Engineering Management

Chapter 1
THE FIELD OF ENGINEERING
MANAGEMENT
• Engineers are expected to perform a variety of tasks depending on
their specialization and job level. The next concern will be to
identify the skills required which the engineer did not possess. As
engineers, they are not directly trained to deal with people, it is
expected that their weakness will most often be on people-based
skills. This difficulty will be more apparent once they are assigned to
occupy management positions. It follows that if the engineer
manager would want to do his job well, some exposure to
engineering management activities will be necessary.
 THE FUNCTIONS OF THE ENGINEER
• Even as engineers are currently producing solutions to many of the
difficulties faced by mankind, much is still expected of them. Their
outputs, new or improvements of old ones are very much needed in the
following specific problem concerns:
1.the production of more food for a fast growing world population;
2. the elimination of air and water pollution
3. solid waste disposal and materials recycling;
4. the reduction of noise in various forms;
5. supplying the increasing demand for energy;
6. supplying the increasing demand for mobility;
7. preventing and solving crimes; and
8. meeting the increasing demand for communication facilities.
 THE FUNCTIONS OF THE ENGINEER
Specifically, the functions of engineering encompass the following areas:
1. Research – where the engineer is engaged in the process of learning about nature and codifying this
knowledge into usable theories.
2. Design and development – where the engineer undertakes the activity of turning a product concept to
a finished physical items.
Design for manufacturability and value engineering teams (a feature of some companies) are
charged with improvement of designs and specifications at the research, development, design, and
production stages of product development.
3. Testing – where the engineer works in a unit where new products or parts are tested for workability.
4. Manufacturing – where the engineer is directly in charge of production personnel or assumes
responsibility for the product.
5. Construction – this is where the construction engineer (civil engineer usually) is directly in charge of the
construction personnel or may have responsibility for the quality of the construction process.
6. Sales - where the engineer assists the company’s customers to meet their needs, especially those that
require technical expertise.
7. Consulting – where the engineer works as consultant of any individual or organization requiring his
services.
8. Government – where the engineer may find employment in the government performing any of the
various tasks in regulating, monitoring, and controlling the activities of various institutions, public or private.
9. Teaching – where the engineer gets employment in a school and is assigned as a teacher of engineering
courses. Some of them become deans, vice presidents, and presidents.
10. Management – where the engineer is assigned to mange groups of people performing specific tasks
THE ENGINEER IN VARIOUS TYPES OF
ORGANIZATION
From the viewpoint of the engineer, organizations may be classified according to the
degree of engineering jobs performed:
1. Level One – those with minimal engineering jobs like retailing firms.
2. Level Two – those with a moderate degree of engineering jobs like transportation
companies
3. Level Three – those with a high degree of engineering jobs like construction firms.
Management Skills Required at Various
Levels
• Among the types of organizations, the engineer will have a slim
chance of becoming the general manager or president of level one,
unless of course, he owns the firm. The engineer manger may be
assigned to head a small engineering unit of the firm, but there will
not be too many firms which will have this unit.
• In level two firms, the engineer may be assigned to head the
engineering division. The need for management skills will now be
felt by the engineer manager.
• Level three firms provide the biggest opportunity for an engineer
to become the president or general manager. In this case, the
engineer manager cannot function effectively without adequate
management skills
ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT DEFINED
• Engineering management refers to the activity combining “technical
knowledge with the ability to organize and coordinate worker
power, materials, machinery, and money.” When the engineer is
assigned to supervise the work of even a few people, he is already
engaged in the first phase of engineering management. His main
responsibility is to lead his group into producing a certain output
consistent with the required specifications. The top position an
engineer manager may hope to occupy is the general managership
or presidency of any firm, large or small. As he scales the
management ladder, he finds that the higher he goes up, the less
technical activities he performs, and the more management tasks he
accepts. In this case, it is but proper that the management functions
taught in pure management courses be well understood by the
engineer manager.
Pure Engineering Job (without Engineer Manager as a Low Level
management responsibilities) Executive (Supervisor)
Engineer Manager as a Middle Level
Engineer Manager as Top Executive
Executive
Engineer Manager
MANAGEMENT DEFINED
• Management may be defined as the “creative problem
solving process of planning, organizing, leading, and
controlling an organization’s resources to achieve its
mission and objectives.”
THE PROCESS OF MANAGEMENT
• Management is a process consisting of planning, organizing,
directing (or leading), and controlling.
• Management must seek to find out the objectives of the
organization, think of ways how to achieve them, decide on the ways
to be adapted and the material resources to be used, determine the
human requirements of the total job, assign specific tasks to specific
persons, motivate them, and provide means to make sure that the
activities are in the right direction.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ENGINEER
MANAGERS JOB
• Depending on the type of products or services a firm produces, the
engineer manager must have the following qualifications:
1. a bachelor’s degree in engineering from a reputable school;
In some cases a master’s degree in engineering or business
management is required;
2. a few years experience in pure engineering job;
3. training in supervision;
4. special training in engineering management
HOW ONE MAY BECOME A SUCCESSFUL
ENGINEER MANAGER
Successful engineer managers do not happen as a matter of chance,
although luck is contributory factor. It is very important for the
engineer manager to know the various factors leading to successful
management.
Kreitner indicates at least three general preconditions for achieving
lasting success as a manager:
1. ability
2. motivation to manage, and
3. opportunity
Ability
• Managerial ability refers to the capacity of an engineer
manager to achieve organizational objectives effectively
and efficiently. Effectiveness, according to Higgins,
refers to a description of “whether objectives are
accomplished”, while efficiency is a description of the
relative amount of resources used in obtaining
effectiveness.”
Motivation to manage
• Many people have the desire to work and finish specific tasks assigned by
superiors, but not many are motivated to manage other people so that they
may contribute to the realization of the organization’s objectives. John B.
Miner, developed a psychometric instrument to measure objectively an
individual’s motivation to manage. The test is anchored to the following
dimensions:
1. Favourable attitude toward those in positions of authority, such as
superiors;
2. Desire to engage in games or sports competition with peers.
3. Desire to engage in occupational or work-related competition with peers.
4. Desire to assert oneself and take charge.
5. Desire to exercise power and authority over others.
6. Desire to behave in a distinctive way, which includes standing out from
the crowd.
7. Sense of responsibility in carrying out the routine duties associated with
managerial work
Opportunity
• Successful managers become possible only if those
having the ability and motivation are given the
opportunity to manage. The opportunity for successful
management has two requirements namely:
1. obtaining a suitable managerial job, and
2. finding a supportive climate once on the job