Purchasing commissioning services for international plant construction: An analysis of future challenges

In a fast changing business environment it is essential for companies to adapt to changes and react to upcoming challenges. Therefore it is of high significance for decision-makers to be constantly up-to-date with future challenges. This research study focuses on an important, but often neglected part of product-oriented services - commissioning services. Especially in the investment-intensive sector of plant construction this kind of services greatly effects customer satisfaction as well as the profitability of international solution business. In order to address the research gap, this paper elaborates the future challenges of commissioning services in international plant construction projects. A qualitative study with ten representative expert interviews was conducted and supported by an in-depth literature research. The interviewees are chosen from different departments and hierarchical levels to ensure a holistic view over the relevant topic. This paper presents a comprehensible, coherent and up-to-date list of challenges, which are summarized by the three following categories - `Personnel Resource Base´, `Organizational Structure´ and `Mixed Teams´. These findings are restricted by the limited number of interviews and the corporation to one multinational operating company. These genuinely investigated results constitute a list of future challenges providing a foundation for further research studies as well as managerial actions. Thus it represents a relevant starting point for adequate changes in the organization of commissioning services.