Quality in Customer Focused Operations: Saudi Aramco Case Study Report

This report delves into the quality of customer-focused operations within Saudi Aramco, a major player in the oil and gas industry. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the operational complexities of extracting and transporting oil and gas, emphasizing the need for innovative tools to enhance quality. The report explores Saudi Aramco's background, detailing its operational processes, including extraction and transportation, and presents an ITO framework illustrating these processes. A literature review examines the importance of customer satisfaction and service quality. The assignment identifies quality problems within the company, recommends potential improvements, and discusses challenges in implementing these strategies. The report concludes by emphasizing the significance of quality management in maintaining customer loyalty and achieving success in the competitive oil and gas market.

Running head: QUALITY IN CUSTOMER FOCUSSED OPERATIONS
Quality in Customer Focused Operations
[Saudi Aramco]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Executive summary
This study reveals the hidden facts in the oil and gas industry. The paper shows that the
operational process in this industry is very challenging. This is because of the complexity of the
operations which is involved in extracting the oils and sending the extracted oils to the refinery
houses by means of road and rail transport. The operation requires the supports of innovative
tools in order to improve the quality of operation and production of oils & gas. The paper
recommends some solutions to the identified challenges; however, it also describes the
challenges that might come underway while implementing the recommended strategies.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
1. Background of the selected organisation.....................................................................................4
2. Two operational process..............................................................................................................4
3. Literature review on quality management...................................................................................7
4. Quality problems identified in the chosen organisation............................................................10
4.1 Recommended improvements.............................................................................................11
4.2 Expected challenges in implementing the improvements...................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
Customer satisfaction is the key to success to an organisation no matter whether the
organisation is older or new. Unarguably, this is one such factor that differentiates between the
different rival companies and that also narrows down the competition in the market by limiting
the numbers of potential companies. The necessity to satisfy the needs of customers is also
associated with a fact to identify the actual needs of customers. Different companies use different
marketing strategies to identify the needs of customers; however, it can never be predicted that
they have performed an absolute task, which would provide them a clear insight of their target
customers. Many perceptions of the customers can now be understood with the help of different
strategies such as mapping the customer journeys before they buy something. However, it is
extensively difficult to take anything for grant as customer behaviour changes very frequently
(Six Sigma Online Training Certification Information 2017).
Saudi Aramco is one of many such companies that have to satisfy the needs of its clients
and the customers. It operates at the global platform with many products under their belt such as
Natural Gas, Petroleum and few other Petrochemicals. It is one of the most valuable companies
in the world in terms of market capitalisation. The operation is extensively complex. They carry
loads of responsibilities with them in order to satisfy the needs of its clients. It is one of such
companies, which is operating to produce oils and natural gas; however, it is also becoming a
clearer reason behind the rising carbon footprint and the environmental pollution (Saudi Aramco
2017).
The main purpose of this assignment is to analyse the operational values of the selected
company. The paper aims to find some quality management related issues if there is any.

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Moreover, the paper also recommends solution to overcome the identified issues along with the
challenges that might come underway on implementing the suggested improvements.
1. Background of the selected organisation
Saudi Aramco is one of few companies in the world, which is engaged in various oil
related projects such as oil refinery. It came into existence to reduce the shortages of oil during
World War I in the year 1933. After it came to the existence it took four long years to get the
first success. It continues to move gradually since then. However, the real recognition came into
the year 2005 when it became the largest company in the world in terms of market capitalisation.
It is headquartered in Dhahran but it operates at the global platform by means of exploration,
refining, production, chemicals, marketing and distribution. All those activities are in continuous
monitoring of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Mineral & Petroleum Resources. It has deployed
several tankers to ship refined oil, crude oil and gas to the different parts of world. It is a
challenge to company like such to maintain an utmost standard of customer service and to satisfy
the needs of its clients & the customers. Quality management in this regard appears to be a
challenging task to such an operation (Saudi Aramco 2017).
2. Two operational process
The two main operations that the chosen organisation undergoes are as follows:
1. Extraction of oil and gas- The oil and gas used to be at the lower most positions in
between the rocks in an umbrella shape. The oil and gas stays there in the position and
travels to an upward layer of the rock from which it was formed. The Saudi Aramco
Company drills the water in the identified zone and forms a well, so that, the required oils

