1.

0 FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
In most aspect of our lives we are member of one organization or another a college, a sport
team, a musical, religions or theatre groups, a branch of the armed forces, professional-body,
social club or even a business concern. These organizations differ from one another. The army
or business groups may be well organized whereas a basket ball team of club may be casually
structured. However, all organizations have several basics things in common.
Perhaps, the most obvious common element our organization will have is goal or purpose.
Again, the goals will differ to win a league championship, win a war, to entertain the
audience, to sell a product. Hence, no organization can exist without a goal. Our organizations
will also have some programmed or method for achieving their goal to manufacture and
make profit, to advertise a product, to win a certain number of times to be the leader in
businesses all the time.
Finally, our organization will have leaders or managers responsible for the organization to
achieve their goals. There is no human endeavor that does not require proper functioning. All
types of organizations, business enterprises, hospital, cooperatives, churches, mosques,
whether profit making or non-profit making, require good management to function effectively.
Managing is one of the most important human activities that permeate all organizations.
Whenever people work together for attainment of a predetermined objective, there is a need
for management that is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that aims and objectives of
the organizations are realized. It is the managements responsibility to ensure that every
member of the groups contributes his best. To get people put in their best efforts, the manager
has to understand peoples, their emotional, physical and intellectual needs. He has to
appreciate that each member of the groups has his own personal needs and aspirations and
that these are influenced by such factors as the ethnic, social, political, economic and the
technological environment of which he is a part.

1.2 DEFINING MANAGEMENT

Different meanings have been attributed to the word Management. Some people see it as
referring to a group of people. They think of a management team or groups of individuals in an
organization. Management is also seen as a process demands the performance of a specific
function. Here management is a profession. To a student, management is an academic

discipline. In this instance, people study the art of managing or management science. Here are
some of the definitions given by authority in management science:
To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control.
H. FAYOL (1916)

Management is used to designate either a group of functions or the personnel who carry them
out; to described either an organizations official hierarchy or the activities of men who
compose it to provide autonomy labor or ownership.
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (1957)

Management is a social process the process consist of planning, control, coordination and
motivation.
E.F.L BRECH (1957)

Managing is an operational process initially best dissected by analyzing the managerial

functions The five essential managerial functions are: planning, organizing, staffing, directing
and leading, and controlling.
KOONTZ AND ODONNELL (1984)

Five areas of management constitute the essence of proactive performance in our chaotic
world: (1) an obsession with responsiveness to customers, (2) constant innovation in all areas of
the firm, (3) partnership the wholesale participation of and gain sharing with all people
connected with organization, (4) leadership that loves change (instead of fighting it) and instills
and shares an inspiring vision, and (5) control by means of simple support systems aimed at
measuring the right stuff for todays environment.
T. PETERS (1988)

Management is the art of getting things done through people.

C.C. NWACHUKWU (1988)

It can be more scientifically defined as the coordination of all the resources of an organization
through the process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling in order to attain

organizational objectives. Management is the guidance or direction of people towards

organization goals or objective. It can also be seen as the supervising, controlling and
coordinating of activity to attain optimum results with organizational resources.
As will be used most commonly in this course, management is the process of reaching
organizational goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources. A
comparison of this definition with the definitions offered by several contemporary
management thinkers shows that there is broad agreement has the following three main
characteristics:
i)
ii)
iii)

It is a process or series of continuing and related activities.

It involves and concentrates on reaching organizational goals.
It reaches these goals by working with and through people and other organizational
resources.

The need for management arises when a group of people tackle tasks that are too large or
complex for any one individually to cope with. When faced with such situations people soon
discover that they need to define tasks and allocates roles in order to develop a solution. The
process of breaking tasks or problems down into key elements has traditionally involved the
classic management practices of Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating,
Reporting and Budgeting. These activities make-up the essential elements of most traditional
management roles and can be defined as the classic functions of management. The four basic
management functions as follows:

1.2.1 PLANNING
Planning involves choosing tasks that must be performed to attain organizational goals, outline
how the task must be performed and indicating when they should be performed. Planning
activities focuses on attaining goals. Through their plans, managers outlined exactly what
organizations must do to be successful. Planning is concerned with organizational success in the
near future (long term). Planning is intended to provide a strong focus for any project or task. It
comprises the following elements:
i)

ii)

Establishing objectives: Establishing the outputs or results that have to be achieved.

