Organization Developments, Improvement Made in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company - Case Study Example

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENTS, IMPROVEMENT MADE IN A COMPANY TOPIC NAME DATE TITLE Organization development refers to the combined efforts and programs that an institution puts into place so as to increase its performance and effectiveness and involves the use of skills and practices which proves to be the best for a company. An organization must have the capability to solve its problems and be able to cope with the inevitable changes through planned development and implementation of strategies so that it can run itself effectively (Stewart, 1999). It involves team leading by its leaders, building learning organizations, providing quality management and creating an organization that is transparent, which is the work of managers, internal and external practitioners. It has a lot to do with organization culture, norms, behaviors and how people of different levels socialize within the organization. Culture is an important part of an organization’s development which includes the managerial culture for example leadership style, treatment of employees and organizational culture that is market and technology. To improve culture and to ensure it has a positive impact on an organization, it should create a vision for what is to come, develop a model for change and reward changes, which is not easy and takes long. An organization should be flexible and make adaptation to the current environment so that it can fit and be compatible into the changing society. The purpose of this paper therefore is to find out the improvements that have been effected towards the development of an organization. The Abu Dhabi national oil company is an organization found in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is a member of the United Arab Emirates and takes part in onshore and shallow coastal waters’ oil operations. It is a state owned corporation formed in 1971and deals with exploration and production of oil and gas from the fields with its products being crude oil and natural gas. The area where the Abu Dhabi national oil company is currently situated was once a fishing village, but with the discovery of oil and several other changes and innovation processes that have taken place, it has grown to be the richest (Chin, 2005). The level of technology being used currently in the Abu Dhabi national oil company is far beyond what other countries use in the whole oil operation, from drilling to pumping and transport of the products to the market. Unlike in the past when there was use of artificial or oil driven pumps for lifting the oil out of its well, there is installation of electric submersible pumps for the artificial lifting of crude. This saves a lot in the time which means more production of the crude oil, there is also a development plan to incorporate the field’s gathering of crude and transport which will definitely help in sustaining the productivity of the field. Engineers who work in this company have to be conversant with the current advancements in technology, for example the different piping systems designs and its advantages over the other systems. The engineering services that have lots of technology applied in them include site survey, concept, basic and detailed design of how the various drilling and operational practices are carried out. The old method of gas and oil exploration where oil was left to gush out first has been effectively replaced by the technology where oil is directly pumped from the oil wells into the tanks and later processed. Petroleum, oil and gas technologies have to be up to date and effective; this ensures that the company does not become obsolete or overtaken by the other competing organizations (Jones, 2005). Abu Dhabi national oil company is currently a household name in most states of the United Arab Emirates, because of the way it markets and presents itself to the rest of the world which is its audience. There are many marketing strategies in this company, involving the use of social media, uploading videos, online and social games creation of blogs and websites that give a lot of information to those who are interested and contacting the company’s customer service centre. The online marketing strategies have been effective a lot because different information and ideas reaches out to many people in different parts of the world iregardless of profession or location at almost the same time. Online marketing is also a cheap and faster way of passing information and carrying out product promotion, its target being everyone who would like to experience the emirates. The media is the most effective way to market the organization, since it gives full information and messages about the organization, its products, services and functions to all the groups, which makes everyone really curious about it, hence one way to develop an organization (Staples, 1990). Another effective marketing strategy which has been undertaken by the Abu Dhabi oil corporation targets a certain group of people and revolves around a few countries only. This strategy includes the use of advertising campaigns that relay great messages about the emirates for instance the Abu Dhabi oil company adverts on black cabs in London stands out and makes everyone curious. Messages about the company’s work are also sent out to the rest of the world through use of adverts in the various media houses, for example televisions, this brings about lots of education and information. Whenever there are great historical events happening in an area, for example athletics, the company also advertises itself to the rest of the world by setting up electric or moving banners which tend to be better and conservative that the use of physical banners and brochures (Child, 2005). An important development in the marketing strategy is that of being sponsors of a certain field or event, this gives the people a positive view of the company, for example sponsoring a football team that most people like will market the company automatically. Good and proper marketing of a company in the right and intensive way will make people want to get a lot of information about it and even use its products. This boosts the production and profits that will be gained and the company will also get to be recognized by a large number of people locally and internationally. The company is therefore ready to get more challenges and respond to them, it is also able to incorporate and integrate the thoughts of the public towards the improvements of its products and services. Another development practice that is effective is the use of proper management and implementation of marketing strategies and policies. Good policies sell out the company well to the rest of the people, but it is not enough, the company has to