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Engineering Management

Chapter 3 - Organizing Lecture 1, 2 &3


Spring 2015

Go Green! Please think before


printing these lecture slides.

Text Book

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students to buy text book.)
Title: Engineering Management in the New Millennium
Author: Dr. C. M. Chang
Edition: 2005
Publisher: Pearson Prentice Hall

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3-Mar-15

Chapter 3

Organizing

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Organizing is another important function of engineering management.


Organizing means arranging and relating work so that it can be done
efficiently by the appropriate people (Galbraith 2002). Corporate efficiency
is usually achieved by a proper partition and distribution of work, as well
as by a suitable arrangement of the interrelated groups of people
participating in the work that is subject to time constraints, resource
limitations, and business priority (O'Reilly and Pfeffer 2000). Managers are
empowered to design the organizational structure-the team, group,
department, etc.-and to define the working relationships conducive for
attaining the company's objectives.

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3-Mar-15

Engineering Management Functions

Organizing
Planning

Leading
Controlling
5

Engineering Management Functions

Planning (forecasting, setting objectives, action planning,


administering policies, establishing procedures)
Organizing (organizing workplace, selecting structure, delegating,
establishing working relationship)
Leading (deciding, communicating, motivating,
selecting/developing people)

Controlling (setting performance standards,


evaluating/documenting/correcting performance)

Chapter 3 Organizing - Contents


Introduction

Activities of organizing:
(1) workplace,
(2) structure,
(3) delegate work, and
(4) establish working relationship

Examples of organizing for performance


Informal organizations

Cross-functional teams
Conclusions
7

Organizing

Arrange and relate the work, so that it can be done efficiently


by people - Specifically:

Ensure that important work is done,


Provide continuity
Form basis for salary administration
Aid delegation
Promote growth and diversification
Encourage teamwork, and
Stimulate creativity

Definitions

Organization Type - Line versus Staff


Authority - Power to command, act or make decisions (Legal,
position-based)

Responsibility - Duty to perform work efficiently and in


professional manner
Accountability - Upwards directed obligation for securing the
desired results

Line Versus Staff

Business/Product
Management

Engineering

R&D

Production

Safety &
Environment
Procurement

10

Marketing

Legal

Public Relations

Service
Distribution

Customers

Accounting
Human Resources

Definitions (contd)

Span of control - Number of people supervised by a manager


(e.g., 7 to 20)
Specialization - Increased degree of skills concentration in
narrow technical domains

11

The Function of Organizing

12

Organizing Own Workplace

Set priority of daily work (attend meetings, make phone calls,


write emails, block out time to do creative work, discourage
disruptions, keep conversations short, maintain to-do lists,
prioritize tasks, etc.)
Create a file system for efficient retrieval
Develop ones own system for names and contact information

13

Develop Organizational Structures

Identify and group work so that it can be done efficiently by


people
Choices:

(1) functional,
(2) discipline,

(3) product/regional,
(4) matrix,
(5) team,

(6) network

14

Functional Organization

Technical Director

Mechanical Design

Electrical Design

System Engineering

15

Quality Control

Production Engineering

Functional Organizations (Pros and Cons)


Permits hierarchy of
skills
Facilitates
specialization

16

Encourages excessive
centralization
Delays decision making

Simplifies
coordination

Compounds
communication line
loss

Permits use of
current technologies
and equipment

Limits personal growth

Restricts development
of managerial skills

Functional Organizations (When to Use)

Organizations with high relative stability of work flow and


limited product diversity - certain manufacturing operations,
process industries

Startup companies
Organizations with narrow product ranges, simple marketing
pattern and few production sites

17

Discipline-Based Organization

Engineering Dean

Mechanical Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Chemical Engineering

18

Industrial Engineering

Civil Engineering

Discipline Organizations

Favored by universities, governmental laboratories and other


R&D organizations
Promote innovative pursuits in individual disciplines, allowing
employees to drill down to deeper knowledge levels without
requiring much coordination with others.