For example, increase production sales, profitability by x%. Increase customer
response times by y.
Establishing procedure: Developing and applying standardized methods and
processes for conducting the work. For example, what project management or
process control systems will we use?

iii)
iv)
v)
vi)

Decision making: Arriving at the right findings, conclusions and recommendations,

and making appropriate decisions in a timely manner.
Forecasting: Estimation of organization future needs and requirements. For
example, markets share, profit and revenue streams, return on investment.
Scheduling: Establishing the priorities and sequence of actions to achieve the
objectives. What is the order in which things need to happen?
Budgeting: Allocating the resources necessary people, equipment and finance- to
achieve the objectives. For example, a financial budget of $1.5 million and a project
team of 10 people supported by 3 contract workers.

1.2.2 ORGANIZING
Organizing can be thought as assigning the tasks developed under the planning function to
various individual or groups within the organization. Organizing, then, creates a mechanism to
put plan into action. People within the organization are given work assignments that contribute
to companys goals. Tasks are organized so that the output of individuals contributes to the
success of departments, which, in turn contribute to the success of divisions, which ultimately
contributes to the success of the organization. It also includes the selection and training of
people to deliver the necessary results. The function comprises of the following:
i)
ii)
iii)

Selecting people: Identifying the right people with the appropriate skills for the
tasks or roles to be performed.
Delegation: Allocating the necessary levels of responsibity, authority and
accountability to complete work.
Establishing working relationships: Create the right atmosphere and climate for
effective team working and the development of strong and productive working
relationship.

1.2.3 INFLUENCING
Influencing is another basic function within the management process. This function -also
commonly referred to as leading, directing, or actuating- is concerned primarily with people
within organizations. Influencing can be defined as guiding the activities of organization
members in appropriate directions. An appropriate direction is any direction that helps the
organization more toward goal attainment. The ultimate purpose of influencing is to increase
productivity. Human-oriented work situations usually generate high level of production over
the long term than do task-oriented situations, because people find the letter type of situations

distribution. This function involves getting people to take action and comprises the following
elements:
i)
ii)

iii)

Communication: Creating a shared understanding of the goals and objectives

through the use of a range of effective communications channel.
Motivating people: Energizing people and encouraging them to deliver high levels of
performance. Maintaining a strong willingness to deliver at all times regardless of
temporary setbacks and disappointments.
Developing people: Guiding and advising people on how best they can develop skills
and realize their full potential.

1.2.4 CONTROLLING
Controlling is the management function for which managers:
1. Gather information that measures recent performance within the organization.
2. Compare present performance to pre established performance.
3. From the comparison, determine if the organization should be modified to meet pre
established standards.
Controlling is an ongoing process. Managers continually gather information, make their
comparisons, and then try to find new ways of improving production through organizational
modification. This function involves the followings:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)

Establishing performance standard: Establishing the criteria by which work

processes and results will be assessed and measured.
Measuring performance: Recording and reporting on work in progress to see if it
meeting the required quality and performance levels.
Evaluating performance: Evaluating and appraising the work results.
Correcting performance: Taking timely and corrective action to improve working
methods and performance results.

ORGANIZATIONAL
GOALS

PLANNING

INFUENCING

CONTROLLING

ORGANIZING

Figure 1: Interrelations of the Four Functions of Management to Attain Organization Goals

1.3 TYPES OF LEVELS IN MANAGEMENT

One way to grasp the complexity of management is to see that managers can practices at
different levels in an organization and with different ranges of organizational activities:

1.3.1 MANAGEMENT LEVELS

i)
First-Line Managers: Manager who are responsible for the work of operating
employees only and do not supervise other managers, they are first or lowest level
of managers in the organizational hierarchy. Examples of firs-line managers are the
foreman or production supervisor in a manufacturing plant, the technical supervisor
in a large office. First-line managers are often called supervisor.
ii)
Middle-Manager: Managers in the mid-range of the organizational hierarchy; they
are responsible for other managers and sometimes for some operating employees;
they also report to more senior managers. Middle managers principal
responsibilities are to direct the activities that implement their organizations

iii)

policies and to balance the demands of their managers with the capacities of their
employers.
Top Manager: Managers who are responsible for the overall management of the
organization; they establish operating policies, and guide the organizations
interaction with its environment. These people chief executive, president, and
vice-president

