Download - Management Challenges
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ManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting
people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available
resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning,
organizing staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization
Since organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined
as human action, including design, to facilitate the production of useful outcomes
from a system. This view opens the opportunity to 'manage' oneself, a pre-
requisite to attempting to manage others
Engineering Management
The managing of engineering personnel.
Engineering Management is a career that brings together the technological
problem-solving savvy of engineering and the organizational, administrative, and
planning abilities of management in order to oversee complex enterprises from
conception to completion
The manager does not actually perform the technical engineering tasks, but
coordinates the overall project effort by assigning the different technical tasks to
the available staff. The engineering manager may be in charge of setting the
overall project schedules and budget, and needs to have the ability to keep a "big
picture" perspective.
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Example areas of engineering are product development, manufacturing,
construction ,design engineering, industrial engineering, technology production or
any other field that employs personnel who perform an engineering function.
Importance Of Engineering managementSuccessful engineering managers typically require training and experience in
business and engineering. Technically inept managers tend to be deprived of
support by their technical team, and non-commercial managers tend to lack
commercial acumen to deliver in a market economy.. Largely, engineering
managers manage engineers who are driven by non-entrepreneurial thinking,
thus require the necessary people skills to coach, mentor and motivate technical
professionals. Engineering professionals joining manufacturing companies
sometimes become engineering managers by default after a period of time. Theyare required to learn how to manage once they are on the job, though this is
usually an ineffective way to develop managerial abilities.
Professional organizations
There are a number of societies and organizations dedicated to the field of
engineering management. One of the largest societies is a division of IEEE, the
Engineering Management Society, which regularly publishes a trade magazine.
Another prominent professional organization in the field is the American Society
of Engineering Management (ASEM), which was founded in 1979 by a group of 20
engineering managers from industry.
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MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES FACED BY ENGINEERS
In the current economic climate graduates engineer are finding they arerequired to undertake an increasing range of complex tasks that require a
challenging range of skills which include very significant professional managerial
issues.
More and more in recent times, due to the nature of their technical knowledge
and education, engineers are also finding themselves leading the crucial thrust
towards sustainable engineering business. However, university education has
tended to rely on the knowledge of engineering technology experts who have
little inclination towards engineering business and the resulting commercialchallenges of the 21st Century.
University engineering education can no longer be described as 'basically
scientific and technical in nature' and must be integrated with a knowledge
base associated with Commerce and Business.
Most engineering faculties have attempted to teach managerial skills in their
engineering curricula. However, these have often been approached as a
secondary issue and, consequently, as a bolt-on to the technical skills being
imparted and hence they do not fully encompass an integrated range ofmanagement issues and skills needed.
This approach has not motivated students to become interested in and
committed to the management aspects of their future profession. Consequently,
problematical teaching of management areas is an issue for many Faculties of
Engineering.
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Employer dissatisfaction has also appeared because new graduates are not
orientated to meet engineering management challenges and consequently they
cannot immediately contribute to business outcomes in many engineering and
industrial organisations.
Now some of the management issues faced by an engineer are as follows
Human Resource Management
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the
workforce of an organization.
Human Resource Management is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to
managing people and the workplace and environment and culture.
In an organizations there are people working together of different ages , from
different areas having different beliefs, from different cultures so the first
challenge faced by an engineer is to manage them. Another challenge is the local
standards and codes of the area where the project is taking place. ..It is also
important to note that wherever the project is taking place, all project and field
engineers need to be professionally qualified and familiar with the local standards
and codes. More effective management of human resource is being seen a positive
impact on performance of a company both large or small.
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Quality Management
Another area that can be problematic for engineer is the area of quality. The act
of overseeing all activities and tasks needed to maintain a desired level of
excellence from the point of view of the owners of a project, quality can be a
challenge. The owner representatives (sometimes also referred to as the client, if
construction is being managed by a third party) tend to spend the bulk of their
time on stewarding to the managers. This means that the representatives may
not be focusing on quality nearly as much as they should be.
Cost Management
The area that many Project Managers are challenged by throughout the life of a
project is that of cost. In some cases, projects are started out with
misinformation, because the project estimate is made to appear lower than it
would be in reality to get final project approval. In an environment of scarce
labour resources, lack of competition in the bidding for contracts can increase
project costs. This lack of a competitive bidding environment can also mean that
a parent company is not necessarily getting the best contractor for the job.
Sometimes a parent company may have to settle for less than they were hopingfor, which can increase costs, extend schedule and possibly increase the number
of injuries on the project
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Resource Management
The process ofusing a company's resources in the most efficient way possible.
These resources can include tangible resources suchas goods and equipment, financial resources, and labor resources such
as employees. Resources include labours, machinery etc. If particular area is
undergoing a labour shortage, then the Project Manager should realistically build
that into their initial project schedule. If the workforce isnt available at the ideal
numbers required, then the schedule will be impacted.
Time Management
Time management is the art of arranging, organizing, scheduling,andbudgeting ones time for the purpose of generating more effective work and
productivity.
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Natural CalamitiesOne factor that Project Managers have no control over whatsoever is weather. If
a project is being built in an area that can experience extreme weather, the
weather can have an impact on project schedule. In extreme cold and heat,
workers cannot work outside for extended periods of time. Stormy weather can
also affect work schedules, depending on the severity of the storms.
For the majority of engineers, the development of managerial skills will be
essential and cannot be picked up on the job. The engineer will, in general,
increasingly need to understand the interaction of design with quality control,
commercial and product planning, organisation and finances, and will need to
develop the managerial skill of financial control, industrial relations and
Marketing.
