Pre-Thesis
Mr. Someone
chapter_1_c.docxChapter I: Introduction
Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) a Government agency in Saudi Arabia, and was formed under a Royal Decree in 1975. It had two core purposes when it was founded: 1) to develop and advance Saudi Arabia’s oil and petrochemical industry and 2) Facilitate the planning and construction of two burgeoning industrial cities namely Jubail and Yanbu (Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, 2015). The operation of the company is highly diversified tapping ports, oil, telecommunications, infrastructure, development and multiple business entities. The company seeks to advance the goal of creating a world-class industrial hub in Saudi Arabia. As of today, most of the early industries developed by RCJY have been turned over to private entities as they matured. The company is now focusing on the expansion of Jubail and Yanbu as well as the development of sustainable and topnotch living conditions in these cities (Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, 2015).
Seven main departments comprise the organizational structure of RCJY, one of which is the “Operational Excellence Department”. Under which there are three important sub-departments: 1) Policies and Standardization, 2) Research & Development and 3) Quality Control, Benchmarking, and Statistics (Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, 2015). It is the responsibility for the Quality Control department to make sure RCJY's projects comply with company set standards for quality, as well as international benchmarks. The quality control team must also be able to monitor new and completed projects on a regular basis, create management reports on quality status, and recommend solutions for quality-related issues.
The rate of technology growth and increasing business competition of the Middle East drive RCJY to channel most of its energy towards the quality control department. The quality control department is not able to form an expert team, as there is also a lack of proper knowledge transfer and employee training. In 2015, RCJY is embarking on the rapid expansion of Yanbu and Jubail cities, still without a proper quality control department in place (Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, 2015).
Statement of the problem
RCJY’s rapid expansion took place without the placement and organization of an effective Quality Control and Benchmarking department. The department also lacks qualified personnel and proper employee training to pass on working knowledge. This leaves the organization vulnerable to quality-related issues and it threatens the company’s overall competitiveness.
The reason for the study was to convey a down to earth arrangement and an arrangement of ideas to enhance RCJY's Quality Control department. The researcher wanted to identify weakness and strong holds of RCJY's quality control department and come up with a real improvement solution. The data was collected through questionnaire, interview and document analysis. Through this, several improvement ways were suggested which when applied and implemented can have a huge impact in RCJY's Quality Control department.
Industrial city- A modern and developed city anchored on specific or multiple industries. It is where the production of specific commodities in an industrial scale takes place. Industrial cities also house important elements necessary for the production such as ports, power plants and living areas for workers (Fox, 2014).
Jubail - Al-Jubail or “Jubail” is an industrial city in the Arabian Gulf Coastline of Saudi Arabia. Its development in the 1980’s became one of the world’s biggest engineering projects to ever be attempted. Today, it houses over 160 industrial enterprises and almost 70,000 inhabitants (Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, 2010).
Yanbu- Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah or “Yanbu” is an industrial city developed only 30 years ago in the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the most important cities in Saudi’s oil industry as it is a hub for raw oil processing. It has over 95,000 permanent inhabitants (Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, 2010).
Petrochemical industry- The industry of processing oil and natural gas to obtain valuable chemicals such as, acetylene, propane, hydrogen etc. Petrochemical products mostly serve as raw materials for the production of plastics, fibers and car fuel among others (Business Dictionary, 2015).
Assumptions of the study
It was assumed that, information respondents gave was true and from their heart, respondents were relaxed and willing to answer questions. It was also assumed that the data was evenly distributed throughout the study area.
The study covered one and only department, RCJY Quality control rather than all departments; this implies in future different office that will likewise require change. Again, respondents from other departments had negative state of mind in light of the fact that they get a handle on left, consequently may wind up giving constrained data.
Methodology
Several research tools were applied to meet the data collection requirement. The data was analyzed and outlined accordingly. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to arrive at a significant research methodology.