19

Product Organization

Technical Director

Governmental Products

University Products

Consumer Products

20

Custom Products

Industrial Products

Regional Organization

President

North America

Latin America

21

Europe

Asia

Africa

Product/Regional Organization (Pros and Cons)


Focuses on end
products or
geographical regions

High costs due to


layers, autonomy or
duplicated facilities

Facilitates coordination

Requires management
talents

Encourages
management
development
Provides for
decentralization
Promotes growth

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Technical obsolescence
of specialists
Changes take time to
effect

Matrix Organization
Functional Control

Project A

Project-based
Control

Project B

Project C

Engineering

Production

Logistics

Design

Matrix Organization (Pros and Cons)


Project manager focus
on schedule and cost,
functional managers
on quality/expertise
Work load balance

Excellent for
individuals (to achieve
exposure and
interactions)

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Dual reporting
Severe conflicts among
managers
Delicate balance of
power (people versus
money/time)
Communications
problems

Matrix Organization (Bases for Conflicts)


Project Managers: Money
under control, mandate to
authorize work with top
management support
Rights to buy services
elsewhere

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Functional Manager:
Manpower, skills knowledge,
facilities
Own funds to support people

Team Organization

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Functional Control
Team Leader

Member A

Member B

Member C

Member D
Engineering

Production

Logistics

Design

Team Organization
Team members on loan from functional organizations to eliminate
organizational conflicts

Team Leader in full control


Short term high-priority tasks/projects

Examples: Product team, special task force


Purposes:
(1) create recommendation,
(2) make or do things, and
(3) run things

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Network Organization
Global business alliances/partnerships to manufacture, market,
deliver and service products (supply chains)

Change alliance members from time to time


Diversified alliance members (e.g., company allegiance, culture, value
system, business practices, geography, attitude, motivation,
information sharing and collaboration, etc.)

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Question # 3.1

Question # 3.1 Which type of organizational structure is best suited for


developing a new product which requires a high level of specialization in
several functions and the time to market represents a critical factor?
Answer # 3.1 Forming a concurrent development team is most suitable for
this assignment. The steps to take are:
(1) Name experienced staff of major functions (e.g., marketing and sales,
design engineering, product development, customer service, and production)
as members,
(2) Set objectives,
(3) Define time and budget constraints, and
(4) Declare a top priority for all supports the team might need.

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Question # 3.2

Question # 3.2 A materials manager suspects that the quality of work being done within his
department was steadily deteriorating. He wanted to introduce a program of change to improve
quality. What steps should he take?
Answer # 3.2 He should take the following steps:
(1) Benchmark externally to define the current level of in-house quality performance and
pertinent metrics to assess quality performance,

(2) Set up a quality improvement team (quality cycle), comprising of representatives of the
workers, who have hands-on
experience and skills in handling different materials, with no
participation of management people,
(3) Define team objectives,
(4) Specify time and resources constraints,
(5) Hire an external consultants to offer ideas of best practices in materials handling, only if the
team makes little progress over a reasonable period of time,

(6) Support the team recommendations and make resources available for its implementation,
(7) Recognize and reward the team achievements,
(8) Monitor quality performance regularly thereafter.
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Examples of Performance Enhancement by Organizing


(1) Keep Structure flexible
(2) Promoting Innovation
(3) Design-Manufacturing Interface
(4) Heightened Employee Motivation

(5) High-tech Marketing Interface

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(1) High Performance Enhanced by Flexible Structure


Starbucks - Encourages new ideas from all, fast corporate decision making, special
marketing teams, reward systems - Coffee ice cream, Frappuccino, Store of Future,
Lunch Service Concept,
First USA - Quick formation of teams to pursue new opportunities, new credit card
products many times more than competitors
Dell Computer - Give P&L responsibilities to more people running smaller business
units.

3M - 15% of time for creative work of own choice, supported by extra grant money,
Group is to derive 30% of income from inventions made in the last 4 years.

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(1) High Performance Enhanced by Flexible Structure


COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE (CAGR) - 1994 to 1998
Name

CAGR (%)

Average Growth Rate of Next Three


Largest Competitors in Industry (%)

Trilogy

75

49

First USA

60

21

Dell Computer

51

39

Starbucks

46

23

Home Depot

25

17

Source: Nora A. Aufreiter, Teril Lawyer and Candance D. Lun,


"A New Way to Market," The McKinsey Quarterly, New York (2000).

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33

3-Mar-15

(2) Organizing For Innovation


Key Trade-off: Talents versus control

Vertically Integrated Structures: Systemic Innovations (requiring close coordination and


information sharing)
Virtual Flexible Structures: Autonomous innovations (independent inventors with
breakthrough ideas without coordination).