1.3.2 FUNCTIONAL AND GENERAL MANAGERS

Another major classification of managers depends on the scope of activities they manage.
Organizations are often described as a set of functions. A function, in this sense, is a collection
of similar activities. The marketing function, for example, commonly consists of sales,
promotion, distribution, and market research activities. At foundry shop, the marketing is
responsible for TV ads and the research and development function is responsible for developing
new components while production function is to produce castings.
i)
ii)

Functional Manager: A manager responsible for just one organizational activity,

such as finance, human resources management, production, or marketing.
General Manager: The individual responsible for all functional activities, such as
production, sales, marketing and finance, for an organization such as a company or a
subsidiary. A small company may have only one general manager its president or
executive vice-president- but a large food company for example; there may be a
grocery-products division, a refrigerated-products division, and a frozen foodproducts division, with a different general manager responsible for each. Like the
chief executive of a small company for all the activities.

It is important to remember that functional and general managers alike plan, organize, lead and
control relationships over time. The difference, again, is the scope of activities that they
oversee.

1.4 MANAGERIAL ROLES

By the definition of management whenever people work together, there is generally a need for
the coordination of efforts in order to attain expected results in reasonable time, and minimum
amount of money, discomfort or energy. All people who oversee the function of people who
must work in subordinate position are manager. Managers are people who primarily
responsible for the organizational goals.

This indicates that managers use all the resources of the organization its finances, equipment,
materials and information as well as its people to attain their goals. Essentially the role of
managers is to guide organizations toward goal accomplishment. All organizations exist for
certain purposes or goals, and managers are responsible for combining and using organizational
resources to ensure that their organization achieved their purposes. No modern management
pyramid can be built without the support of system as well as competent manager.
We have discussed management in terms of four broad functions. We can look beyond these
functions to identify a number of specific roles that managers may fill at various times. You are
already familiar with some of the crucial roles required of managers because you are already
a veteran of many different relationships that have evolved over your life thus far! In your ties
with your family, friends, classmates, and co-workers, sometimes you lead, sometimes you act
as a go-be-between or liaison, and sometimes other look to you as a symbol of some
worthwhile trait or honesty or willingness to work hard. In these same relationships, you
monitor what is going on outside the relationships, share information with your partners as a
spoke person for them. Furthermore, you sometimes take the initiative, sometimes handle
disagreements, sometimes allocate resources such as money, and sometimes negotiate with
your collaborators.
Hence, the managers agenda consisting of precisely the ten activities underlined above. The
first three can be refer to as interpersonal roles of manager, the next three as informational
roles, and the final four as decisional roles. Each of these roles requires specific skill, knowledge
as well as carrying out the following typical functions:
I)

II)

III)

Manager works with and through other people: Here the terms people include
not only subordinates and supervisors but also other manager in the organization.
People also include the individuals outside the organization customers, clients,
suppliers, union representatives and so on. These people and others provide goods
and services or use the products and services of the organization. Managers then
work with anyone at any level within or outside their organizational goals within the
organization.
Managers are responsible and accountable: They are in charge of seeing that
specific tasks are done successively. They are also responsible for action of their
subordinates. The success or failure of their subordinates is a direct reflection of
managers success.
Manager balance competing goals and priorities: At any time manager faces a
number of organizational goals, problems and needs all of which compete for the
managers time and resources (both human and materials). Because such resources
are always limited, a manager must decide who is to perform a particular task and

IV)

V)

VI)

VII)

VIII)

must assign work to the appropriate subordinates. The key thing is to identify
priorities.
Manager must think analytically and conceptually: To be an analytical thinker, a
manager must be able to break a problem down into its components; analyze those
components and then come up with a feasible solution. But it is ever more
important for a manager to be conceptual thinker, able to view the entire task in the
abstract and relate it to other tasks.
Managers are mediator: Organizations are made up of people and they disagree a
lot. Dispute lower morals, productivity, and are unpleasant. Settling quarrels need
skill and tactics. Managers should handle these carefully.
Managers are politicians: This means that manager must build a good relationship
and use persuasion and compromise in order to promote some organization goals
just as politicians do to move their programs forward. Managers must win support
for proposals or decisions or gain cooperation in carrying out major activities and
objectives.
Managers are diplomats: They serve as official representatives of their work units at
organizational meetings. They may represent the entire organization as well as a
particular unit dealing with clients, customers, contractors, government official or
personnel of other companies or organization.
Managers make difficult decision: No organization run smoothly all the times. There
is almost no limit to the number and types of problems that may occur: financial
difficulties, problems with employees, differences of opinion on organizational
policy etc. manager must come to all times.