Case study - Management 4500 words paper

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Please answer these three questions by the form of paper.

Our teacher has required us to divide the paper into 6 parts. 4500 words for total.

1. The introduction of these three questions.

2. Question one.

3. Question two.

4. Question three.

5. The conclusion.

6. Reference

The required repetition rate is below 10%. This is a doctoral assignment. Please complete it with care.

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( Total Expected Word Count = 4500) CASE SCENARIO : How technology is driving skills development within the Oil & Gas Industry The oil and gas industry is a diverse sector that operates globally, both onshore and offshore. Over 400,000 people are employed in the UK industry alone, with the majority of these employed onshore. Both offshore and onshore environments offer a wide variety of roles from drilling to design, accounts to engineering and HR to PR. As a technology-led business, the oil and gas industry is constantly changing and developing with roles following suit. However, attracting employees with the desired skills and abilities can be challenging across the sector. Companies require skilled people, in both onshore and offshore roles, in order to extract oil and gas safely, whilst acting in an environmentally responsible way, and remaining profitable at the same time. The industry requires a highly talented workforce, meaning the search for talent is extremely competitive. There are many factors affecting the employee marketplace, such as the UK’s ageing workforce and the need for appropriate skills and qualifications. These factors may contribute to future skills shortages as they reduce the pool of suitably qualified candidates that the oil and gas sector can recruit from. For example, increasingly oil is located in deeper waters and with this comes the challenge of accessing pipelines and structures safely. The role of Divers is now supplemented by the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) for tasks including the inspection of pipelines and in continuing maintenance. The operation and control of ROVs requires specialist skills and knowledge at both Technician and Graduate level. As the oil and gas industry locates and explores previously challenging reservoirs, innovative technology is at the forefront. This is an integral part of a number of roles ranging from drilling to seismic interpretation. In order to keep pace with these advances a diverse range of core skills and competences are fundamental. The industry supports many diverse roles. Not all roles within the industry require technical or scientific skills. Commercial skills are also essential for many of the roles based onshore. Careers for life are now relatively rare in the UK. Individuals now have more varied career options, career progression routes and more opportunities. Companies within the industry often employ contractors to fill specific short-term roles. This is often the case when there is a need to manage increased production levels or when the use of specialist equipment is required. Companies need to ensure the required skills are not already available through salaried staff before hiring contractors for the specific role. However, as technology is constantly changing, the workforce requires ongoing development to ensure employees have the correct skills to perform their job role effectively -------------------END OF PAGE-------------------- YOU ARE EXPECTED TO ATTEMPT ALL THREE (3) QUESTIONS GIVEN BELOW. EACH QUESTION CARRIES EQUAL MARKS. QUESTION 1 Applying the scenario presented above, provide a critical discussion on what you consider as the key challenges for HR specialists within the function of Strategic Human Resource Management and leadership. Concepts and Frameworks on Business Strategy and HR Strategy are expected to be discussed and linked to the proposed HR Strategies and Business Strategies of the organizations within the Oil & Gas Industries. ( 20 marks) QUESTION 2 Taking on the role of HR consultant within the Oil & Gas companies, conducting a critical analysis of industrial and environmental factors, identify and evaluate on the main areas of HR activity that currently need further attention. How can the HR team further develop the knowledge and skills of the workforce in O&G companies, to move these organizations forward in the next two, five and ten years. ( 20 marks) QUESTION 3 Within the context of strategic leadership of the HR function provide a discussion (with relevant theoretical support) on how managers can leverage on the engagement, involvement and motivation of a competent workforce. What are the possible limitations that can impact its overall effectiveness in supporting Strategic HR goals? ( 20 marks) TOTAL = 60 MARKS COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT 1 : ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND GRADING SHEET Excellent Good Acceptable Below Average Poor 5 4 3 2 1 Assessment Criteria Weighting Description 5 4 3 2 1 Relevance 15% 15 12 9 6 3 Knowledge 20% 20 16 12 8 4 Analysis 15% 15 12 9 6 3 Argument and Structure Critical Evaluation 15% 15 12 9 6 3 15 12 9 6 3 Presentation 10% 10 8 6 4 2 Reference to Literature 10% Directly relevant to the requirements of the assessment A substantial knowledge of relevant material, showing a clear grasp of themes, questions and issues therein Comprehensive analysis - clear and orderly presentation Well supported, focused argument which is clear and logically structured. Contains distinctive or independent thinking; and begins to formulate an independent position in relation to theory and/or practice. Well written, with standard spelling and grammar, in a readable style with acceptable format Critical appraisal of up-to-date and/or appropriate literature. 