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(3) Design-Manufacturing Interface


Difficulty created by a lack of coordination

Design is thrown over the wall and check on producibility may require
undoing design
Methods to eliminate silo effect:
(1) manufacturing sign-off,
(2) integrator,

(3) cross-functional team,


(4) combine both functions into one department

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(4) Heightened Employee Motivation

AES Corporation - Runs 90 plants in 14 countries as contract generator using regional


and local teams (5- 20 people each)
Local teams for power plant operation and maintenance. Members own the work they
do and are extraordinarily motivated
Employee mobility is encouraged after skills are verified by company exams

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(4) AES Corporation


AES Corporation Total Revenue
3000

Millions

2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1990

1991

1992

1993

1994
Year

37

1995

1996

1997

1998

(5) High-Tech Marketing Interface


High-Tech:
(1) products/services with scientific-technical bases,
(2) products become obsolete quickly by new technology

(3) products create new markets, if built on emerging technologies.


Examples: semiconductors, microcomputers, robotics.
Strategy of marketing: market-driven versus innovation-driven

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(5) High-Tech Marketing Interface (Contd)

Market-Driven: Products fit to customers needs, but may cause potential


delay of innovations, giving preemptive advantages to competitors
Technology-Driven: New innovations may not be needed by customers,
producing no value to company

Teams with members from both camps

39

Traditional Product Development Sequence


Marketing - conducts research to identify
customers needs and defines product
features (functionality, reliability, ease of
repair, resale value, warranty, price, etc.)
Design Engineering - develops
specifications, performs functional design,
selects material, obtains vendor/supplier
inputs, and conducts engineering analysis
to create product features

40

Traditional Product Development Sequence (Contd)


Production Engineering - reviews
and simplifies the product design
for manufactureability and
reliability considerations.
Service organization - changes the
design some more for serviceability.
Production - finally develops
manufacturing techniques and
makes the product.

41

Cross-Functional Product Development Team


Representatives of all functional groups are participating,
in addition to procurement, financial, vendors/suppliers
and customers
Issues related to product design/development are
considered early on and concurrently
Create an optimum product in shortest time, at lowest
cost, while satisfying constraints and meeting customers
needs

42

Benefits of Cross-Functional Teams


Reduction of product development time: 30% to 70%
Reduction of number of engineering changes: 65% to
90%
Reduction of time to market: 20% to 90%

Improvement in product quality: 200% to 600%

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Successful Examples of Concurrent Teams


Mercury Computers, Lowell, MASS - Reduced time to market
from 125 days to 90 days for its add-on boards of VNE bus
Hewlett Packard, Palo Alto, CA - Reduced the time to market
by 2/3 for its 54600 Oscilloscope

Toyota Motors, Tokyo, Japan - Reduced product cost by 61%


Medical Electronic Instruments Reduced the time to market
from eight months to one.

44

Cross-Functional Teams (Contd)

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Team Discipline

For achieving blow-the-roof-off performance, teams must have


discipline:
(1) common purpose,
(2) specific goals of performance,

(3) complementary skills,


(4) commitment to how the work gets done (each pulling the same
weight),
(5) mutual accountability - commitment and mutual trust, being
accountable to each other - being in the boat together

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Team Learning

Team must learn quickly all needed skills (process of working


together, use of design tools, communications)
Factors affecting team learning speed:

(1) composition (a mix of expertise)

(2) culture of risk taking allowing experimentation


(3) people-oriented leadership Style

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Team Effectiveness

Team Goals are clear, of high impact, measurable and with top
management support
Members are results-oriented, efficient, having complementary
skills and experience, high energy level, positive attitude to
collaborate, each supported by staff with specific expertise
Work Environment is excellent (easy to use communications
tools, opportunity for self-expression, pleasant work
atmosphere, etc.)