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and gas travels to the area. The process of drilling is very expensive and is successful in
quite a low occasion too. The crude oil travels to the drilled well and from where it is
collected at the ground level. It requires an investment of millions of pound for the
exploration and extraction. The liquids that are collected in the created well are composed
of water, gas and crude oil. It is important to separate the crude oil and the gas in order to
transport those safely. The entire process requires a detailed analysis of few important
factors such as identifying the porous rocks & making an efficient reservoir rock,
planning a research to identify that which rocks have the highest level of porous in it and
identifying the process of drilling & identifying the hidden oil in the deep beneath of sea
water (Long et al. 2012).
2. Transportation of oil and gas- The process after extracting the oil is also very
complicated and challenging as well. The extracted petroleum and oil needs to send to the
refinery centres in order to refine the separated oils and gas. It can be done in two ways
such as by sending it to the refinery house either through the pile lines or by the transport.
Saudi Aramco has many such transporting vehicles that take the responsibilities to carry
the extracted oils and gas to its refinery centres. Crude oil is often traced in the exterior
region such as in the jungle, deserts and the Arctic. In such circumstances, it is then a
very complicated and challenging task as well to transport the extracted oil and gas to the
refinery house. The oil refinery centres then transforms the crude oil into useful products
or services. The transformed products are then sent to the most parts of world. The
products then can be transported to the different parts of world through various available
means such as rail, road and by boats alongside the canals and the rivers. Saudi Aramco

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has deployed numerous transporting vehicles to conduct the mentioned task (Willersrud
et al. 2013).
Follow are the maps representing the ITO framework for the two operational process of Saudi
Aramco Company:
Figure 1: ITO Framework
(Source: Davies et al. 2014)
Input resources- It includes many such as identifying the zone that has porous rocks,
establishing a plant to form a well and using the different technologies such as upstream &
downstream to drill the sea water (Coday et al. 2014).

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Transforming activities- It includes the transformation of extracted oil and gas into crude oil
and liquefied petroleum gas. The transformation happens after a long process of drilling. The
activity produces some of most precious resources from the water (Kawagucci et al. 2013).
Output products/services- There are various valuable products are obtained. The extracted gas
and oil are then sent to the refinery house either through the pipelines or through the transporting
modes. In the refinery house, some very valuable products are prepared, which are then sent to
the different parts of world (Hyne 2012).
3. Literature review on quality management
According to Jhandir (2012), perceived value is necessary to met by the service
providers. Customers generally perceive something after having a look on something and they
also develop a perception up to a certain level. The author has believed that different firms across
the globe have failed in meeting with the set expectations of the customers, which they have built
up based on their perceived values. This is because of such fact it is necessary for different
companies that they try to match up with the perceptions and the expectations that customers
have from their clients. The author has made this understood that to maintain an utmost quality
in the service it is necessary for the Saudi Aramco to match up the expected demand of the
customers. This could be challenging but they have to do in order to attain the maximum ratings
in the customer satisfaction level.
In the opinion of Abd-El-Salam, Shawky and El-Nahas (2013), service quality is very
much required in order to attain the maximum standard of customer loyalty over the brand. The
authors have provided their opinion on the importance of service quality. They have affirmed
that service quality and customer satisfaction are both directly proportional to each other. It

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further means that customers would be more loyal to the different companies across the globe if
they receive an utmost service quality from their trusted brands. It means that the Saudi Aramco
Company should ensure an utmost customer service standard in their offer products and services.
If they do so they would be able to win the loyal views of numerous customers across the globe.
Zhao et al. (2012) have viewed customer service as an utmost need for the organisation
across the globe. The authors have said that customer service is an asset, which influences the
behaviour of customers on their respective chosen brands. If a brand has highest standard of
customer service then the one would receive a maximum level of recognition from the
customers. This is indeed important because this would enhance the loyalty level in customers
towards the one particular brand. This would also raise the responsibility level towards the
customers on the trusted brands. A brand as such of Saudi Aramco would then need to maintain a
highest level of quality in its products and the services in order to attain a highest level of loyalty
of the customers across the globe. In other words,, this mean that the Saudi Aramco need to
maintain the standard they have set related to their products and the services. This would not
only enhance the loyalty level of customers but it would also enhance the quality in service of
the company.
According to Izogo and Ogba (2015), satisfied customers will be loyal customers. This
further means that these authors have argued that it is a waste to think of a tool to measure the
customer satisfaction level. Customers who are satisfied they will be loyal to the brands and
would go nowhere else to purchase their required products. The authors have indicated here
clearly that the Saudi Aramco Company should look to improve its quality management
standard. It should rather never think of observing the customer satisfaction level. This is
because those who are satisfied customers they will also be loyal to their choice of brands. The

