management challenges

7/31/2019 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.

management challenges

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