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Roles of Team Members

Team Leader - Keeps team moving forward

Conceptual Thinker - Sources of original ideas, with


imagination and vision
Harmonizers - Assuring team harmony, foster
collaboration, resolving conflicts
Technicians - Specialists with expertise

Planners/implementers - Bring methods to tasks of team,


autocrats with inflexibility
Facilitators - Offering help and support, being adaptable

49

Role of Team Members (contd)


Critical Observers - Making sure the team is on target
Radicals - Not accepting conventional thinking and
solutions, offering new approaches to problem-solving
Power Seekers - Wanting to be right all the time, shaping
the teams view
Diplomats - Coordinating inter-team relationship, getting
information for the team

50

Check Team Player Mentality

Do you compliment your co-workers when you observe them doing a good
job?
Are you enthusiastic about helping your teammates in any way you can?
Do you always to do your job thoroughly and completely?
Do you take advantage of every opportunity to support the team effort?
Do you have a professional respect for everyone on your team?
Can you follow through and support policies and rules with which you
personally disagree?
Do you attempt to avoid undermining those around you for personal gains?

51

Check Team Player Mentality

Are you enthusiastic about your company and the direction in which it is
headed?
Do you show appreciation for the efforts of others and acknowledge their
contributions to the big picture?

Do you seek new relationships and acquaintances through the company?


Do you take responsibility for your mistakes and easily admit when you are
wrong?
Does your attitude have a positive effect on those around you?
Are you personally dedicated to making the company the best in the
industry?

52

Team Stages

Formation Stage - Members get together to have roles and


responsibilities defined
Gelling Stage - Members of like minds will form subgroups and
stay close together
Unison Stage - All team members are getting highly organized
with a common goal

53

Question # 3.5

Question # 3.5 The company has been making most of its sales to a few large customers.
The company president wishes to broaden its customer base. To do so may require a change
of company culture, its product line strategy, its marketing/sales program, and its service
organization. How should he go about making the required changes?
Answer # 3.5 The company president should take the following steps:

(1) Authorize market research to verify the existence of an enlarged customer base for the
company's products.
(2) Conduct an external benchmarking program to validate the company's marketing
practice being compatible to the best in industry.
(3) Communicate the results to all employees via a town meeting, electronic bulletin board,
company newsletter or other such means.
(4) Form a high-level team, which contains representative of all major functional groups
(e.g., marketing, design engineering, product development, production, finance, and
service) to develop a strategy for broadening the customer base (e.g., segment size,
growth rate, new product features, competition, marketing/sales program, service
organization to ensure customer satisfaction, etc.)
54

Question # 3.5
(5) Form a New Products division, whose primary objectives are to produce, Market, sell
and service the enlarged target customer base.
(6) Authorize resources and delegate the responsibility and authority of program
implementation to the New Products division.
(7) Review results regularly to monitor progress.

55

Question # 3.7
Question # 3.7 As the companys sales are coming down unexpectedly, the president asks you to
chair a task force with the objectives of developing solutions to correct the situation. Who do you
want to be on this task force? How should this problem be resolved?
Answer # 3.7
(1) The preferred members on this presidential task force should be marketing/sales, design
engineering, product development, production, finance, logistics, and service. The specific
representatives from these functional groups must be experienced, recognized leaders in their
domains of expertise, known for their innovative and creative insights, and are relatively easy to
work with.
(2) The task force should first get organized. Available data are then to e reviewed. The groups
should brainstorm possible causes for the declining sales:
a. Was the product price too high in comparison to competition due to high product cost?

b. Were our sales people ineffective due to poor training, low morale, meager compensation,
and/or inadequate equipment/facilities?

c. Was our advertisement budget too low, leading to low product exposures and brand name
recognition?

d. Was there a decrease of product demand due to new substitution products recently coming
into the market from overseas?
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Question # 3.7

e. Were our customers dissatisfied with the services (e.g., problem-solving, pare parts,
order processing, etc.)?
f. Others.

(3) Assign task force members to collect/acquire applicable data for verifying any identified
causes responsible for the sales decline.
(4) Once the real causes for sales decline are identified, add additional experts to the task
force to help defining solutions. Develop a list of options available to eliminate all causes of
the problem.

(5) Rank order the options, document the decision criteria and report back to the company
president.
(6) Reorganize the task force to include experts on project implementation. Implement the
project plan as approved.

