The Functions of the Engineer

1.

The stone bladed axe which was a very

useful tool; and the irrigation system used to
promote crop growing 6000 to 3000 B.C.

2.

The pyramids of Egypt 3000 to 600 B.C.

3.

Roadbuilding by the Romans 600 B.C. to

A.D. 400;

4.

The production of paper and gunpowder by

the Chinese 100 A.D. to 1600 A.D.

5.

The production of steam engine and the

spinning and weaving machinery 1601
A.D. to 1799 A.D.

6.

coordinate worker power, materials

machinery and money.
Management defined
Since the engineer manager is presumed to be
technically competent in his specialization, one may
now proceed to describe more thoughly the
remaining portion of his job, which is management.

Requirements for the Engineer managers Job

1.

Bachelors degree in engineering from a

reputable school; In some cases, a masters
degree in engineering or business
management is required

2.

Few years experience in a pure engineering

job

The manufacture of cars and household

appliances modern times.

The functions of engineering encompass the

following Areas.

Management is a process consisting of

planning, organizing, directing or leading,
and controlling.

1.

Research

3.

Training in supervision

2.

Design and Environment

4.

Special training in engineering management.

3.

Testing

4.

Manufacturing

5.

Construction

1.

Ability

6.

Sales

2.

Motivation to manage

7.

Consulting

3.

Opportunity

8.

Goverment

Ability

9.

Teaching

Managerial ability refers to the capacity of an

engineer manager to achieve organizational
objectives effectively and efficiently.

10. Management
The Engineer in Various types of Organization
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.

What is Engineering Management?

Refers the the activity combining technical

knowledge with the ability to organize and

Three general preconditions for achieving lasting

success as a manager. They are as follows:

Effectiveness, according to Higgins, refers to a

description of whether objectives are accomplished,
while efficency 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 organizations
objectives.
A management researcher, John B. Miner, developed
a psychometric instrument to measure objectively an

individuals motivation to manage. The test is

anchored to the following dimensions.
Following Dimensions:

Approaches in Solving Problems

Quantitative Models for Decision Making

Decision Making

Favorable attitude toward those in positions

of authority, such as superiors.

Desire to engage in games or sports

competition with peers.

Desire to engage in occupational or workrelated competition with peers.

The engineer managers decision-making skills will

be very crucial to his success as a professional. A
major blunder in decision-making may be sufficient
to cause the destruction of any organization. Good
decisions, on the other hand, will provide the right
environment for continuous growth and success of
any organized effort.

Desire to assert oneself and take charge.

Decision-Making as a Management Responsibility

Desire to exercise power and authority over

others.

Desire to behave in a distinctive way, which

includes standing out from the crowd.

Decisions must be made at various levels in the

workplace. They are also made at the various stages
in the management process.

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:
1.

Obtaining a suitable managerial job

2.

Finding a supportive climate once in a job.

Engineering activities need to be managed and

engineers are sometimes placed in positions where
they have to learn management skills.

Management is concerned with planning,

organizing, leading and controlling an
organizations resources to achieve its
mission and objectives.
One may become a successful engineer
manager if the preconditions of ability,
motivation to manage, and opportunity to
manage are met.

Decision Making

Decision Making as a Management

Responsibility

What is Decision Making?

The Decision Making Process

Decision Making is a responsibility of the engineer

manager. It is understandable for managers to make
wrong decisions at times. The wise manager will
correct them as soon as they are identified. The
bigger issue is the manager who cannot or do not
want to make decisions.
What is Decision-Making?

the process of identifying and choosing

alter native courses of action in a manner
appropriate to the demands of the
situation

is the heart of all the management

process.

The Decision-Making Process

1.

Diagnose problem

2.

Analyze the environment

3.

Articulate problem or opportunity

4.

Develop viable alternatives

5.

Evaluate alternatives

6.

Make a choice

7.

Implement decision

8.

Evaluate and adapt decision results

Diagnose problem
If a manager wants to make an intelligent decision,
his first move must be to identify the problem. If the

manager fails in this aspect, it is almost impossible to

succeed in the subsequent steps. An expert once said
identification of the problem is tantamount to having
the problem half-solved.
What is a problem? A problem exists when there is a
difference between an actual situation and a desired
situation.
Analyze the Environment

3.

To illustrate:
An engineering firm has a problem of
increasing its output by 30%. This is the result of a
new agreement between the firm and one of its
clients.

The list of solutions prepared by the

engineering manager shows the following
alternative courses of action:

1.
improve the capacity of the firm by
hiring more workers and bulding addtional
facilities;

2.
secure the services of the
subcontractors;

3.
buy the needed addional output
from another firm;

4.
stop serving some of the companys
customers;

5.

Examples of internal limitations

1.

Limited funds available for the purchase of

equipment

2.

Limited training on the part of employees

3.

Ill-designed facilities

Examples of external limitations

1.

Patients are controlled by other

organizations

2.

A very limited market for the companys

products and services exists.

3.

Strict enforcement of local zoning

regulations.

When decisions are to be made, the internal and

external limitations must be considered. It may be
costly, later on, to alter a decision because of a
constraint that has not been previously identified.

