Engineering Management

I. Historical Background of Engineering Management

A. Ancient Management
B. Scientific Management
1. Frederick Winslow Taylor – “Father of Scientific Management”
Theory of Scientific Management - Using scientific methods to define the “one best way”
for a job to be done by:
1. Putting the right person on the job with the correct tools and equipment
2. Having a standardized method of doing the job
3. Providing an economic incentive to the worker

Taylor’s Scientific Management Principles:

i. Develop a science for each element of an individual’s work, which will replace the
old rule-of-thumb method.
ii. Scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the worker.
iii. Heartily cooperate with the workers so as to ensure that all work is done in
accordance with the principles of the science that has been developed.
iv. Divide work and responsibility almost equally between management and workers.
Management takes over all work for which it is better fitted than the workers.

2. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

Focused on increasing worker productivity through the reduction of wasted motion.

How Do Today’s Managers Use Scientific Management?

• Use time and motion studies to increase productivity.
• Hire the best qualified employees.
• Design incentive systems based on output.

C. General Administrative Management

1. Henri Fayol
Believed that the practice of management was distinct from other organizational functions.
His belief that management was an activity common to all business endeavors, government,
and even the home led him to develop 14 principles of management—fundamental rules of
management that could be applied to all organizational situations and taught in schools.
01 Division of Work. Specialization increases output by making employees more efficient.
02 Authority. Managers must be able to give orders, and authority gives them this right.
03 Discipline. Employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization.
04 Unity of command. Every employee should receive orders from only one superior.
05 Unity of direction. The organization should have a single plan of action to guide managers
and workers.
06 Subordination of individual interests to the general interest. The interests of any one
employee or group of employees should not take precedence over the interests of the
organization as a whole.
07 Remuneration. Workers must be paid a fair wage for their services.
08 Centralization. This term refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision
making.
09 Scalar chain. The line of authority from top management to the lowest ranks is the scalar
chain.
10 Order. People and materials should be in the right place at the right time.
11 Equity. Managers should be kind and fair to their subordinates.
12 Stability of tenure of personnel. Management should provide orderly personnel planning
and ensure that replacements are available to fill vacancies.

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13 Initiative. Employees who are allowed to originate and carry out plans will exert high levels
of effort.
14 Esprit de corps. Promoting team spirit will build harmony and unity within the organization.

2. Max Weber
He developed a theory of authority structures and relations based on an ideal type of
organization he called a bureaucracy—a form of organization characterized by division of
labor, a clearly defined hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships.

How Do Today’s Managers Use Administrative Management?

The functional view of the manager’s job can be attributed to Fayol. In addition, his 14
principles serve as a frame of reference from which many current management
concepts—such as managerial authority, centralized decision making, reporting to only
one boss, and so forth—have evolved.
Although many characteristics of Weber’s bureaucracy are still evident in large
organizations, his model isn’t as popular today as it was in the twentieth century. Many
managers feel that a bureaucratic structure hinders individual employees’ creativity and
limits an organization’s ability to respond quickly to an increasingly dynamic environment.
However, even in flexible organizations of creative professionals—such as Microsoft,
Samsung, General Electric, or Cisco Systems—some bureaucratic mechanisms are
necessary to ensure that resources are used efficiently and effectively.

D. Behavioral Approach
The field of study that researches the actions (behavior) of people at work is called organizational
behavior (OB). Much of what managers do today when managing people—motivating, leading,
building trust, working with a team, managing conflict, and so forth—has come out of OB research.

Without question, the most important contribution to the OB field came out of the Hawthorne
Studies.

Homework #1 (INDIVIDUAL ESSAY) - Encoded

Discuss briefly what the Hawthorne Study is all about then evaluate its relation with the
behavioral perspective in organizational theories.
*Limit your answers within a single page with 1 inch margin all sides.
**Cite your resources.

How Do Today’s Managers Use the Behavioral Approach?

The behavioral approach has largely shaped how today’s organizations are managed. From
the way that managers design jobs to the way that they work with employee teams to the
way that they communicate, we see elements of the behavioral approach. Much of what
the early OB advocates proposed and the conclusions from the Hawthorne studies have
provided the foundation for our current theories of motivation, leadership, group behavior
and development, and numerous other behavioral approaches.

E. Quantitative Approach
Although passengers bumping into each other when trying to find their seats on an airplane can
be a mild annoyance for them, it’s a bigger problem for airlines because lines get backed up,
slowing down how quickly the plane can get back in the air. Based on research in spacetime
geometry, one airline innovated a unique boarding process called “reverse pyramid” that has
saved at least 2 minutes in boarding time.9 This is an example of the quantitative approach, which
is the use of quantitative techniques to improve decision making. This approach also is known as
management science.

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Quantitative approach involves applying statistics, optimization models, information models,
computer simulations, and other quantitative techniques to management activities. Linear
programming, for instance, is a technique that managers use to improve resource allocation
decisions. Work scheduling can be more efficient as a result of critical-path scheduling analysis.
The economic order quantity model helps managers determine optimum inventory levels.

