Abstract
The study will aim to comprehend the way leadership in the oil and gas sector can be used to increase employee performance as well as how leadership can play a substantial role in enhancing employee morale and performance in oil rigs. The research will seek to fill the knowledge gap regarding leadership in oil and gas industry. I will use a phenomenological design since the study is a qualitative research. I will select the study sample using purposive sampling. Additionally, I will collect data through semi-structured interviews method. After collecting the data, I will identify the common themes and then describe the study findings.
Introduction
The significance of operations management to the overall organizations cannot be underestimated. In essence, operations management is among the fundamental functions of all the organizations. The success of operations management is highly dependent on the effectiveness and quality of leadership. Specifically, effective leaders are required in operations management to provide the employees with the needed tools to make the responsibilities seamless and ensure that they perform effectively. For this reason, the topic that I have selected for my research is leadership in operations management. Ideally, this research is of particular interest to me because I work in operations as an assistant Rig manager in oil and gas industry. The research is also of particular interest to me because from my working experience in the oil and gas field; I have come to realize that leadership needs improvements.
Review of the Related Literature
The research will draw on different prior studies on leadership. Ideally, reviewing the previous studies will help outline the gaps in the previous research and, thus, help me conduct a study that will contribute to the theory. Besides, drawing on various prior studies will contribute to theory by bringing focus and clarity to the research problem as well as enhance the research methodology. Furthermore, reviewing the prior studies will contribute to the theory by facilitating the contextualization of the study findings. In brief, the review will address the below main issues:
Employee motivation and performance in oil and gas industry
Theories of motivation
The role of leadership in worker motivation
Employee morale and performance in oil and gas industry
The Role of Leadership in building employee morale
Employee motivation and performance
The performance of the employees in the oil and gas industry just like in the other sectors greatly depends on the abilities of the leaders and managers to motivate them. Maduka & Okafor (2014) describe motivation as an art, which is targeted to get the individuals work willingly, and as an art of persuading a person to behave in a specific way to attain a task. Dobre (2013) defines it as a procedure that starts with a psychological or physiological need, which arouses a performance that is set by an objective. Thus, motivation and performance go hand-in-hand. According to Nizam & Shah (2015), motivation plays a significant role in improving the employee performance as well as productivity. However, Al-Harthy (2008) claims that motivation is a challenge for the oil and gas firms. According to Meta, Alib, & Alic (2015), the motivation of the personnel working at the offshore production facilities has been a concern for numerous years. Consequently, this explains why there is high turnover in the gas and oil industry. Al-Harthy (2008) asserts that retaining the top performance workers is turning out to be a major concern for numerous oil and gas companies. Consequently, the operations leaders in oil and gas industry need to motivate the employees to reduce the rate of turnover and enhance their performance. They have an imperative role to play in encouraging the employees to perform to the best of their capabilities.
Motivational Theories
The theorists of motivation including Maslow, Herzburg, and Vroom, among others have significantly contributed to the human understanding of the subject of motivation. Maslow is identified with developing the theory of needs. According to Kaur (2013), Maslow theorized that individuals have five categories of needs and that these needs are primarily activated in a hierarchical manner. These categories include the psychological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. The theory of needs suggests that workers usually look for their higher needs to be satisfied. The leaders should, therefore, put this in mind when motivating the employees.
Herzburg is renowned for developing the Two-Factor Theory. Specifically, this theory has two categories of motivational factors, that is, the hygiene factors and motivator factors. The hygiene factors include job security, work environment, wages, relationships, and company policy while motivational factors include achievement, gratitude, progress, responsibility, and personal development chances (Bexheti & Bexheti, 2016). The motivator factors result in satisfactions and motivate the personnel to work harder. In contrast, the hygiene factors can result in dissatisfaction as well as a lack of motivation among the employees in the event they are not present. The leaders in oil and gas industry ought to be cognizant of these factors so as to succeed in enhancing the performance of the employees through motivating them. Leaders are required to work on enhancing both the hygiene and motivator factors.
Vroom is well-known for developing the expectancy motivation theory. Among the assumptions that this theory is based on, according to Lunenburg (2011), the assumption that individuals join organizations with the anticipations regarding the past experiences, motivation, and needs and the assumption that they want various things such as advancement, job security, and good salary from the organizations. Consequently, this theory proposes that individuals are most motivated if they are certain that they will get an anticipated reward if they hit an attainable target. On the other hand, the theory proposes that individuals are least motivated if they are not certain that their efforts will lead to the reward. The leaders, therefore, need to be aware of this so to succeed in motivating the employees and eventually enhancing their performance.
The role of leadership in worker motivation
The leaders play an imperative role in employee motivation. According to Naile & Selesho (2014), the quality of the relationship that a leader has with a worker is the most influential element of employee motivation. It is, therefore important for the operations leaders to create strong and high-quality relationships with the employees so as to create a motivation atmosphere. Alghazo & Al-Anazi (2016) found out that transformational leadership and participative leadership are more likely to produce a motivation atmosphere for their workers compared to the other leadership styles. Consequently, the operations leaders need to understand the best leadership styles to apply so as to succeed in motivating the employees.