Internal

2.

External

The internal environment refers to organizational

activities within a firm that surrounds decision
making. Shown in Figure 2.1 are the important
aspects of the internal environment .
The external environment refers to variables that are
outside the organization and not typically within the
short-run control of the top management Figure 2.2
shows the forces comprising the external
environment of the firm.
Develop Viable Alternatives
1.

Prepare a list of alternative solutions

2.

Determine the viability of each solutions.

delay servicing some clients.

Evaluate Alternatives

Proper evaluation makes choosing the right

solution less difficult.

Each alternative must be analyzed and

evaluated in terms of its value, cost and risk
characteristics.

How the alternatives will be evaluated will

depend on the nature of the problem, the
objectives of the firm, and the nature of
altenatives presented.

The value of alternatives refers to benefits

that can be expected.

Example:

An engineer manager is faced with the

problem of choosing between 3 applicants to
fill up a lone vacancy for a junior engineer.
He will have to set up certain criteria for
evaluating the applicants. If the evaluation is
done by a professional human resources
officer then the engineer manager will be
forced to use a predetermined criteria.

Components of the environment

1.

Revise the list by striking out those which

are not viable.

Make a Choice

Choice-making refers to the process of

selecting among alternatives representing
potential solutions to a problem.
particular effort should be made to identify
all significant consequences of each choice

Implement Decision

Implementation refers to carrying out the

decision so that the objectives sought will be
achieved. To make implementation effective,
a plan must be devised.
At this stage, the resources must be made
available so that the decision may be
properly implemented. Those who will
involved in implementation must understand
and accept the solution.

Evaluate and Adapt Decision Results

It is important to use control and feedback

mechanisms to ensure results and to provide
information for future decisions.

Quantitative Evaluation refers to the evaluation of

alternatives using any technique in a group classified
as rational and analytical

Quantitative Models for Decision Making:

1.

inventory models

2.

queuing theory

3.

network models

4.

forecasting

5.

regression analysis

6.

Simulation

7.

Linear programming

8.

Sampling theory

9.

Statistical decision theory

10. Planning technical activities

Learning Objectives

Nature of Planning

Feedback refers to the process which

requires checking to assure that the
alternatives generated, the criteria used in
the evaluation, and the solution selected for
implementation are in keeping with the
goals and objectives originally specified.

Planning Defined

Planning at Various Management Levels

The Planning Process

Types of Plans

Control refers to actions made to ensure that

activities performed match the desired
activities or goals, that have been set.

Making Planning Effective

Approaches in Solving Problems

1.

Qualitative evaluation

2.

Quantitative evaluation

Qualitative Evaluation: This term refers to evaluation

of alternatives using intuition and subjective
judgement
1.

The problem is fairly simple.

2.

The problem is similar.

3.

The costs involved are not great.

4.

Immediate decisions are needed.

Planning Technical Activities

Managers who plan are afforded with the

opportunity to carefully analyze situations
which directly contribute to effective
decision-making.

The higher the management level the

engineer manager is in, the more
sophisticated his planning activity becomes.

To minimize in decision-making, planning is

undertaken.

A plan, provides a methodical way of

achieving desired results.

Example of the difficulty of not having a plan:

The management of an engineering firm was
able to identify the need to hire additional three

employees. The manager proceeded to invite

applicants, screen them, and finally hired three of
them. When the hiring expense report was analyzed,
it involved more than double the amount spent by
other firms in hiring the same number of people.
When an inquiry was made, it was
found out that the manager commited some errors of
judgement. For instance, he used an expensive
advertising layouting a newspaper when a simple
message will do.
Also it was found out that the
absence of a hiring plan contributed to the high cost
of hiring.
PLANNING

For our purpose, it will suffice to define

planning as selecting the best course of
action so that the desired result may be
achieved. It must be stressed that the desired
result takes first priority and the course of
action chosen is the means to realize the
goal.

This is design to support the strategic

planning
Lower management level
operational planning

The Planning Process

1.

Setting organizational, divisional, or unit

goals

2.

Developing strategies or tactics to reach

those goals

3.

Determining resources needed and

4.

Setting standards

Functional Area Plans

Planning at Various Management Levels

Top management level

strategic planning

Middle management level

intermediate
planning

Lower management level

Strategic planning refers to the process of

determining the major goals of the
organization and the policies and the
strategies for obtaining and using resources
to achieve those goals. The whole company
is considered in this planning

Middle management level

intermediate planning

Intermediate planning refers to the process

of determining the contributions that
subunits can make with allocated resources.

Marketing plan - this is the written

document or blueprint for implementing and
controlling an organizations marketing
activities related to a particular marketing
strategy.

Production plan this is written document that

states the quantity of output a company must produce
in broad terms and by product family

Financial plan it is a document that

summarizes the current financial situation of
the firm, analyzes financial needs, and
recommends a direction for financial
activities.

