print. Kumar. Ranjit., Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners. Great Britain: SAGE. 2010. Print. Maxwell. Joseph., Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach. USA: SAGE. 2012. Print. Moskowitz. Michael., A Practical Guide to Training and Development: Assess, Design, Deliver, and Evaluate. USA: John Wiley & Sons. 2008. Print. Nathan, Laura and Jill Kiecolt. Secondary Analysis. USA: SAGE. 1985. Print. Patzer. Gordon., Using Secondary Data. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. 1995. Print. Raymond, Martin and William Leffler. Oil and Gas Production in Nontechnical Language. USA: PennWell Books. 2006. Print. Salkind. Neil., Encyclopedia of Research Design. USA: SAGE. 2010. Print. Sims. Ronald., Reinventing Training and Development. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. 1998. Print. Read More