57

Delegating

Objective - To improve managers overall efficiency by selectively


distributing work for employees to do
Process - Managers delegate the responsibility and needed authority of
doing specific work to employees and create upward accountability in them
for securing the anticipated results

58

Why Delegating

Improve quality and quantity of work done

Allow manager to do managers job


Become knowledgeable of employees capabilities

Distribute work load efficiently/equitably


Develop leadership capabilities in people
Improve operating decisions - reducing cost

59

Why Delegating
Facilitate teamwork, making job more satisfying to employees

Create opportunities for employees to gain recognition, encouragement and


incentives
Allow employees to develop new skills and knowledge, fostering initiative
and competence, and gaining self-confidence
Encourage employee growth/development

60

Delegation Matrix

1: Employee
Can

2: Neither; if must,
then to be done
by engineering
manager

3: Employee

Employee

Cannot

4: Engineering
manager
Cannot

Can

Engineering Manager

61

What to Delegate
Problems/Issue requiring exploration, study and recommendation for
decision making
Activities coming within the job scope and capabilities of employee
Tasks fitting companys needs and promoting employee development
and growth

Activities, if done right, would save managers time

62

What Not to Delegate

Planning (to define the right things to do)

Resolve morale problems, differences and conflicts in groups/units


Coaching and developing employees

Review, evaluate and correct performance


Own assignments from big bosses
Others (own pet projects, tasks absent of talents)

63

How to Delegate

Communicate the importance of task, set goals and performance


indicators, check on understanding/confidence
Delegate responsibility for quality of work
Allow operational decision making (resources, method, sequence of tasks,
etc.)
Trust the employee and give recognition

Retain own upward accountability

64

Barriers to Delegation
Own technological obsolescence - Employee may learn and grow technically

Organizational barriers - unclear roles and responsibilities, line and staff


positions

65

Notes on Delegation
Delegation is limited by control in effect - no control, no
delegation
Authority must be commensurate with responsibility (related
to work delegated)
Accountability - Achieving the expected results by
discharging responsibility and using authority delegated
Willingness and ability of employee are keys

66

Question # 3.9

Question # 3.9 Steve Lee, the Engineering Manager, delegates tasks as a good manager
should. However, Mark Hayes, the Engineering Director, has the bad habit of calling up
Steve unexpectedly to get detailed reports on various on-going activities in Steves
department. Steve does not want to hold daily staff meetings in order to satisfy Marks
information needs, because Steve is quite certain that requiring his professional staff to make
daily reports will definitely upset them, as all of them are known to prefer independence.
What should Steve do?
Answer # 3.9
(1) Since the Director's need of knowing details may be created by the need of his boss, the
VP. It is not a good idea for Steve to question Mark's wisdom of asking so many detailed
questions. Read all progress reports, make notes at staff meeting, and tabulate the major
milestones and results of all projects. Have this table on the desk, so that some details can
be extracted from it, when the Director calls.
(2) If Steve cannot answer specific questions, offer to call in the professional staff involved
and have a verbal report made in Steve's presence. Make notes on additional details so
reported.
67

Question # 3.9
(3) Resist an increase in review frequency, as Steve should protect his staff from diverting
too much time to communications.

68

Establishing Working Relationships

Purpose - To create an environment in which people can work together


efficiently
Steps:
(1) clarify roles and
(2) resolve conflicts

69

Types of Roles
Line Roles (Profit Centers) - (1) Exclusive rights to offer product/service
to customers (e.g., production, product design, business management,
marketing), (2) Accountable for generating profits (pricing, cost)
Support Roles (Cost Centers) - (1) Rights to recommend/advise (e.g.,
legal, R&D, accounting, etc), (2) Accountable for offering active support
(cost efficiency, work method, evaluation)

70

Notation: 1 - General Management responsibility, 2 Specialized responsibility,


3 -Must be consulted,
4 -May be consulted,
5- Must be notified,
6 - Must approve
Tasks
Prepare Bill of Materials
Visit Vendors

3
2
2

2
2
4

6
5
6

5
3
3

4
6

4
2

Prepare Purchase Orders

Authorize Expenditures
Inspect Raw Materials
Quality Control Testing
Update Inventory Files
Withdraw Materials

Project Manager

4
5

2
2
2

Team Member Division Manager

Project Office

Department Manager

Type of Conflicts

Technical (e.g., design, analysis, results interpretation)

Operational (how to do tasks, who is responsible?)


Emotional (ego involvement, hurt feelings)

Political (who should have a say on what? whos turf it is?)