Human Resource management plan it is

a document that indicates the human
resource needs of a company detailed in
terms of quantity and quality and based on
the requirements of the companys strategic
plan.

operational planning

Top management level

strategic planning

Operational planning refers to the of

determining how specific tasks can best be
accomplished on time with available
resources. It must be performed in support
of the strategic plan and intermediate plan.

Making Planning Effective

Planning is done so that some desired results

may be achieved. At times, however, failure
in planning occurs.

Planning may be made successful if the

following are observed:

1.

Recognize the planning barriers

2.Use of aids to planning

Organizing Defined
The Purpose of the Structure

The planning barriers are as follows:

The Formal Organization

1.

Managers inability to plan

Informal Groups

2.

Improper planning process

Types of Organizational Structures

3.

Lack of commitment to the planning process

Types of Authority

4.

improper information

5.

Focusing on the present at the expense of the

future

6.

Too much reliance on the planning

7.

Concentrating on only the controllable

variables

Among the aids to planning that may be used are:

1.

Gather as much information as possible

2.

Develop multiple sources of information

3.

Involve others in the planning process

4.

Technical activities, like other activities,

require effective planning, i.e, if objectives
and goals are to be realized.

5.

A plan is a methodological way of achieving

results.

6.

Planning is undertaken at various

management levels.

7.

Various steps are required in the planning

process depending on the management level.

8.

9.

Plans may be classified in terms of

functional areas, time horizon and frequency
of use.
Plans may consist of various parts that the
engineer manager must be familiar with.

The Purpose of Committees

Organizing Defined
Organizing is a management function which refers to
the structuring of resources and activities to
accomplish objectives in an effective and efficient
manner
The arrangement or relationship of positions within
an organization is called the structure .
The result of the organizing process is the structure.
The Purpose of the Structure:
1.

It defines the relationships between tasks

and authority for individuals and
departments.

2.

It defines formal reporting relationships, the

number of levels in the hierarchy of the
organization, and the span of control.

3.

It defines the groupings of individuals into

departments and departments into
organization.

4.

It defines the system to effect coordination

of effort in both vertical(authority) and
horizontal (tasks) directions.

When structuring an organization, the engineer

manager must be concerned with the ff:
1.

Division of Labor

2.

Delegation of Authority

3.

Departmentation

Organizing Technical Activities

4.

Span of Control

Learning Objectives

5.

Coordination

10. Plans can be made effective by recognizing

the planning barriers and making use of aids
to planning.

Reasons for Organizing

The Formal Organization

is the structure that details lines of responsibilities

authority and position

an organization chart is a formal organization, the
planned structure
it represents the deliberate attempt to establish
patterned relationships among components that will
meet the objectives effectively
The formal structure is described by
management through:
1.

Organization chart

2.

Organizational manual

3.

Policy manuals

Informal Groups
when members of an organization spontaneously
form a group with friendship as a principal reason
for belonging.
Its not part of the formal organization and it does
not have a formal performance purpose.
Oftentimes very useful in the accomplishment of
major task, esp if this tasks conform with the
expectations of the members of the informal group.
But it is vulnerable to expediency, manipulation and
opportunism and its low visibility makes it difficult
for the mgnt to detect harm that can be done to the
company
The engineer manager, therefore, must be on the
looked out for the possible difficulties that this group
may do to the organization
Types of Organizational Structures:
Functional Organization this is a form of
departmentalization in which everyone
engaged in one functional activity, such as
engineering or marketing, is a grouped into
one unit.
Product or market organization this
refer to the organization of a company by
division that brings together all those
involved with a certain type of product or
customer.
Matrix organization an organization
structure in which each employee reports to
both a functional or division manager and to
a project or group manager.
Types of Authority

Line Authority a managers right to tell

subordinates what to do and then see that
they do it.
Staff Authority a staff specialists right to
give advice to a superior.
Functional Authority a specialists right
to oversee lower level personnel involved in
that specialty, regardless of where the
personnel are in the organization
The Purpose of Committees
is a formal group of persons formed for a specific
purpose
often staffed by top executives marketing,
production, research, engineering and finance, who
work part-time to evaluate and approve product
ideas
it might be useful to set up some procedures to make
the committee a more effective tool to accomplish our
goals
Committeees are classify as follows:
1.

Ad hoc committee- created for a short term

purpose and have a limited life

2.

Outstanding committee
- relatively
permanent committee that deals with issues
on an ongoing basis

The proper mngt of engg activities whether at the

unit, department, requires effective organizing. The
organizing function is undertaken to facilitate the
implementation of plans.
Organizing refers to the structuring of
resources and activities to accomplish objectives. The
structure serves as a way to reach the organizations
goal.
The formal organization is the structure that
will carry out the plan. It is described through the
organization chart, the organization manual, and the
policy manual.
Informal groups find their way to exist side
by side with formal organizations. These groups may
make it easy or make it hard for the org. to achieve
its objectives
Organizations may be classified into (1) functional,
(2) product or market (3) matrix
Authority delegated to the members of the
organization may be classified into: (1) line authority
(2) staff authority (3) functional authority

Committees are used as a supplement to the

existing formal organization. Committees are formed

to perform specific tasks. Committees are classified

into: (1) ad hoc (2) standing