implement these policies well and bring in developments so that it remains sustainable over a long time. This strategy does not really have a spontaneous positive look on the face however; it presents the company well to the people after seeing the results. In the Abu Dhabi national oil company, there have been developments also in transport sector, which ranges from the transport of people who work within and outside of the company to the transport of crude oil or finished products, to and from oil plants, through various channels. The Shah-Habshan railway project operated by the Abu Dhabi national Oil Company was designed to carry freight only but currently it can be used by rail passengers who work in the oil fields, since this system operates between oil centers. This rail system includes the construction of utilities, access roads and highway diversions to the oil company centers, warehouses for storage of the oil products such as petroleum as they await shipping. It also has had maintenance facilities and tracks work such as the supply and installation of ballast, sleepers, rails, switches and crossings. The rail tracks operate freight trains at high speeds of 120 kilometers per hour while passenger trains are at 200km/hr, with ten diesel locomotives and 250 covered hopper wagons transporting freight. The whole process of rail transport has easened the transport of the heavy crude oil to the shores as they await shipping to other countries, a strategy that has made the oil company to cope up with the changing situations in the world without lowering its production. Some of these processes are still under construction and are yet to be completed and be fully used by next year, 2014, foundations have been laid and most of the processes are complete. The Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline project is a program that was initiated by the government so as to secure supply of crude oil and reduce transportation of oil through the straits of Harmuz in tankers. The pipeline can export 1.5 million metric barrels a day, which is more than half of the United Arab Emirates total oil export per day and is transported to the main oil terminal from the onshore oil operation facilities via the offshore loading facilities. The Abu Dhabi national Oil Company has a connecting station, initial and intermediate oil stations, a terminal station, three single point mooring devices that are located offshore and huge oil storage tanks. This pipeline has reduced the dependency on oil terminals in the Gulf, because there are several other areas where oil has been discovered but its exploration was hindered by the lack of a proper transport system. It has also enhanced the export potential on the eastern sea board and reduced shipping traffic in the Strait of Harmuz which has the main terminal and shipping traffic would increase due to the huge number of tankers that waits to carry the offloaded oil tanks to the main oil processing facilities. A very important improvement done by the company is the purchase and installation of integrated electric equipment for the pipeline through the signing of contracts by several international companies that can provide whatever is new in the market and can make work easier. The electrical equipments already purchased include 33kilovolts insulates switch gear and resistors, ring main devices and capacitor banks, which has helped a lot in operations of oil drilling in the terminals that are offshore. The company has also gone a long way to purchase protection panels, fault monitoring equipment and substation control so as to easily man the whole oil and gas exploration process. This equipment also provides for early detection in case of an electric fault or leak hence reducing the actual numbers of disasters occurring, which could prove fatal. The company has also purchased supervising equipment for station that supervises all the activities that goes on in the company, from the drilling of crude oil to transportation of the already processed products. This equipment though costly has really helped a lot in impacting positive development because it makes the drilling and piping process faster, easier and efficient. It also takes into consideration other areas of concern, for example the environment in that, oil leaks which proves to be fatal are easily detected by this improved technologies. The Abu Dhabi national oil company has partnered with other great companies which also take part in oil and gas explorations, for example GASCO, a company that deals in gas exploration, so that it can increase its processing capacity to meet the high continuous demands for it products by the world. This partnership also helps in identifying the latest developments in the oil and gas processing technology, expansion of the current plants, addition of new facilities and integration with offshore gas and oil companies. This helps in giving priority to other improvements that could enhance production and sustain other already aging plants, the processes that take place in them and also enhances the safety of each employed person, also referred to as occupational safety. The values of the partnering companies merged together increases corporate social responsibility and shape the emerging socio-cultural developments especially in Abu Dhabi, by sponsoring major events which is an efficient marketing strategy. Energy efficiency engineers have a tough work since the company should not incur more costs in the production process compared to the outputs or profits made. They have to assist in obtaining endorsement from site personnel to introduce and implement the new technologies and changing the mindsets of the employees who should embrace and accept new technologies and changes that come with it (Derue, 2007). The engineers also have the hard task of energy efficiency awareness training across the various departments including the organization of certified auditors training courses. They also have to convince the management of the importance of implementing work policies and applicable legislations that regulate the use of energy in a very effective way, which helps in development of the company. They also have to ensure that energy use estimation is budgeted for and there is adequate innovation and continuous improvements in all parts of the company in terms of energy use(Carmelli, 2006). The energy management system is important as it helps in providing sustainable solutions which contribute to the optimization of energy which improves the energy efficiency. The company also carries out performance evaluation of major energy consumption equipment such as pumps, boilers and compressors. It also analyses and identifies areas for improvements on flared gas and emissions released into the atmosphere so as to enhance energy efficiency. Another important development factor is the support for clean