(EPC) major projects in Abu Dhabi's oil and gas industry

325 Pages·2017·3.63 MB·English

United Arab Emirates University
Scholarworks@UAEU
Theses Electronic Theses and Dissertations
5-2016
Effectiveness of engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) major projects in Abu Dhabi’s
oil and gas industry: End-user’s perspective
Mohamed Al Dhaheri
Follow this and additional works at:http://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/all_theses
Part of theBusiness Commons
Recommended Citation
Al Dhaheri, Mohamed, "Effectiveness of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) major projects in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas
industry: End-user’s perspective" (2016).Theses. 397.
http://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/all_theses/397
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at Scholarworks@UAEU. It has been accepted
for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarworks@UAEU. For more information, please [email protected].
United Arab Emirates University
Scholarworks@UAEU
Theses Electronic Theses and Dissertations
5-2016
Effectiveness of engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) major projects in Abu Dhabi’s
oil and gas industry: End-user’s perspective
Mohamed Salem Obaid Aldhaheri
Follow this and additional works at:http://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/all_theses
Part of theBusiness Commons
Recommended Citation
Obaid Aldhaheri, Mohamed Salem, "Effectiveness of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) major projects in Abu
Dhabi’s oil and gas industry: End-user’s perspective" (2016).Theses.Paper 397.
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at Scholarworks@UAEU. It has been accepted
for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarworks@UAEU. For more information, please [email protected].

ii

Declaration of Original Work

I, Mohamed Salem Obaid Aldhaheri, the undersigned, a graduate student at the
United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and the author of this thesis entitled
“Effectiveness of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) major projects
in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry: End-user’s perspective”, hereby, solemnly
declare that this thesis is my own original research work that has been done and
prepared by me under the supervision of Dr. Maqsood Ahmad Sandhu, in the College
of Business and Economics at UAEU. This work has not previously been presented
or published, or formed the basis for the award of any academic degree, diploma or
a similar title at this or any other university. Any materials borrowed from other
sources (whether published or unpublished) and relied upon or included in my thesis
have been properly cited and acknowledged in accordance with appropriate
academic conventions. I further declare that there is no potential conflict of interest
with respect to the research, data collection, authorship, presentation and/or
publication of this thesis.

Student’s Signature: Date: 22/5/2016
iii

Copyright

Copyright © 2016 Mohamed Salem Obaid Aldhaheri
All Rights Reserved

vi

Advisory Committee

1) Advisor: Dr. Maqsood Ahmad Sandhu
Title: Associate Professor
Department of Business Administration
College of Business and Economics

2) Member: Dr. James Thomas
Title: Associate Professor
Department of Business Administration
College of Business and Economics

3) Member: Prof. Taoufik Zoubeidi
Title: Professor
Department of Statistics
College of Business and Economics
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Abstract

Even though project management discipline is gearing towards the improvement
of project effectiveness, traditional project management is responding slowly due to
either false preconceptions or ineffective communication among project parties. A
research study is needed to contribute to knowledge and practice on the effectiveness
of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracting strategy and
consequently increase the chance of achieving product success at the site level. The
objective of the research presented herein is to assess the effectiveness of EPC
contracting strategy in meeting product objectives, from the end-user’s perspective.
Required data are collected using an online survey questionnaire targeting end-users
working in six major oil and gas projects in Abu Dhabi. The questionnaire data are
analysed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) statistical technique. Research
findings reveal statistical significant correlations between the “effectiveness” concept
and its respective factors. Being the first known research evaluating the influence of
both “end-user’s engagement” and “alignment of objectives” criteria on project
effectiveness, it provides several contributions to literature and practice. These
contributions are particularly illustrated as 1) the development of a conceptual
measurement model for the “effectiveness” phenomenal concept, which could be
applicable to researchers interested in examining such concept, 2) the identification of
possible factors shaping the conceptual domain of “end-user’s engagement” and
“alignment of objectives” criteria in the oil and gas industry, 3) the operationalization
of the conceptual measurement model based on measurement instruments verified by
both literature and industry experts, and 4) the assessment of the strengths of influence
of the causal factors on the effectiveness of EPC as well as the statistical significance
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of these relationships. The present research raises the awareness of oil and gas industry
practitioners towards the influencing factors of “effectiveness”, “engagement” and
“alignment” concepts. The generated SEM model thus serves as a motivation tool for
acknowledging the end-user’s participation in various project phases and maintaining
a proper alignment between project objectives and product objectives for the purpose
of improving the project effectiveness.

Keywords: Oil and gas industry, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC),
Project management, Effectiveness, Engagement, Alignment, Formative measurement
model, End-user, Abu Dhabi