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Saudi Aramco Company needs to concentrate more on improving its quality of service. This
would help the company gets more loyal customers and hence its customers will become loyal to
the company.
In the opinion of Khan (2012), if a firm improves its service quality level the firm will
get more loyal customers. Nevertheless, it is necessary to have a significant number of loyal
customers in order to attain the highest level of success. The brands will be more flexible with
the changing market circumstances that have behind them a large number of loyal customers.
Going the same way as stated by the author, it can be concluded that it is necessary for the Saudi
Aramco that it retains the earned customer base and build up more loyal customers with help
from quality service. This is the one way they will get maximum numbers of loyal customers and
hence will also get a sustained business operation.
According to Auka, Bosire and Matern (2013), there are certain factors that contribute
to the customers in becoming loyal to a particular brand. Those factors are reliability, tangibility,
assurance, responsiveness and empathy. According to the authors these five factors are necessary
to maintain through utmost operational strategy. This will help the companies get a long list of
loyal customers to their credit. On a same note, the Saudi Aramco Company should focus on
maintaining the five sought factors by the authors. The company would be able to maintain its
gained customer base and would also be able to get a new list of customers, which is very
necessary to maintain a healthy business operation for a long span of time.
As opined by Dhar (2015), there should be a committed act from the organisation as this
is very important to get the utmost business success. The author has emphasised on a fact that the
workforce should be efficient enough to be flexible under any sort of unexpected circumstances.

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The market is very volatile and so the demand of customers. This is because of such reason, it is
important to have a workforce that delivers under the any odd situations. On a same note, it is
important that Saudi Aramco should invest a significant amount in training its workforce on
utmost technical skills. This way they would be able to justify their participation with the
company and therefore, they would be able to deliver the perceived performance from them.
In the opinion of Karani and Bichanga (2012), quality in service can be attained if there
is leadership in place taking care of the entire operations. They have emphasised on leadership
quality, which according to them matters a lot because it helps in gain the utmost quality in
service. Leadership quality according to the authors will help in fight even in an unexpected
situation. On a similar note, the Saudi Aramco Company needs to build up the leadership quality
in its every employee. This would help the company prepare a bench of such talents who all can
stand firm strong under any challenge. This will only bring the much required flexibility in the
operation. Moreover, this will help the company in maintaining the utmost quality in service and
will also help in get more such success in the future ahead.
4. Quality problems identified in the chosen organisation
There can also be some quality related challenges in the Saudi Aramco Company. One of
such challenges is the exploration of innovation. This means that the company that invest much
on exploring the different technologies would be more successful in extracting the oils. There
can be situations at times when the Saudi Aramco Company fails to invest much on the exploring
the possible innovation. This would be a very dreadful situation for the company as it will
unintentionally provide other the opportunities. Nevertheless, it is very important to use
innovative thoughts and tools to perform better in extracting the oils (Crespi and Zuniga 2012).

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Needs of skilled engineers is the other quality related issue that can hamper the
reputation of the Saudi Aramco Company. It is necessary to check whether pipe lines are in
proper condition or else it may become responsible for an unexpected accident. It is therefore
very important that the company must have such skilled and dedicated engineers who are in
continuous checkups of the pipeline. A regular check-up will ensure identifying the flaws if there
is any. Moreover, this will facilitate a timely repairing of the damage if it is done (King 2014).
Need of skilled drivers is also required to maintain a quality performance in the Saudi
Aramco Company. This is because they transport the extracted oils and gas through road
vehicles as well. A proper driving in this regard will be highly required in order to maintain a
safe environment. Nevertheless, a reckless drive with such products in vehicle would result in a
huge fire that might even hamper a large area and the population (Klauer et al. 2014).
4.1 Recommended improvements
Based on the expected quality related challenges, which have been mentioned in the above
section following recommendations can be made to the Saudi Aramco Company:
 Encouraging the leadership quality in the leaders, so that, they invest huge amounts in
purchasing the tools that are latest and highly useful in bringing difference to the service
quality. Companies face this challenging to identify the exact locations where porous
rocks are available. This also incurs them huge. In this regard, the use of innovative tools
will result in better research and hence in larger extraction of oils.
 Training the engineers on the safety parameters for proper handling of pipelines is
the other recommendation, which would prevent any unexpected accident. The training
needs to be done under the guidance of a certified program as this would help in
inhibiting the required element for becoming an expert operator of pipelines.