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How to Resolve Conflicts


Dominance (Dictation of solution)
Compromise (Bargain - reflect relative power)
Collaboration (Find win/win solution by finding ways for
both parties to achieve objectives)

Key Requirements: Openness, mutual respect, common


interest to see project success

73

Informal Organizations
Useful in add additional bonding between employees (smooth
operation, employee satisfaction)
Social (Shared values and beliefs -golf club, bowling clubs, credit
union)

Status (Based on skills, abilities, experience, special


accomplishments, peer recognition)
Group (Coalitions to advance specific interests)
Location (Flow of vital information - Executive secretary)

74

Conclusions

Organizing is a key managerial function, which impacts on the managers


capability of getting work done efficiently:
(1) Get oneself organized,
(2) Choose the right organizational settings,

(3) Assign compatible people (personality, value, attitude) to work


together,
(4) Allocate the right resources (skills, money, equipment, time,
technology).

75

Question # 3.3

Question # 3.3 The company has recently concluded a multimillion dollar


contract to supply products to a third-world country. The first elite group
of engineers from that country has just completed a two-month training
course on maintenance and operations. The training manager reported that
the level of skill and knowledge of that country was so low that no amount
of training would ever enable them to properly operate and maintain the
products in questions.
It might be better for that country to buy a less
sophisticated product from the companys competitor. the training manager
suggests. What should the company do?
Answer # 3.3 The preemptive introduction of the first batch of sophisticated
products to a technologically poor country represents a major competitive
advantage for the company in that marketplace. Only fools will want to
give up that accomplished marketing entry and associated expansion
opportunity in the future and hand it over to the competition.
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Question # 3.3 (Continued)

Do not make the same mistake as the training manager, who is severely
suffering from a chronic lack of perspective. The company should do the
following:
(1)Reject the suggestion of the training manager and continue to honor the
sales contact.
(2) Conduct a comprehensive survey of trainees to find out their comments
about the training program (e.g., language, technical terms, speed of
delivery, lack of hands-on practices, trainers not proficient in training,
arrogant attitude toward third-world engineers, etc.) and solicit their
recommendations to improve)
(3) Work with trainees to improve the training programs (e.g., adding
remedial topics for trainees to catch up on selected background materials,
use of electronic equipment not widely available back home, plant tours to
observe real-life operation and maintenance procedures, etc.)
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Question # 3.3 (Continued)

(4) Send experienced maintenance and operational personnel to visit the


trainees for a period of time to provide additional on-site guidance.
(5) Set up a call center to continue support the trainees.

78

Question # 3.4

Question # 3.4 Six months ago, the company hired an engineer for his
expertise in hydraulic drives, based on a product development plan with a
forecast for needing this expertise. Market conditions have suddenly changed
in favor of sophisticated electric drives. The engineer involved turns out to
be very good in his area of specialization. But it is difficult to retrain him for
other assignments in the company. Should the company discharge this
engineer?
Answer # 3.4 Change in business conditions is a valid reason for force
reduction. Yes, the engineer should be discharged with severance pay. The
company may want to retain the service of an outplacement consulting firm
to assist the engineer in finding a new job. Furthermore, the company may
offer a very positive reference letter to support the engineer in his search for
new jobs.
79

Question # 3.6
Question # 3.6 The company is considering a plan to upgrade its current
product line. The cost of product upgrade is high. There is a small company
which has developed the technology required for this product upgrade. What
strategy should the company follow, if it wants to continue selling into its
current market with the new upgraded product?
Question # 3.6 Acquire the small company to shorten the time to market,
thus more readily to preserve its marketing position in the marketplace.
Integrate its technology into the company, modify production line to
accommodate the upgrade, and utilize the current marketing, sales and
service staff to manage customer relations. In this way, the company can
take advantage of its established brand name and expand the current
customer base.

80

Question # 3.8

Question # 3.8 A loyal and high volume customer has warned the companys Marketing
department that Project X is extremely critical to their need and that if this project is late,
they may be forced to buy elsewhere. The project manager knows that the best estimates
available to date from various in-house groups indicate that at the current rate of progress
the Project X will be late by about 6 months. What should the project manager do?