10 8 6 4 2 Total Score 100% 15% Assignment guidelines General Word Count – The word count is indicative. Try to stay with allocated word count as far as possible. Marks are gained for facts and conciseness and marks are lost for unnecessary material. As a postgraduate student, there is no excuse for poor spelling, bad grammar, or lack of formatting. Use one and half spacing with 12- point font and pages must be numbered. Use New Times Roman. Table of contents and numbering A comprehensive table of contents is required, with section numbers, section headings, and page numbers. It will include the List of references, a List of appendices, a List of figures, and a List of tables, all with page numbers indicated. All sections and pages should be fully numbered. Introduction An Introduction should be provided at the beginning to summarize the structure of the following sections of the report/assignment. The introduction does not contain theory, nor does it contain any conclusions or recommendations. Body of assignment This is an academic assignment, so it is essential that your statements be justified by relevant academic theory. For example, don’t just use terms like ‘stakeholder’– explain why you selected those terms, and the academic theory to justify their use. A major failing of students is to simply ‘describe’ the processes that have happened. At postgraduate level, you are expected to be able to apply recognized theory to situations, and form opinions. You will often find conflicting opinions from so-called ‘experts’. You should be developing analytical and communication skills. You are expected to use your judgment to analyse problems, make value judgments as to whether it is good or bad (or both), use existing academic theory from a range of sources to justify your position, and to argue whether something is valid or not. In the study of management, there is no right or wrong answers, only lots of opinions, many of which change over a period of time. Show that you can act as managers, and communicate your opinions. Major sections should start on a new page. You will be surprised just how much more readable it makes your assignment / report. Referencing Referencing is NOT just inserting a list of publications at the end of the report and this is not acceptable. Referencing is NOT just inserting a citation at the end of each paragraph and such practice is not acceptable. At postgraduate level, you are expected to cite at least 10 to 15 different sources of reference material, and to make multiple references to such material. References MUST be cited using Harvard system (which is author/date). Please do not use footnotes, etc. Read your Communication skills handbook for information on how to cite reference materials. References must be listed alphabetically by author in a single List of References at the end of each assignment. Do not put multiple lists of references at the end of each section or part. Figures and tables There are many instances where diagrams and tables would assist in the communication of information, and the reduction of word length. For example, if a stakeholder analysis were required, it would be much more clearly understood if presented in a table. Figures and tables must be numbered in some logical way, so they can be listed on the Contents page, and referred to in the text. A recommendation is that you call it Figure/Table X.1, X.2 etc. where ‘X’ represents the section number. Consecutive numbering through the whole document (rather than by section) can mean lots of renumbering if there are changes. Tables should not run over onto following pages. Start them on a new page to avoid this. If they are multi-page tables, then think about making them into an appendix. Use a smaller font (10 point) and single line spacing to reduce the size of tables. Appendices Larger amounts of relevant material (such as sample documents or supporting material) should be put at the end of the assignment in an Appendix after the List of References. Smaller charts or summaries could be located in the text, but anything over a page becomes a distraction. Appendices should be numbered sequentially (Appendix 1, Appendix 2, etc). Unnecessary and irrelevant information should not be attached. Size of assignments has no bearing on marks achieved.
