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ENGI 9396: Engineering Management Topics

Lecture 1 Dr. Amy Hsiao Winter 2013

Introduction
What is Engineering Management? Importance of Understanding Technology (and Engineers) in Corporate Leaders History of Management Theory and Practices

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Introduction
Find your match. Introduce your classmate.

Name Discipline Background

Define Engineering Manager and write it on the slip of paper.

Engineers
Ingenious Latin ingenium Talent, natural capacity, clever invention

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Engineering activities within a division of a large corporation (from Benjamin S. Blanchard, Engineering Organization and Management, 1976, Figure 10-3, p. 280. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ).

Management
An organizational or administrative process A science, discipline, or art The group of people running an organization An occupational career

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Cornerstones to Developing Managers

Opportunity

Mgmt Career Path

Preparation

Sponsor (Mentor)

The secret of success is for a [person] to be ready for his[her] opportunity when it comes.
-Benjamin Disreali, British Novelist and Debater (1804-1881)
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Management Levels & Skills Mix

Administrative and Conceptual Skills Interpersonal Skills Technical Skills

3rd Level (Senior Managers) 2nd Level (Middle Managers) 1st Level (Supervisors)

As organizations evolve to reflect their business environment -the skills mix is also changing for the organizations managers Question: What are conceptual skills? Answer: Ability to discern critical factors and set long-term objectives; see the forest in spite of the trees
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Managerial Roles

Interpersonal

Figurehead Leader Liaison network Monitor/collector/gatekeeper Disseminator Spokesperson Entrepreneurial Disturbance handler Resource allocator negotiator

Informational

Decisional

Technical Other

Management
Not all engineers are interested in becoming managers [Mintzberg, 1990]. The Managers Job: Folklore and Fact
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Definition (that I like)

The engineering manager is distinguished from other managers because s/he possesses both an ability to apply engineering principles and a skill in organizing and directing people and projects. S/he is uniquely qualified for two types of jobs: the management of technical functions (such as design or production) in almost any enterprise, or the management of broader functions (such as marketing or top management) in a high-technology enterprise. --Daniel Babcock, Is the Engineering Manager Different? Machine Design, March 9, 1978, pp. 82-85.

Each Organization Selects Its Engineering Managers Based on a Complex Set of Factors
Business Competence Capability Relationships

Leadership

Seniority or Experience

Each organization has its own unique equation that may change over time

Technical Competence 12

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Sr. Mgt. Middle Management

1st Line Management

Staff Engineering

The Engineer to Manager Pyramid

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Engineering Management: An Organizational Development Approach

Supervisors
Situate. Leadership

Managers
Innovative Thinking Program Development Planning & Evaluation Model/Reinforce Core Values

Executives
Strategic Vision External Awareness Organizational Representation & Liaison Directorate Head (Senior Mgr)

Team Leader
Project Leader Project Tracking Resource Expenditures Customer Orientation Quality Focus Consensus Myers-Briggs Analysis

Demonstrate Core Values Managing Diverse Workforce

Coaching/Counseling Resource Mgmt Conflict Management Technology Management Change Management Process Oversight Team Building Management Influencing/Negotiati Mentoring ng Presentation/ Human Resources Marketing Skills Mgmt Risk Management Branch Head (Middle Division Head (Senior Mgr) Mgr) Asst. Program Mgr Program Manager

Knowledge and Skills

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The Importance of Understanding Technology in Corporate Leaders

Really understand the business. Understand both the technology that is driving the business today and the technology that will change the business in the future. Treat research and development as an investment to be nurtured, rather than an expense to be minimized. Spend more time on strategic thinking about the future as they rise higher in the corporation. Are dedicated to solving a customers problem or satisfying a need, which is how [I] would define true marketing as opposed to sales. Place a premium on innovation.

(Source: George Heilmeier, Room for Whom at the Top?: Promoting Technical Literacy in the Executive Suite, The BENT of Tau Beta Pi, Spring 1994.)

The Importance of Understanding Engineers in Corporate Leaders

To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

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The Importance of Understanding Engineers as Corporate Leaders

There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired. Several years later the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multi-million dollar machines. They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine to work but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past. The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. Finally, at the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and said, "This is where your problem is." The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again. The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges. The engineer responded briefly: One chalk mark $1; Knowing where to put it $49,999. It was paid in full and the engineer retired again in peace.

The Importance of Understanding Engineers as Corporate Leaders

Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body. One said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints."
Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections." The last said, "Actually it was a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?"

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The Importance of Understanding Engineers as Corporate Leaders

An engineer was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want." Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."

So, what is important about leading a group of engineers?

Open-minded about peoples opinions; not force your own Communication is key Understanding the rewards that are valuable Understanding how to motivate and challenge people Knowing their competences and skills to gain respect and commitment

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Challenges to Becoming a Successful Engineering Manager

Technical Competence

Communications Business Skills Management Skills Motivation Performance Evaluation People (or Interpersonal) Skills A Special Challenge

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Engineers in Management (1969)

Survey Break-down
10%

18%

No regular supervisory responsibility indirect or staff supervision

20% 18%

team manager project manager department/division/program manager

22%

12%

organizational (top) manager

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Figure 1.3 The engineering management education program (from Daniel L. Babcock, B.S. and M.S. Program in Engineering Management, Engineering Education, November 1973, p.102).

Figure 1.4 Managing engineering and technology.