Employee morale and performance
Tiwari (2014) describes employee morale as the portrayal of satisfaction, emotions, and general attitude towards the place of work. In other words, employee morale is primarily the relationship, which a particular worker or group of workers have with their workplace. Employee morale is different from employee motivation. The former is a combination of sentiments, feelings, and attitudes which facilitate an overall feeling of satisfaction at the place of work while motivation is the thing, which moves the employee to action. Kandhakumar & Balasingh (2016) assert that morale is directly associated with employee motivation level as well as job satisfaction. The authors further stress that morale eventually reflects in the employee performance and results in retention. It is a known fact that the employees perform well when their morale is high. The productivity of both the employees and their organizations, thus, improve significantly when the employee morale is high.
The Role of Leadership in building employee morale
Ngamb (2011) emphasize that a relationship exists between morale and leadership. The leadership capabilities such as team building, communication, and nurturing of trust facilitate employee morale. In particular, Zia1 (2011) affirms that teambuilding has a lasting positive association with employee morale. Besides, Gupta, A. & Upadhyay, D. (2012) suggest that communication plays a significant part in raising worker satisfaction. It is important to mention that satisfied workers have high morale since employee satisfaction and employee morale go hand-in-hand. Notably, this suggests that the leaders in the oil and gas industry need to find ways to increase the morale of the employees so as to enhance their performance and both their productivity and that of the organization.
Research Questions
The research will endeavor to answer the following questions:
Apart from motivating, how can leadership be used to raise employee performance in the oil and gas industry?
How can leadership play a significant part in improving employee morale and performance in oil rigs?
The above research questions are interesting because they will lead to the improvement in the knowledge regarding operations leadership in the oil and gas industry and, as a result, contribute to the literature. The questions are also interesting because they will guide me conduct research that will significantly fill the knowledge gap regarding the leadership approaches to employ so as to enhance the performance of the employees in the oil and gas industry. What is more, the study will help fill the knowledge gap regarding the leadership strategies to enhance employee morale and performance in the oil rigs.
Contribution of the research to the Existing Knowledge
The research will significantly contribute to the existing knowledge. In particular, it will have theoretical contributions to the fields of employee morale and employee performance. It will also contribute to the existing knowledge of leadership in the oil and gas industry.
Methodology
The study will be a qualitative research in that it will endeavor to understand the way leadership in the oil and gas industry can be used to increase employee performance as well as how leadership can play a substantial role in enhancing employee morale and performance in oil rigs. Consequently, I will use a phenomenological qualitative research design. The target population for the research will be the employees working on oil rigs and the leaders. I will employ purposive sampling to choose the study participants. I will make sure that the sample is representative. The primary research instrument for gathering data that I will use in the study will be the use of semi-structured interviews. Regarding data analysis, I will classify and rank the collected data and then identify the common themes. I will then develop the structural explanations for the findings.
Timeframe
The study will take four years, two years for classes and the remaining two years for the research. The final report for the research will be ready by the end of 2020.
Jan 2017 to Nov 2018: Attend classes
Jan 2019 to April 2019: look for the relevant literature
May 2019 to June 2019: Prepare the interview questions and distribute them to the participants
July 2019 to Aug 2019: Carry out pilot interviews
Sept 2019 to Nov 2019: Conduct the first round of interviews
Dec 2019 to Feb 2020: Conduct the second round of interviews
March 2020 to June 2020: Analyze the collected data
July 2020 to Oct 2020: Preparation of the final report
Nov 2020 to Dec 2020: Submission of final report
References
Alghazo, A. M., & Al-Anazi, M. (2016). The Impact of Leadership Style on Employee’s Motivation. International Journal of Economics and Business Administration 2(5), 37-44.
Al-Harthy, M. H. (2008). Motivation: A Challenge for oil and gas companies an Omani case study. Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Department, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.
Bexheti, L., & Bexheti, A. (2016). The Impact of Herzberg's Two Factor Theory and Efficiency at Work.
Dobre, O. I. (2013). Employee motivation and organizational performance. Review of Applied Socio- Economic Research, 5 (1).
Gupta, A. & Upadhyay, D. (2012). Morale, welfare measure, job satisfaction: The key mantras for gaining competitive edge. International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences, 2 (7), 80-94.
Kandhakumar, P. & Balasingh, J. I. (2016). Conceptual Frame Works On Employee Morale and Satisfaction in Work Place. International Conference on "Innovative Management Practices.”1 (1).
Kaur, A. (2013). Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory: Applications and Criticisms. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(10), 1061-1064.
Lunenburg, F. C. (2011). “Expectancy Theory of Motivation: Motivating by Altering Expectations.” International Journal of Management, Business, & Administration, 15 (1).
Maduka, C. E., & Okafor, O. (2014). Effect of Motivation on Employee Productivity: A Study of Manufacturing Companies in Nnewi. International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR), 2(7), 137-147.
Meta, M., Alib, I., & Alic, J. (2015). Do Monetary Reward and Job Satisfaction Influence Employee Performance? Evidence from Malaysia. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 3(11), 184-200.
Naile, I., & Selesho, J. M. (2014). The role of leadership in employee motivation. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(3), 175-182.
Ngamb, H. C. (2011). The relationship between leadership and employee morale in higher education. African Journal of Business Management, 5(3), 762-776.
Nizam, K. & Shah, F.M. (2015). Impact of Employee Motivation on Organizational Performance in Oil and Gas Sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR), 3 (12), 7-15.
Tiwari, U. (2014). A study on employee welfare facilities and its impact on employees’ efficiency at VindhaTelelinks Ltd. Rewa (MP) India. Abhinav International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in Management and Technology, 3(11), 1-7.
Zia1, S. (2011). Effects of organizational team building on employees' morale & job retention. Business Management Dynamics, 1(7), 31-37.