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How Technology Is Driving Skills Development within the Oil & Gas Industry Name Institution Table of Contents Page 1. Introduction 3 2. Discussion on Question 1 5 3. Discussion on Question 2 9 4. Discussion on Question 3 13 5. Conclusion 16 6. References 17 How Technology Is Driving Skills Development within the Oil & Gas Industry IntroductionDiscussion on Question 1Discussion on Question 2Discussion on Question 3ConclusionReferences In the Oil and Gas industries there are several departments needed for proper functioning to take place. The technical team in the company must be skilled enough to ensure that safety is observed when extracting oil and gases from the sources located beneath the ocean (Bozick, et al., 2017). The management team mostly comprising of the Human Resource and Public Relations departments must be included to ensure that operations relating to the employees are carried out effectively. Due to the many advancements being made in the world of technology, the Gas and Oil industry is also advancing in its methods of oil and gas extractions for maximum efficiency. There are instances where the employed workforce has been faced with the challenge of reaching the reservoirs located deep in the water to extract the raw materials. As a result, the industry has resulted in using machines commonly known as the Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). The main task performed by these automated machines is to inspect pipelines located deep in the waters. They also travel to depths that the hired workforce cannot due to certain health and safety measures to help in the extraction of oil and gases. The Human Resource department in any Oil & Gas company is faced with the challenge of selecting employees with necessary skills. It becomes really difficult for them to establish whether the potential employees are fit to perform all the tasks required in their work (Shan, 2018). Besides recruitment of employees, the HR department in any company is expected to train the employees giving them necessary knowledge about their job. It is the duty of the HR to ensure that the company abides by all labor laws, that is, it determines whether an employee is fit for employment considering their age. Public Relations refers to the way in which companies communicate with the media and the public. The main responsibility of this department in a business is maintaining a positive image of the business to the general public. In this scenario, the company has decided to use contractors instead of employing a permanent workforce. This is usually the case where short term roles are to be completed in the company. Contractors are also considered by companies in the case where specialized equipment is required for the job, also in the case where the need for managing increased production arises (Heath & Morris, 2017). To ensure that the job is performed effectively, the Human Resource department has to set up such strategies that provide skills that were not available in the employed individuals in the company. The Public Relations department is responsible for ensuring development and growth of the company. This is supposed to happen by training the permanently employed workforce with the necessary skills as technology advances. Employees are supposed to update their skills to suit the requirements of the job. As a result, there would be increased profits made by the business. The role of the HR will continue to change by rewriting the rules of the workplace, this is due to the demographics shifts, social changes and more so due to the technological evolution (Collins & Kehoe, 2017). Despite the many changes that may take place, the HR department is expected to fulfil its purpose of being an ally, a trusted advisor and a coach to the business. Human Resource Specialists in the Oil & Gas Company are faced with the responsibility of solving employment related matters that affect the ability of the company to meet its productivity and performance goals. It is the duty of the HR specialists to focus on the employees’ strengths and talents and later ensure that they benefit the company (Serrano & Reichard, 2011). Risks and potential losses management is a crucial task carried out by the HR department in a company. Reflecting on the case of the Oil & Gas Company, the HR specialists are supposed to ensure that each and every employee in the company is protected from any injuries that might occur in the workplace. Taking a closer look at the strategic role of the Human Resource specialists in a company, they are supposed to train and develop new workforce that has been recruited to work in the company. Another important aspect of the HR department in any organization is to enforce strong employer-employee relations in the workplace. In this docket the HR specialists deal with matters relating to employees’ salaries, benefits, training, safety and the development of their skills in the workplace (Bozick, et al., 2017). The HR department is supposed to come up with ways to resolve any issues that arise in the workplace and also device ways of how to attract diverse pool of applicants into the company through effective selection and recruitment processes. The Oil & Gas industry is faced with certain challenges as it tries to maintain absolute safety to its employees and also providing a better workplace for the employees. It is a challenge to the HR department to attract and retain talents in the company. Operations carried out in the company are more based on physical resilience and mental skills that are meant to sustain the employees even when they are working on most hostile environments (Shan, 2018). Although the HR department focuses on increasing financial incentives to the employees, the fact that working in a hostile environment filled with numerous risks makes it difficult to retain the company’s top talents and finding replacements for them when need arises. Evolving a long-term framework is close to impossible for the HR executives in the Oil & Gas industry. This is because of the