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Origins

Ancient Civilizations
By 6000 B.C., walled communities with defensive towers By 4500 B.C., first canals in eastern Iraq for crop irrigation If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction firm, and the house which he has built collapses, and causes the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. Babylon code By 320 B.C., Alexander the Great used a staff or council

Origins

Pre-Industrial Revolution inventions

Spinning jenny (8 threads instead of one) Water frame (mills) Mule (combo of previous two) Power loom Chlorine bleach Steam engine (replaced water in factories in 1875) Screw-cutting lathe (metal not wood machines) Interchangeable manufacture (muskets, Eli Whitney)

Social/economic factors

Factoriesand trainingand development of managers Engineering education (from apprenticeship to practitioner to formal university training: RPI, Union, Harvard, Yale, MIT)

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Management Philosophies
Scientific Management Administrative Management Behaviour Management

Scientific Management

Winslow Taylor
Piece rate system Differential piecework
If 3 pieces were deemed standard days work and the two rates were 50 and 60 cents per piece, the worker earned $1.50 for 3 pieces a day and $2.40 for four.

Shoveling of sand, limestone, coke, rice coal, iron ore, etc.

Designed shovels for each type of load so that the the shovel-load was achieved (21.5 pounds) Workers wages increased; managements costs reduced

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Scientific Management

Develop a science for each element of a mans work, which replaces the old rule-of-thumb method Scientifically select, then train, teach, and develop the workmen, whereas in the past he chose his own work and trained himself as best he could. Heartily cooperate with the men so as to insure all of the work being done in accordance with the principles of the science which has been developed. There is an almost equal division of the work and the responsibility between the management and the workmen. The management take over all work for which they are better fitted than the workmen (defining how work is to be done), while in the past almost all of the work and the greater part of the responsibility were thrown upon the men.

--Principles of Scientific Management, 1911

Scientific Management

Gantt (1861-1919)
standard day rate regardless of performance which provided security during training or if materials were delayed Additional bonus to workers and foremen if specified daily production targets were met Project management: some function of performance vs. time

Knowledge sharing
Professional societies publications

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Scientific Management
Planning and training (management) Vs. Rote Execution (uneducated laborer of the day) Efficiency vs. Effectiveness Japanese competition and the idea of Total Quality Management

Administrative Management

Fayol (1841-1925)
Functional groups: technical (operations), commercial (marketing), financial, security (risk), accounting, and administration. Administration he divided into: planning/forecasting, organization, command, coordination, and control. Young engineers are, for the most part, incapable of turning the technical knowledge received to good account because of their inability to set forth their ideas in clear, well-written reports, so compiled as to permit a clear grasp of the results of their research or the conclusions to which their observations have led them.

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Administrative Management

Max Weber (1864-1920)

bureaucracy = rational and efficient large organization Candidates for offices are selected and appointed based on their technical ability Members of the organization owe loyalty to the office, not the individual Hierarchy defined Strict discipline and conduct demanded of officials; subordinates have a right of appeal Administrative acts, decisions, and rules must be reduced to writing The office is the primary occupation of the incumbent who is reimbursed by a fixed salary Promotion is based on judgment of superiors The official does not own the organization

Behavioural Management

Hawthorne Studies (1920-1930s)

Effect of illumination on production Effect of rest periods on production Effect of piecework pay

Hawthorne Effect is the tendency of persons singled out for special attention to perform as expected

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Abilene Paradox
Four adults are sitting on a porch in 104-degree heat in the small town of Coleman, TX, some 53 miles from Abilene. They are engaging in as little motion as possible, drinking lemonade, watching the fan spin, and occasionally playing dominoes. The characters are a married couple and the wifes parents. At some point, the wifes father suggests they drive to Abilene to eat at a cafeteria there. The son-in-law thinks this is a crazy idea but does not see any need to upset the apple cart, so he goes along with it, as do the two women. They get in their Buick with no AC and drive through a dust storm to Abilene. They eat a mediocre lunch at the cafeteria and return to Coleman exhausted, hot, and generally unhappy about the experience. It is not until they return home that is it revealed that NONE of them really wanted to go to Abilene they were just going along because they thought the others were eager to go. --Dr. Jerry Harvey Escalation of Commitment None are in agreement but all think there is agreement Communication

Behaviour Management

MacGregor

Theory X: workers are motivated by Maslows model of need hierarchy; only way to get from passiveness to organizational contribution Theory Y: management must arrange workplace conditions and operations to influence motivation Senior manager is facilitator Middle manager is initiator and coordinator Decision by concensus Concern for employee

Theory Z (Ouchi, 1981)

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Maslows Model of Need Hierarchy

Theory Z
Employees should be offered lifetime employment Promotions should be based on length of service, as distinct from evaluation of immediate job performance Individuals should not be specialized but should be moved throughout the company Decisions should be made through a collective decision-making process

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Current Topics

Innovation Strategic management Knowledge management Empowerment & leadership New product development Intellectual property management Risk management Globalization Change Ethics Entrepreneurship Quality management Something missing? Email me if youd like to see other topics covered

Engineering Managers

Costa Concordia
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50137223n

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Situations for Discussion (Intro)

John Snyder, the EM, presented to the BoD a project based on the results generated by Steve Hill, one of his staff members. The board approved the project and praised John for the excellent work done. At that moment, John failed to mention to the board that the work was actually done by Steve. Afterwards, John felt bad about it and recommended to give Steve a bonus. How would you assess Johns handling of the situation?

Situation for Discussion (Intro)

Tom Taylor, the sales manager, was told by his superior, Carl Bauer, to take an order from a new customer for a batch of products. Both Tom and Carl knew that the products ordered would only partially meet the customers requirements. But Carl insisted that the order was too valuable to lose. What should Tom do?

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Situation for Discussion (Intro)

Nancy Bush, the plant manager, needs to decide whether to make or buy a component for the companys core product. She would like the advice of her production supervisors, since they must implement her decision. However, she fears that the supervisors will be biased towards making the component in house, as they tend to favor retaining more work for their people.. What should Nancy do?

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