Answer # 3.8 Meeting customer's requirements must always be the primary goal of every
company, even it may mean a loss of profitability sometimes. Re-organize the project to
utilize external resources (e.g., drafting, model making, testing, design of specific parts,
quality control, etc.) for supplementing in-house capabilities in order to shorten the time to
market. Estimate the additional costs involved and get an authorization. Assure Marketing
that Project X will be delivered on time.
Understand the real causes of project delays (e.g., poor initial estimates, poor execution,
special unanticipated events, delivery problems of vendor-supplied parts, short of skilled
staff due to resignation, etc.), develop the pertinent contingency measures, and document
these findings for future use.

81

Chapter 2 Planning

Assignment Questions (Due 12 March)


Study Example 3.1 to 3.4 given in the book alongwith
suggested answers to some of the assignment questions
included in these slides and develop your own independent
answers/solutions to Question 3.1 to 3.12. Question 3.12 is
mandatory.

Assignment Questions (Due 12 March 2015)


3.1 What type of organizational structure is best suited for developing a new product that requires a
high level of specialization in several functions and for which the time to market represents a critical
factor?
3.2 A materials manager suspects that the quality of work within her department has been
deteriorating. She wants to introduce a program of change to advance quality. What steps should she
take?
3.3 The company has recently concluded a multimillion-dollar contract to supply products to a thirdworld country. The first elite group of engineers from that country has just completed a two-month
training course on maintenance and operations. The company's training manager reports that the level
of skill and knowledge of that country's engineers was so low that no amount of training would ever
enable them to properly operate and maintain the products in question. "It might be better for that
country to buy a less sophisticated product from our competitor," the training manager suggests. What
should the company do?
3.4 Six months ago, the company hired an engineer for his expertise in hydraulic drives. The decision
to hire him was based on a product development plan that projected a need for such expertise. Market
conditions have suddenly changed in favor of more sophisticated electric drives. The new engineer
turns out to be very good in his area of specialization, but it is difficult to retrain him for other
assignments in the company. Should the company discharge this engineer?
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3.5 The company has been making most of its sales to a few large customers. The company president
wishes to broaden its customer base. To do so may require changes in the company culture, the
product line strategy, marketing and sales programs, and the service organization. How should the
president go about making the required changes?
3.6 The company is considering a plan to upgrade its current product line. The cost of upgrading is
high. There is a small company that has developed the technology required for this product upgrade.
What strategy should the company follow if it wants to continue selling into its current market with
the new, upgraded product?
3.7 As the company's sales are coming down unexpectedly, the president asks you to chair a task force
with the objective of developing solutions to correct the situation. Who do you want to be on this task
force? How should the task force resolve this problem?
3.8 A loyal and high-volume customer has warned the company's marketing department that project
X is extremely critical to their needs and that' if this project is late, they may be forced to buy
elsewhere. The project manager knows that the best estimates available to date from various in-house
groups indicate that, at the current rate of progress, project X will be late by about six months. What
should the project manager do?

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3.9 Sally Lee, the engineering manager, delegates tasks as a good manager should. However, Mark
Hayes, the engineering director, has the bad habit of calling up Sally unexpectedly to get detailed
reports on various ongoing activities in Sally's department. Sally does not want to hold daily staff
meetings in order to satisfy Mark's information needs because Sally is quite certain that asking her
professional staff to stand by and make daily reports shall definitely be counterproductive, as all of
them are known to prefer independence. What should Sally do?

3.10 In an organization offering a dual-ladder career progression system, technically trained people
may opt to progress along a technical ladder instead of the traditional managerial ladder. How does
this work? Hint: Get help from figures on next slide.

Continued

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dual-ladder career progression system
Vice President
Director

Director

Fellow

Manager

Manager

Associate

Supervisor

Project Manager

Consultant

Section Engineer

Project Engineer

Senior Engineer

Staff Engineer
Engineer
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3.11 The organization chart of Company X reveals that different numbers of employees report to its
five departments, as shown in Table 3.A1. Why do the numbers differ? TABLE 3.A1 Distribution of
Employees
Department

Number of Employees

Continued

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3.12 Prepare a detailed GANTT CHART for the FYP-I and FYP-II planning based on the activities
carried out in NUCES-FAST using the MS Project software making use of the following specimen.

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We shall InshaAllah continue


Chapter 4 Leading

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