Abstract The paper presents an integrated model for Quality and Performance Improvement (Q&PI) Framework that has been established within ADCO (Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations) Petroleum Development Division (PDD) to ensure a continuous improvement in core activities. It highlights triggers and challenges which were behind the serious need for an integrated business model that will help the division in clarifying its vision in line with ADCO Business Strategy, and translate that vision into a set of business operational and measurable objectives.
The achievements of Q&PI Framework in unifying and integrating all the divisional business units around a common understanding of business key strategic drivers are presented. The critical business objectives that can be continuously assessed and upgraded toward achieving the business vision with minimum business/technical uncertainties are exemplified, indicating a significant improvement in a typical E & P environment.
Introduction PDD is a key division in ADCO with approximately 400 employees, mostly professional engineers and graduates in different disciplines. The major functions are to oversee Exploration and Full Fields Development of onshore fields in Emirate of Abu Dhabi, including a vibrant integration of surface and subsurface activities. In 2004 alone, the company plans to drill in excess of 100 wells and at the same time ensure efficient operations, maintaining the integrity of assets and shareholder's off take requirements at all times.
The main driver of introducing the Q&PI Framework in PDD is to ensure and oversee the translation of PDD strategy into a quality and performance improvement system that supports effective optimization of the organizational assets to achieve the business goals. A framework that will create value from managing knowledge-based strategies that deploy the intangible assets within the organization, such as, employee potentialities and skills, customer relationship, shareholders guidelines, strategies, business processes, information technologies, database and management actions.
A single model for developing an effective business strategy and ensuring continuous assessment of organization strengths to focus on areas for improvement is not sufficient for an important technical division such as the PDD. This is due to the high level of challenges that the division has to manage in order to reach the Shareholders expectation, which require an effective management system for business's planning and control. The business challenges encouraged the organization to establish a business framework that will give the division opportunity to become a strategy-focused organization.
The Q&PI Framework developed consists of five key components. The first component is setting a strategic framework encapsulating the divisional strategy map, which integrates main objectives of all business units and business improvement, including short and long term plans. The second component is developing the value chain of divisional critical processes, which will give procedures and guidelines in what and how business can be effectively done to achieve the set objectives. The third component is to establish an implementation strategy to ensure a smooth transmission of critical process's development phase to the "live" implementation phase through sufficient awareness, training and communication programs. The fourth component is establishing a performance monitoring system to measure the actual performance versus identified targets. The fourth component is regarded as precursor to the fifth component "quality assurance review procedures" in which the variation reported in the measurement phase is to be analyzed and reported to management to take preventive or corrective actions for improvement.
The PDD Q&PI Framework that covers the five business components were implemented in 2001, as "Set-Develop-Implement-Measure-Improve" cycle, ensuring the continuous assessment of strategy and critical processes to reach the desired excellence.