changes being made in the management strategies of the company. The changes are mostly as a result of the advancements being made in technology. Technology has opened up many job profiles in this industry including; automation engineers, data analysts, software engineers among many others. Dynamic industry requirements have resulted to the dynamic changes occurring in the HR department. The biggest challenge of the HR is to develop leaders and employees who translate business needs into digital solutions to support technological advancements in each business groups (Collins & Kehoe, 2017). Human Resource Managers are at pressure of making a new project fully operational. This is because new gas and oil projects requires that the company should have a huge commitment of capital and resources. In terms of resources, the HR specialists are supposed to identify suitable employees for the job and also create a suitable working environment for every employee recruited to work in the new project (Martin & Gollan, 2012). It is a challenge for the HR to keep motivating the employees to hide the aspect of harsh working on-site terrains of the oil and gas extraction. Programs have to be established with the aim of rewarding employees to maintain them in the industry. Employees and contractors are hired from different corners of the world including the isolated and remote locations. As a result, the motivational levels of the employees are affected by the fact that they are working for long hours in locations far away from their families. These employees are faced with the challenge of adapting to new cultures, climate conditions and variety of foods served. It is the HR’s responsibility to come up with interaction sessions for the employees, form motivational groups where the employees are able to discuss different forums (Shan, 2018). This will help in early detection in early detection of demotivation in employees and devise a solution to it. Despite having set up strategies of dealing with such issues, it is a problem to customize a solution to fit all the people from different cultures. Oil and gas companies have come up with strategies that result to proper running of the business even in cases where there are changes to be made in the workforce. Both the business and the HR office are aimed at boosting the employees’ engagement in operations carried out in the business environment (Collins & Kehoe, 2017). This is supposed to happen when both the leaders and the employees are connected by sharing: business information, the sense of purpose and the idea of the business. Such simple gestures by business executives are expected to bear fruits in promoting employees’ engagement in business operations. Reflecting on the strategies put in place by the oil and gas companies, they are purposed to train and give their employees the necessary skills required for the jobs resulting from technology advances. In this stage the companies will also try and engage the employees in the operations carried out in the business through the different methods applicable (Davenport, 2015). HR specialists and business executives have come up with a strategy of always ensuring that safety culture is observed at all times in their businesses. Individuals working in oil and gas industries value their safety more than any other aspect they get from the job. As a result, for any business to avoid a bad safety culture among its employees it must not ignore their responsibility of enhancing employees’ safety around the business despite the state of their financial ability. In the case study the oil and gas companies have adopted the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to assist in working in deep reservoirs where safety of the employees is not guaranteed (Hagen, et al., 2017). The ROV’s are also used to inspect pipelines locate deep in the ocean. Developing a system to be used to evaluate the employees’ performance is necessary in any company. Employees will be assessed on their level of skills and knowledge. If any layoffs need to be done the least productive employees will have been identified through the system leaving the best employees to continue working for the company. The system will ensure that the right workforce team is employed to do the right jobs in the company (Ramanigopal, 2013). In the oil and gas company scenario, they first assess the skills of the employees before inviting applications from contractors to come perform a specific function in the company in case the required skill is available within the existing workforce. In cases where short term roles are to be accomplished and that may result from increased production or the need of using a specialized equipment, the oil and gas companies prefer using contractors. Lastly, business executives and HR managers focus on investing a fraction of their revenue on development of the existing workforce through training. This strategy will reduce incidents in the workplace and also lead to general increase in productivity. Evaluating the expenses spent in hiring new employees and training the existing ones on new skills, it is way cheaper to train the existing ones than hire new crew members (Bozick, et al., 2017). Employees feel more secure when they get trained in their workplace. On the contrary, oil and gas companies in this scenario decide to hire contractors instead of training the existing workforce on t...