Total quality management, or TQM, is a management philosophy devoted to continual

improvement and responding to customer needs and expectations.

The term customer includes anyone who interacts with the organization’s product or services
internally or externally. It encompasses employees and suppliers as well as the people who
purchase the organization’s goods or services. Continual improvement isn’t possible without
accurate measurements, which require statistical techniques that measure every critical
variable in the organization’s work processes. These measurements are compared against
standards to identify and correct problems.

How Do Today’s Managers Use the Quantitative Approach?

The quantitative approach contributes directly to management decision making in the areas
of planning and control. For instance, when managers make budgeting, queuing, scheduling,
quality control, and similar decisions, they typically rely on quantitative techniques. Specialized
software has made the use of these techniques less intimidating for managers, although many
still feel anxious about using them.

II. The Manager

A. Who is a manager?
A manager is someone who coordinates and oversees the work of other people so that
organizational goals can be accomplished. A manager’s job is not about personal
achievement—it’s about helping others do their work. That may mean coordinating the work of
a departmental group, or it might mean supervising a single person. It could involve coordinating
the work activities of a team with people from different departments or even people outside the
organization, such as temporary employees or individuals who work for the organization’s suppliers.

Management Levels
- Manage the work of nonmanagerial employees who typically are
involved with producing the organization’s products or servicing the
First-Line
organization’s customers.
Managers - First-line managers may be called supervisors or even shift managers,
district managers, department managers, or office managers.
- Manage the work of first-line managers and can be found between the
Middle lowest and top levels of the organization.
Managers - They may have titles such as regional manager, project leader, store
manager, or division manager.
- Responsible for making organization-wide decisions and establishing the
plans and goals that affect the entire organization.
Top
- These individuals typically have titles such as executive vice president,
Managers president, managing director, chief operating officer, or chief executive
officer.

B. Where do managers work?

It’s obvious that managers do their work in organizations. But what is an organization? It’s a
deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose. Your college or university

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is an organization; so are fraternities and sororities, government departments, churches, Facebook,
your neighborhood grocery store, the United Way, the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, and the
Mayo Clinic. All are considered organizations and have three common characteristics.

Characteristics of Organizations
This purpose is typically expressed through goals that the organization hopes
Purpose to accomplish.
Each organization is composed of people. It takes people to perform the
People work that’s necessary for the organization to achieve its goals.
All organizations develop some deliberate structure within which members
do their work. That structure may be open and flexible, with no specific job
Deliberate duties or strict adherence to explicit job arrangements. For instance, at
Structure Google, most big projects, of which there are hundreds going on at the same
time, are tackled by small focused employee teams that set up in an instant
and complete work just as quickly.

C. What do managers do?

Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their
activities are completed efficiently and effectively. management involves ensuring that work
activities are completed efficiently and effectively by the people responsible for doing them, or at
least that’s what managers aspire to do.

D. Managerial Functions

E. Managerial Roles
Roles are specific actions or behaviors expected of a manager. Mintzberg identified 10 roles
grouped around interpersonal relationships, the transfer of information, and decision making.

1. The interpersonal roles involve interactions with people inside and outside the work unit.
a) Figurehead Role- modeling and setting forth key principles and policies
b) Leader- providing direction and instilling enthusiasm
c) Liaison- coordinating with others
2. The informational roles involve the giving, receiving, and analyzing of information
a) Monitor- scanning for information

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b) Disseminator- sharing information
c) Spokesperson- acting as official communicator
3. The decisional roles involve using information to make decisions to solve problems or address
opportunities.
a) Disturbance Handler- Dealing with problems and conflicts (e.g. SAO)
b) Resource allocator- handling budgets and distributing resources (e.g. Finance)
c) Negotiator – Making deals and forging agreements (e.g. HRD)
d) Entrepreneur- Developing new initiatives (e.g. R & D Coordinator)

F. Management Skills
1. Technical skills - Knowledge and proficiency in a specific field
2. Human skills - The ability to work well with other people both individually and in a group
3. Conceptual skills - The ability to think and conceptualize about abstract and complex
situations concerning the organization

G. Importance of Customers to the Manager’s Job

Customers: the reason that organizations exist
• Managing customer relationships is the responsibility of all managers and employees.
Managers are recognizing that delivering consistent high-quality customer service is essential
for survival and success in today’s competitive environment and that employees are an
important part of that equation. The implication is clear—managers must create a customer-
responsive organization where employees are friendly and courteous, accessible,
knowledgeable, prompt in responding to customer needs, and willing to do what’s necessary
to please the customer
• Consistent high quality customer service is essential for survival.

H. Importance of Innovation to the Manager’s Job

Innovation means doing things differently, exploring new territory, and taking risks.
I. Importance of Sustainability to the Manager’s Job
Although “sustainability” means different things to different people, in essence, according to
the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (2005), it is concerned with “meeting
the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.” From a business perspective, sustainability has been defined as a company’s
ability to achieve its business goals and increase long-term shareholder value by integrating
economic, environmental, and social opportunities into its business strategies.

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