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 vii 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 viii 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