Maintenance performance measurement perception in the oil and gas industry

Abstract

In the past two decades, business and maintenance performance measurement have received a great amount of attention from researchers and practitioners. This interest has lead to a performance measurement revolution with the introduction of balanced and integrated performance measurement systems replacing the traditional systems, which were based on cost accounting. It is know recognized that balanced and integrated measurement systems constitute a significant competitive advantage. An extensive literature review reveals two areas of interest in the field of maintenance performance. - While it is of crucial importance to constantly follow the evolution of the organisational context, there are few studies on the current perception of maintenance managers in the Oil & Gas industry - While the involvement of every employee is a clear requirement to achieve an effective performance management, few researchers have studied the perception on the performance measurement at different hierarchical levels. This thesis presents a study on the perception and the use of performance measurement in an Oil and Gas maintenance organisation. A survey was conducted within a major Oil & Gas company, which involved their entire maintenance department. The project suggests that maintenance managers have recognized the recent evolution in performance measurement and are thinking beyond the traditional measurement of maintenance performance in line with the recent changes in the context of O&G. Additionally, the project highlights the fact that the perceived usefulness and importance of the measurement differ across the hierarchy: this misalignment between the hierarchical levels may prevent the organization from successfully achieving its strategy and should encourage top management to endeavour to communicate more effectively. These results are of interest for researchers, managers and performance accountants in the maintenance area.