development mechanisms so as to reduce environmental impacts, a good example that incorporates the environment and the possible impacts of a decision made on it. Energy that was being used in the past made little profits to be generated, but with the incorporation of efficient energy policies and management systems there have been a lot of improvements that are constantly being eyed by other companies that would want to be like Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi national oil company has improved its scale of performance management in the various fields and departments by making everyone accountable for the production in their area of specialization. This is through the use of reports and written or non-written communications from the seniors to their employers. The metrics used in performance analysis involves the use of income to output ratio, where by a higher output should result in the generation of higher income and vice versa. This has been best done by drawing a graph that shows income and output over the past years or months, and then decisions are made on how to better such performance. The departments that have put on an impressive show are rewarded so that they will also do the same next time, whereas those that have not made good progress or impressive performance are questioned and made accountable for their actions so that a repeat of the same does not happen again (Boss, 2008). Good policies, regulation services, legislation frameworks and the pillar of hard work are all important aspects that are being advocated for in the development of the Abu Dhabi national oil company. There are several policies including education policies, privacy, education, energy and environmental laws which have been put in place to ensure proper running, management and co ordination within the company. The education policy for example provides the guiding principles, vision and objectives for Abu Dhabi’s education system which were developed in co ordination with the stakeholders from academia, industry and government. This policies advocate for equal education and awareness of the available technologies, discoveries and decisions made mostly by the management sector. The energy policy prioritizes energy initiatives and recommends the best possible energy efficient solutions which meet the company’s objectives and guides on the best areas of changes that can be done. The policy also goes hand in hand with environmental policy, to ensure that the use of energy and the whole oil and gas production process does not have a negative impact directly or indirectly on the environment around the company. The rules, regulations and practices that are made and implemented should be in line with the organization’s set objectives and goals so that it realizes the targeted profits and development. The company has also made great improvements in the way people relate within the organization and their mode of participation in the production process. Abu Dhabi national oil company being an internationally recognized company has many departments, ranging from the engineering department to marketing and several others. Communication and harmonization between the different departments can prove to be very challenging if there is no proper order to such. Heads of different departments can only pass information to their staff after meetings have been convened and decisions made so that different departments and organization branches get the same information regarding an issue at the same time. The bottom top participation is the most common, that is, staff airs their grievances to the heads of departments and not the various heads making decisions of what they think are the challenges being faced by their members of staff (Arnold, 2000). The company has made great progress because of its ability to impose change by the top management or voluntarily by the employees. It has also prioritized its goals which give a challenge to develop balanced intervention and improve the productivity and quality of work for members. For efficient implementation and improvement of the organization’s development, all the departments have had to be accountable for whatever decisions made and implemented, each organization member has had to have respect for the other, trust and support, equalization and transparency of power, efficient participation and confrontation and open communication between the different vertical levels of management. Several existing cultures, beliefs and practices have also had to be developed or changed, so that employees do not become like minded or take in new policies and technologies slowly, a hindrance to development within an organization. The steps to organizational development involves the key personnel decisions for a change, impacting the proper learning goals, incorporating the cultural states of a client, involving the key stakeholders, preparing and orienting members of the organization to change and development. For any organization to reach a point of national and international recognition in its development, it should have undergone several stages, since change is slow and takes time to be fully implemented. The organization should set its goals, priorities, vision and objectives right before its implementation, it should also be able to cope with the challenges that it faces and know how to deal with them effectively. However, implementation of such activities alone is not enough since the operation has members of staff and the management which function at different levels. Each member should be able to accommodate the new technologies, markets and have the opportunity to express their feelings towards what is being implemented. This calls for transparency and openness within the organization whenever objectives and decisions are made which makes everyone feel at ease. Abu Dhabi oil Company has strategic decision making plans both at individual and aggregate level which involves getting attention, encoding information, storage and retrieval of information, strategic choice, strategic outcome and feedback, interacting at all stages. Competition oriented objectives in the firm are based on the knowledge of competing firms such as their market shares. All the operations taking place within a firm are coordinated well to ensure that community objectives, resources are well managed to ensure the smooth running of a company, everyone involved should. The complexity of strategic decisions and the resultant information uncertainty is the major challenge for most decision makers in the company especially managers, this complex decision affects all parts of the organization hence their complex nature. Reference List Arnold, J. (2000). The empowering leadership questionnaire: The construction and validation of a new Scale for measuring leader behaviors. 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