Engineering Management: Challenges in the New Millennium

 ANSWERS TO CHAPTER CHAPTER 3 QUESTIONS QUESTIONS  ANSWER 3.1

Forming a concurrent team is the most suitable strategy for this assignment. The steps to take are: (1) name selected staff with experience in major functions (e.g. marketing and sales design engineering product de!elopment customer ser!ice and production) as members (") set objecti!es (#) define timelines and budget constraints and ($) declare a top priority for all supports the team might need.  ANSWER 3.2 

%he should take the following steps: (1) benchmark externally to define the current le!el of in&house 'uality performance and pertinent metrics to assess 'uality performance (") set up a 'uality impro!ement team ('uality cycle) comprised of representati!es of the workers who ha!e hands&on experience and skills in handling different materials the team should ha!e no management people (#) define team objecti!es ($) specify time and resources constraints () hire external consultants to offer ideas of best practices in materials handling but only if the team makes little progress o!er a reasonable period of time (*) support the team recommendations and make resources a!ailable for its implementation (+) recogni,e and reward team achie!ements and (-) regularly monitor 'uality performance thereafter.  ANSWER 3.3 

The preempti!e introduction of the first batch of sophisticated products to a technologically un&ad!anced country signifies a major competiti!e ad!antage for the company in that marketplace. nly fools fools would gi!e up that marketing marketing entry entry and associated expansion opportunity and hand it o!er to the competition. /o not make the same mistake as the training manager who suffers from a chronic lack of perspecti!e. The company should do the following: 0. eject the suggestion of of the training training manager and continue to honor the sales contact. 2. 3onduct a comprehensi!e sur!ey of trainees to elicit comments comments about the training program (e.g. language technical terms speed of deli!ery lack of hands&on practices trainers not proficient in training arrogant attitude toward third&world engineers etc.) and ask for their recommendations to impro!e. 3. 4ork with trainees to refine the training programs programs (e.g. add remedial topics for trainees to catch up on selected background materials use electronic e'uipment not widely a!ailable back

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home conduct plant tours to obser!e real&life operation and maintenance procedures etc.). /. %end experienced maintenance and operational personnel to !isit the trainees for a period of time to pro!ide additional on& site guidance. 5. %et up a call center to continue to offer support for the trainees.  ANSWER 3.4

0 change in business conditions is a !alid reason for manpower reduction. 6es the engineer should be discharged with se!erance pay. The company may want to retain the ser!ice of an outplacement consulting firm to assist the engineer in finding a new job. Furthermore the company may offer a !ery positi!e reference letter to support the engineer in his search for a new job.  ANSWER 3.5 

The company president should take the following steps: 0. 0uthori,e market research to !erify the existence of an enlarged customer base for the company7s products. 2. 3onduct an external benchmarking program to !alidate the company7s marketing practice in order to be comparable to the best in industry. 3. 3ommunicate the results to all employees !ia a town meeting electronic bulletin board company newsletter or other such means. /. Form a high&le!el team which contains representati!e of all major functional groups (e.g. marketing design engineering product de!elopment production finance and ser!ice) to come up with a strategy of broadening the customer base (e.g. segment si,e growth rate new product features competition marketing8 sales program ser!ice organi,ation to ensure customer satisfaction etc.). 5. 3reate a 9ew roducts /i!ision whose primary objecti!es are to make market and sell new products and pro!ide ser!ice to the enlarged target customer base. F. 0uthori,e resources and delegate the responsibility and authority of program implementation to the 9ew roducts /i!ision. ;.

e!iew results regularly to monitor progress.

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 ANSWER 3.6 

0c'uire a small company to shorten the thus more readily preser!e its position in
time to market and the marketplace. modify production line current marketing relations.
 ANSWER 3.7 

The preferred members on this presidential task force should be marketing8sales design engineering product de!elopment production finance logistics and ser!ice. The specific representati!es from these functional groups must be experienced recogni,ed leaders in their domains of expertise known for their inno!ati!e and creati!e insights and be relati!ely easy to work with. The task force should first get organi,ed. 0!ailable data are then to be re!iewed. The task force should brainstorm possible causes for the declining sales: 0. 4as the product price too high in comparison to competition due to high product cost= 2. 4ere the sales people ineffecti!e due to poor training low morale meager compensation and8or inade'uate e'uipment8 facilities= 3. 4as the ad!ertisement budget too low resulting in poor product exposures and insufficient brand name recognition= /. 4as there a decrease in product demand due to new substitution products recently coming into the market from o!erseas= 5. 4ere the customers dissatisfied with the ser!ices (e.g. problem&sol!ing spare parts order processing etc.) offered= F.

thers.

0ssign task force members to collect8ac'uire applicable data to !erify any identified causes responsible for the decline in sales. nce the real causes for decline in sales are identified add additional experts to the task force to help define solutions. /e!elop options to eliminate all causes of the problem. ank&order the options document the decision criteria and

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report back to the company president with recommendations. eorgani,e the task force to include experts on project implementation. 3arry out the project plan as appro!ed.  ANSWER 3.8 

>eeting customer7s re'uirements must always be the primary goal of e!ery company e!en if it means a loss of profitability. e&organi,e the project to utili,e external resources (e.g. drafting model making testing design of specific parts 'uality control etc.) for supplementing in&house capabilities in order to shorten the time to market. The project manager should estimate the additional costs in!ol!ed and get an authori,ation from company management. 0ssure >arketing that roject ? will be deli!ered on time. @nderstand the real causes of project delays (e.g. poor initial estimates poor execution special unanticipated e!ents deli!ery problems of !endor&supplied parts short supply of skilled staff due to resignation etc.) de!elop the pertinent contingency measures and document these findings for future use.  ANSWER 3.9 

%ince the director7s need to know details may be brought about by the need of his boss the A it is not a good idea for %ally to 'uestion >ark7s wisdom of raising so many detailed 'uestions. ead all progress reports make notes at staff meeting and tabulate the major milestones and results of all projects. %ally should ha!e this table on her desk so that some details can be extracted from it when the director calls. ake notes on additional details so reported. esist an increase in the fre'uency of re!iews as %ally should protect her staff from di!erting too much time to communications with the director.  ANSWER 3.10 

0s illustrated in Table #&1 there are two additional ladders besides the managerial ladder for engineers to consider:

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TABLE 3-1.

CAREER LADDERS FOR ENGINEERS

!ice Presi"ent

Director

Manager

Director 

Manager  

Fellow

 

Associate

Supervisor

Project Manager

Consultant

Section Engineer

Project Engineer

Senior Engineer  

Sta Engineer 

Engineer 

 ANSWER 3.11

The difference in the number of people assigned to different departments is rather common.
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