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HOW TO OVERCOME THE ABOVE CHALLENGES
A list of suggested attributes which graduate engineers should possess so that
they can easily handle the management issues.
Decision Making Ability - To be able to assess and decide between competing
solutions to a particular problem This skill will have been taught in relation to
their technical skills but not necessarily in relation to the decision that a manager
needs to make.
Human Skills - To be able to work with, communicate, negotiate and relate to
others both within the organization as well as outside the organisation.Also be
able to teach others, work in groups and with individuals at various levels of
management. Resolve conflicts.
Communication -Be able to send and receive information, thoughts and feelings,
which create common understanding and meaning.
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Interpersonal - Ability to develop and maintain a trusting and open relationship
with superiors, subordinates, peers and external personnel to facilitate the free
exchange of information and provide a productive work setting.
Conceptual - Ability to see the organisation as a whole and to solve problems
from a systematic point of view.
Diagnostic - Ability to determine the probable cause(s) of a problem from
examining the symptoms and which are observed by the manager.
Flexible - Ability to deal with ambiguous and complex situations and rapidlychanging demands.
Administrative - Ability to follow policies and procedures, process paper work in
an orderly manner and manage expenditures within the limits set by budgets.
Other skills that should be included in the discussion are
- quality control, commercial and product planning, organisation and finances,
and will need to develop the managerial skill of financial control, industrial
relations and marketing.
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Interview
We interviewed two persons to get a better knowledge of the challenges faced byengineers .So i will tell you about their perspective about it one by one.
1.Interview with PIA Aircraft engineer(Waqar Ahmad Khan):
For our project we first interviewed Waqar Ahmad Khan (Air craft engineer).I will
share some information about PIA which was told by him.
PIA ENGINEERING RING
In PIA all the things are going on according to the planning or management. These
are called PIA engineering ring.
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In this wing the manager has to do all the things what he asked to do, not extra
thing. They are the basically maintaining the things. Like overhaul shops only
repair things not do extra work with the plane.
Engineering Wing
Another wing he told us about the engineering wing. As the name suggests it
includes engineering projects etc.
Maintenance
HeavyMaintenance
BaseMaintenance
Structurerepair Shop
Overhaulshops
Avionics
Radio Electricalinstrumentati
on
Aerospace
Engine Loading &Aircraft fuel
servicing
Line /lightMaintenance
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Quality Systems
Engineering
DevelopmentEngineering
Reliability Report
Technical Services
Technical matters
Quality
systems
Control Audit
Develop +
implementprocedures
Quality advisories
Quality Alert
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The quality systems are totally concerned about the quality of product. Pakistan
Civil Aviation Authority(PCAA) and Europeans Aviations safety agency(EASA) are
also included.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union(EU) with offices in Cologne, Germany, which has been given regulatory and
executive tasks in the field of civilian aviation safety.
Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is a regulatory authority, which oversees
and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in Pakistan. Nearly all civilian airports in
Pakistan are owned and operated by the CAA. CAA's head office is situated in
Terminal 1 of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.
TRG+Automation
It includes all the managing directors which control all thses wings.
Logistics
First we will see what is basically logistics so:
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and
the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or
corporations.
So in PIA logistics include all the parts, engines and all other things required for
the aero plane. It is the good for maintenance, control etc.
Relationship
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Linemainteneace
Quality systems
Control
Instrumentaion
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Management challenges
Now management challenges faced by these engineers managers are as follows:
1.Engineers Itself:
The main problem about management according to his perspective isENGINEERS
MANAGERS ITSELF.
He told that when an engineer becomes a manager then he know about his field
very well like how to connect wires, how to build aeroplanes. But as he is not do
the basics of management ,so he is not a good manager as the person who did
management degree. So the manager should be an ECONOMIST NOT
ENGINEER.
Because of this fact engineers face many problems relating management like cost
management, human resource management etc.
2.Logistics:
The other thing is the logistic problem.
Control
Structure Repair
Shop
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Suppose PIA wanted to buy a parts for the aero plane.
Suppose PIA has these aero planes and their parts:
1. B-777 =12
a. B-777 200=6
b. B-777 300=6
2. B-747 =9
a. B-747 200=7
b. B-747 300=2
3. ATR=12
a. ATR=7
b. ATR=5
Now if PIA buy 12 parts for the 777 then he had to buy two different types of
parts. not the one specific for 777. So managing all these logistics PIA had to pay
more money. The thing he wanted to say is if I bought one part for 777 200 then itis not necessary that this part is also fit in 777 300.Same for other aero plane this
also the problem faced by engineers manager.
3.Lack of trust:
Another main thing he told us is about the lack of trust between the PIA engineer
managers. They dont trust each other so they never come at single point. This
affects the total management process. If they work untidily in PIA then it is better
future for the PIA.
4.Communication gap:
Another problem according to his perspective is communication gap between
seniors and juniors. They never understand each other and so not work properly
as they should to.
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The juniors cant be deliver the message to senior with comfort.
5.Lack of Leadership:
He also thinks that PIA leadership is not so good, so the engineer managers faced
many difficulties with management and leadership cannot solve these problems.
2.Interview with Trisktor engineering manager(Muhammad Suhaib Hafeez):
Our second interview was with Suhaib Hafeez which told about his perspective
about the challenges he faced.
Conclusion
Engineers can be good managers, if they think about managing their management
performance in a similar way to doing engineering: identifying how to manage
your staff, and a willingness to observe your own work.
You don't have to do everything perfectly as a manager. You need to do enough
right to help people do their best work group and provide your staff with an
environment they can do their best work in.