Engineering Management 3
Engineering Management 3
Engineering Management 3
Course Description:
This course deals with the study of the field of Engineering Management, the science of handling
technical undertakings the engineering way so that decision making shall be made more rational and logical.
It is concerned with planning and organizing technical activities, staffing the engineering organization,
communicating, motivating, leading, controlling, managing production and service operations, managing the
marketing functions and managing finance functions.
FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT
Management is often summarized into five basic functions: planning, organizing, staffing, directing,
and controlling. Although these basic management functions have been developed and used by managers
of businesses, they apply equally to the management of a project. The functions of management can be
considered a process where each function builds on the previous function
Managers first need to develop a plan, then organize their resources and delegate responsibilities to
employees according to the plan, then lead others to efficiently carry out the plan, and finally evaluate the
plan’s effectiveness as it is being executed and make any necessary adjustments.
Planning is the formulation of a course of action to guide a project to completion. It starts at the beginning of
a project, with the scope of work, and continues throughout the life of a project. The establishment of
milestones and consideration of possible constraints are major parts of planning. Successful project
planning is best accomplished by the participation of all parties involved in a project. There must be an
explicit operational plan to guide the entire project throughout its life.
Organizing is the arrangement of resources in a systematic manner to fit the project plan. A project must be
organized around the work to be performed. There must be a breakdown of the work to be performed into
manageable units, which can be defined and measured. The work breakdown structure of a project is a
multi-level system that consists of tasks, subtasks, and work packages.
Staffing is the selection of individuals who have the expertise to produce the work. The persons that are
assigned to the project team influence every part of a project. Most managers will readily agree that people
are the most important resource on a project. People provide the knowledge to design, coordinate, and
construct the project. The numerous problems that arise throughout the life of a project are solved by
people.
Leading/Directing is the guidance of the work required to complete a project. The people on the project
staff that provide diverse technical expertise must be developed into an effective team. Although each
person provides work in his or her area of expertise, the work that is provided by each must be collectively
directed in a common effort and in a common direction.
• Communicating
Controlling is the establishment of a system to measure, report, and forecast deviations in the project
scope, budget, and schedule. The purpose of project control is to determine and predict deviations in a
project so corrective actions can be taken. Project control requires the continual reporting of information in a
timely manner so management can respond during the project rather than afterwards. Control is often the
most difficult function of project management.
PLANNING
Strategic Planning – refers to the process of determining the major goals of the organization and the
policies and strategies for obtaining and using resources to achieve those goals. The top management of
any firm is involved in this type of planning.
The output of strategic planning is the strategic plan which spells out “decision about long-range goals and
the course of action to achieve these goals.
Intermediate Planning – refers to “the process of determining the contributions that subunits can make with
allocated resources.” This type of planning is undertaken by middle management.
Under intermediate planning, the goals of a subunit are determined and a plan is prepared to provide a
guide to the realization of the goals. The intermediate plan is designed to support the strategic plan.
Strategic plans are plans that apply to the entire organization and establish the organization’s
overall goals. Plans that encompass a particular operational area of the organization are called operational
plans. These two types of plans differ because strategic plans are broad while operational plans are narrow.
The number of years used to define short-term and long-term plans has declined considerably
because of environmental uncertainty. Long-term used to mean anything over seven years. Try to imagine
what you’re likely to be doing in seven years and you can begin to appreciate how difficult it would be for
managers to establish plans that far in the future. We define long-term plans as those with a time frame
beyond three years. Short-term plans cover one year or less. Any time period in between would be an
intermediate plan. Although these time classifications are fairly common, an organization can use any
planning time frame it wants.
Specific plans are clearly defined and leave no room for interpretation. A specific plan states its
objectives in a way that eliminates ambiguity and problems with misunderstanding. For example, a manager
who seeks to increase his or her unit’s work output by 8 percent over a given 12-month period might
establish specific procedures, budget allocations, and schedules of activities to reach that goal.
However, when uncertainty is high and managers must be flexible in order to respond to unexpected
changes, directional plans are preferable. Directional plans are flexible plans that set out general
guidelines. They provide focus but don’t lock managers into specific goals or courses of action.
1. Budget – according to Weston and Brigham, budget is a plan which sets forth the
projected expenditure for a certain activity and explains where the required funds will
come from.
2. Program – a plan designed to coordinate a large set of activities.
3. Project – a plan that is usually more limited in scope than a program and is sometimes
prepare to support a program.