My Engg Management Chapter 3

Engineering Management

Chapter 3 - Organizing Lecture 1, 2 &3

Go Green! Please think before printing these lecture slides.

Spring 2015

Text Book (Available in Photocopy shop. It is mandatory for all students to buy text book.)

Title: Engineering Management in the New Millennium

Author: Dr. C. M. Chang

Edition: 2005

Publisher: Pearson Prentice Hall

3-Mar-15Khawar Ayub FAST NU Lahore Campus2

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.


5Engineering Management Functions

Organizing

Planning

Leading

Controlling

6Engineering 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)

7Chapter 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

8Organizing 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

9Definitions 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

10

Line Versus Staff

ProductionEngineering Marketing

Service

Business/Product

Management

CustomersDistribution

Safety &

EnvironmentLegal Accounting

Public Relations Human Resources

R&D

Procurement

11

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

12

The Function of Organizing

13

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

14

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

15

Functional Organization

Technical Director

Quality ControlElectrical DesignMechanical Design

System Engineering Production Engineering

16

Functional Organizations (Pros and Cons)

Permits hierarchy of skills

Facilitatesspecialization

Simplifiescoordination

Permits use of current technologies and equipment

Encourages excessivecentralization

Delays decision making

Compoundscommunication line loss

Restricts development of managerial skills

Limits personal growth

17

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

18

Discipline-Based Organization

Engineering Dean

Industrial EngineeringElectrical EngineeringMechanical Engineering

Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering

19

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.

20

Product Organization

Technical Director

Custom ProductsUniversity ProductsGovernmental Products

Consumer Products Industrial Products

21

Regional Organization

President

AsiaEuropeNorth America

Latin America Africa

22

Product/Regional Organization (Pros and Cons)

Focuses on end products or geographical regions

Facilitates coordination

Encouragesmanagement development

Provides for decentralization

Promotes growth

High costs due to layers, autonomy or duplicated facilities

Requires management talents

Technical obsolescenceof specialists

Changes take time to effect

Matrix Organization

Project A

Project B

Project C

Functional Control

Project-based

Control

Engineering Production Logistics Design

24

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)

Dual reporting

Severe conflicts among managers

Delicate balance of power (people versus money/time)

Communications problems

25

Matrix Organization (Bases for Conflicts)

Project Managers: Money under control, mandate to authorize work with top management support

Rights to buy services elsewhere

Functional Manager: Manpower, skills knowledge, facilities

Own funds to support people

26

Team Organization

Member A

Member B

Member C

Functional Control

Engineering Production Logistics Design

Team Leader

Member D

27

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

28

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.)

29

Question # 3.1Question # 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.

30

Question # 3.2Question # 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.

31

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

32

(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.


33

COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE (CAGR) - 1994 to 1998

Name CAGR (%) Average Growth Rate of Next ThreeLargest 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).

(1) High Performance Enhanced by Flexible Structure

34

(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).

35

(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

36

(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

37

(4) AES Corporation

AES Corporation Total Revenue

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Year

Mil

lio

ns

38

(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

39

(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

40

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

41

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.

42

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

43

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%

44

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.

45

Cross-Functional Teams (Contd)

46

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

47

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

48

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.)

49

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

50

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

51

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?

52

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?

53

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

54

Question # 3.5Question # 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.)

55

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.

56

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.

58

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

59

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

60

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

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Delegation Matrix

Can

Cannot

Cannot Can

Engineering Manager

1

2

3

4

1: Employee

3: Employee

2: Neither; if must,

then to be done

by engineering

manager

4: Engineering

manager

Employee

62

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

63

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)

64

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

65

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

Organizational barriers - unclear roles and responsibilities, line and staff positions

66

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

67

Question # 3.9Question # 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.

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

69

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

efficiently

Steps:

(1) clarify roles and

(2) resolve conflicts

70

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)

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

Prepare Purchase Orders

Authorize Expenditures

Inspect Raw Materials

Quality Control Testing

Update Inventory Files

Withdraw Materials

Project Manager Team Member Division Manager Project Office Department Manager

3 2 4 5

6 2 2

4

1 6 5

5 3 2

6 3 2

4 4 2

6 2

5

2

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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

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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)

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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).

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Question # 3.3Question # 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.

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Question # 3.4Question # 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.

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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.

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Question # 3.8Question # 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.

Chapter 2 Planning

Assignment Questions (Due 12 March)

Study Example 3.1 to 3.4 given in the book alongwithsuggested 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 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 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?


Assignment Questions (Due 12 March 2015)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?


Assignment Questions (Due 12 March 2015)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


Assignment Questions (Due 12 March 2015)


Director Fellow

Manager Manager Associate

Supervisor Project Manager Consultant

Section Engineer Project Engineer Senior Engineer

Staff Engineer

Engineer

Director

Vice President

dual-ladder career progression system

Assignment Questions (Due 12 March 2015)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

A 3

B 7

C 4

D 6

E 9

Continued


Assignment Questions (Due 12 March 2015)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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