Abdolkarim Pahlavani told a company event attended by managers and
assessors from across the sector that the evaluation phase forms the “backbone”
of the excellence award and must remain free of personal or financial bias.
Pahlavani said work on developing the national petrochemical
excellence model began in 2008 and led to its formal launch in 2010. He noted
that while the United States, Japan and Europe established similar awards
decades earlier, Iran’s scheme was designed to support both technical
development and human-capital growth in the domestic industry.
He said the award was created to strengthen leadership capabilities,
build organisational infrastructure and develop managerial skills. Protecting
its credibility, he added, requires adherence to the original intent of its
founders and strict professional standards.
Pahlavani called for a revision of the award’s policy council to
include representatives from major contractors and commercial partners, arguing
that contractors are integral to the sector’s expansion and should have a role
in shaping the award’s future direction.
He said average organisational maturity scores have risen from 287 out
of 1,000 in 2010 to 399 in 2024 – an increase of roughly 40% – but warned that
progress has slowed in recent years. He said a detailed review of shortcomings
is needed to reinvigorate improvement efforts.
Pahlavani added that chief executives must actively support excellence
initiatives for meaningful organisational change to occur, noting that
training, evaluation and continuous improvement were central to the award’s
original design.