1. What is Management?

- Management may be defined as the “creative problem solving-process of

planning, organizing, leading, and controlling an organization’s resources to
achieve its mission and objectives”.

2. Define Engineering Management.

- Engineering management refers to the activity combining “technical
knowledge with the ability to organize and coordinate worker power,
materials, machinery, and money.”

3. What are the functions of Management? Explain each function.

- Management is a process consisting of planning, organizing, staffing,
directing (or leading), and controlling.

a. Planning
Planning is future-oriented and determines an organization’s direction. It
is a rational and systematic way of making decisions today that will affect the
future of the firm. It is a kind of organized foresight as well as corrective
hindsight. It involves predicting of the future as well as attempting to control
the events. It involves the ability to foresee the effects of current actions in
the long run in the future. Management must seek to find out the objectives
of the organization and think of ways on how to achieve them.

b. Organizing
Organizing requires a formal structure of authority and the direction and
flow of such authority through which work subdivisions are defined, arranged
and coordinated so that each part relates to the other part in a united and
coherent manner so as to attain the prescribed objectives. The function of
organizing involves the determination of activities that need to be done in
order to reach the company goals, assigning these activities to the proper
personnel, and delegating the necessary authority to carry out these activities
in a coordinated and cohesive manner.

c. Staffing
Staffing is the function of hiring and retaining a suitable work-force for the
enterprise both at managerial as well as non-managerial levels. It involves
the process of recruiting, training, developing, compensating and evaluating
employees and maintaining this workforce with proper incentives and
motivations. Since the human element is the most vital factor in the process
of management, it is important to recruit the right personnel.
 This function is even more critically important since people differ in their
intelligence, knowledge, skills, experience, physical condition, age and
attitudes, and this complicates the function. Hence, management must
understand, in addition to the technical and operational competence, the
sociological and psychological structure of the workforce.

d. Directing
The directing function is concerned with leadership, communication,
motivation, and supervision so that the employees perform their activities
in the most efficient manner possible, in order to achieve the desired goals.
The leadership element involves issuing of instructions and guiding the
subordinates about procedures and methods.
The communication must be open both ways so that the information can
be passed on to the subordinates and the feedback received from them.
Motivation is very important since highly motivated people show excellent
performance with less direction from superiors.
Supervising subordinates would lead to continuous progress reports as
well as assure the superiors that the directions are being properly carried out.

e. Controlling
The function of control consists of those activities that are undertaken to
ensure that the events do not deviate from the pre-arranged plans. The
activities consist of establishing standards for work performance, measuring
performance and comparing it to these set standards and taking corrective
actions as and when needed, to correct any deviations.
According to Koontz & O’Donnell, “Controlling is the measurement &
correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure
that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being
accomplished”.
The controlling function involves:
a. Establishment of standard performance.
b. Measurement of actual performance.
c. Measuring actual performance with the pre-determined standard and
finding out the deviations.
d. Taking corrective action.
4. What is the function of an Engineer Manager?
- An engineer manager, being a top position, is the general managership or
presidency of any firm, large or small. His/her main responsibility is to lead
his group into producing a certain output consistent with the required
specifications.

5. What is the requirement of an Engineer Manager?

- Depending on the type of products or services a firm produces, the engineer
manager must have the following qualifications:
a. A bachelor’s degree in engineering from a reputable school. In some
cases, a master’s degree in engineering or business management is
required.
b. A few years of experience in a pure engineering job.
c. Training in supervision.
d. Special training in engineering management.

6. How one may become a successful Engineer Manager?

- As indicated by Kreitner, there are at least three (3) general preconditions for
achieving lasting success as a manager. These are—ability, motivation to
manage, and opportunity.

a. Ability

Managerial ability refers to the capacity of an engineer manager to

achieve organizational objectives effectively and efficiently.

Effectiveness and Efficiency

According to Higgins, effectiveness refers to a description of
“whether objectives are accomplished”, while efficiency on the other
hand, is a description of the relative amount of resources used in
obtaining effectiveness.”
A situational example:
If a civil engineer was asked by his superiors to finish a 100-
kilometer road cementing project within eight (8) months, he is said to be
effective if he finished the job within the required period. On the other
hand, his efficiency is measured by the inputs (labor and materials) he
poured into the project in relation to the actual output (the 100-kilometer
road). If the same output is made with less inputs, the more efficient the
civil engineer becomes.
b. Motivation to Manage

John B. Miner, a management researcher, developed a psychometric

instrument to measure objectively an individual’s motivation to manage.
The test is anchored to the following dimensions:

1. Favorable attitude towards those in positions of authority, such as

superiors.
2. Desire to engage in games or sports competition with peers.
3. Desire to engage in occupational or work-related competition with
peers.
4. Desire to assert oneself and take charge.
5. Desire to exercise power and authority over others.
6. Desire to behave in a distinctive way, which includes standing out from
the crowd.
7. Sense of responsibility in carrying out the routine duties associated
with managerial work.

High scores in the foregoing dimensions are associated with high

motivation to manage.

c. Opportunity

Successful managers become possible only if those having the ability

and motivation are given the opportunity to manage. The opportunity for
successful management has two (2) requirements:

1. Obtaining a suitable managerial job, and

2. Finding a supportive climate once on the job.

Newspaper advertisements abound with the needs for engineering

managers. It is a little difficult to determine if the firms requiring their
services provide a supportive climate for effective and efficient
management. A supportive climate is characterized by the recognition of
managerial talent through financial and nonfinancial rewards.
 Republic of the Philippines
EASTERN VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Tacloban City, Leyte

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ASSIGNMENT NO.1 in MGT 102

(Engineering Management)

Submitted by:

AGAS, ANGELA FAITH M.

BSGE-5A

Submitted to:
ENGR. ELVIRA DOLORES URGEL
Instructor