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PREFACE
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UNIT 2: MANAGEMENT AND ITS FUNCTIONS

2.0. Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, students are expected to:

• Define management
• Identify the functions of management

2.1. Introduction

After going through with the history of management, we now come to the
discussion of management and its functions. As soon-to-be engineers, it is very
important to realize that the supposed minimum position you may have is being
a supervisor or a manager. Engineers in the field should be equipped with the
correct knowledge and more importantly, the traits in dealing with people. This
is management but particularly focused on the field of engineering. With this
discussion, we are expected to define management and its functions. Just like in
any organization, without proper management, it will never succeed.

Engineers are expected to perform a variety of tasks depending on their

specialization and job level. It is important to the engineer that he knows what is
expected of him so that he may be able to perform his job effectively and
efficiently. Efficiency in engineering is usually computed as output over input.
With this, a higher efficiency would be the result from a greater value of output
using the least number of input. Note that every organization has always limited
resources. The more output in which a company produces, the more will it
benefit. And this of course will not be possible without this course,
ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT.

The next concern of the engineer will be to identify the skills required but which
he does not have. As engineers are not trained to directly deal with people, it is
expected that their weakness will most often be on people-based skills. This
difficulty will be more apparent once they are assigned to occupy management
positions. It follows that if the engineer manager would want to do his job well,
some exposure to engineering management activities became necessary.

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2.2 Topics/Discussion (with Assessment/Activities)

2.2.1 The Functions of the Engineer

Engineering is the application of science and math to solve problems. Engineers

figure out how things work and find practical uses for scientific discoveries.
Scientists and inventors often get the credit for innovations that advance the
human condition, but it is engineers who are instrumental in making those
innovations available to the world.

The history of engineering is part and parcel of the history of human civilization.
The Pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge, the Parthenon and the Eiffel Tower stand
today as monuments to our heritage of engineering. Today's engineers not only
build huge structures, such as the International Space Station, but they are also
building maps to the human genome and better, smaller computer chips.

Engineers design, evaluate, develop, test, modify, install, inspect and maintain a
wide variety of products and systems. They also recommend and specify
materials and processes, supervise manufacturing and construction, conduct
failure analysis, provide consulting services and teach engineering courses in
colleges and universities.
Even as engineers are currently producing solutions to many of the difficulties
faced by mankind, much is still expected of them. Their outputs, new or
improvements of old ones are very much needed in the following specific
problem concerns:

• the production of more food for a fast-growing world population;

• the elimination of air and water pollution
• solid waste disposal and materials recycling;
• the reduction of noise in various forms;
• supplying the increasing demand for energy;
• supplying the increasing demand for mobility;
• preventing and solving crimes; and
• meeting the increasing demand for communication facilities
Specifically, the functions of engineering encompass the following areas:

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• Research – where the engineer is engaged in the process of learning about

nature and codifying this knowledge into usable theories.
• Design and development – where the engineer undertake the activity of
turning a product concept to a finished physical item. Design for
manufacturability and value engineering teams (a feature of some companies)
are charged with improvement of designs and specifications at the research,
development, design, and production stages of product development.
• Testing – where the engineer works in a unit where new products or parts are
tested for workability.
• Manufacturing – where the engineer is directly in charge of production
personnel or assumes responsibility for the product.
• Construction – this is where the construction engineer (civil engineer usually)
is directly in charge of the construction personnel or may have responsibility
for the quality of the construction process.
• Sales - where the engineer assists the company’s customers to meet their needs,
especially those that require technical expertise.
• Consulting – where the engineer works as consultant of any individual or
organization requiring his services.
• Government – where the engineer may find employment in the government
performing any of the various tasks in regulating, monitoring, and controlling
the activities of various institutions, public or private.
• Teaching – where the engineer gets employment in a school and is assigned as
a teacher of engineering courses. Some of them become deans, vice presidents,
and presidents.
• Management – where the engineer is assigned to manage groups of people
performing specific tasks.

2.2.2 The Engineer in Various Types of Organization

From the viewpoint of the engineer, organizations may be classified according

to the degree of engineering jobs performed:
• Level One – those with minimal engineering jobs like retailing firms.
• Level Two – those with a moderate degree of engineering jobs like
transportation companies
• Level Three – those with a high degree of engineering jobs like
construction firms.

The figure below shows the Types of Organization and the Management Skills
Required of Engineers

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Management Skills Required at Various Levels

Among the types of organizations, the engineer will have a slim chance of
becoming the general manager or president of level one, unless of course, he
owns the firm. The engineer manger may be assigned to head a small
engineering unit of the firm, but there will not be too many firms which will have
this unit.

In level two firms, the engineer may be assigned to head the engineering
division. The need for management skills will now be felt by the engineer
manager.

Level three firms provide the biggest opportunity for an engineer to become the
president or general manager. In this case, the engineer manager cannot function
effectively without adequate management skills.

2.2.3 What is Engineering Management?

Engineering management refers to the activity combining “technical knowledge

with the ability to organize and coordinate worker power, materials, machinery,
and money.”

When the engineer is assigned to supervise the work of even a few people, he is
already engaged in the first phase of engineering management. His main
responsibility is to lead his group into producing a certain output consistent with
the required specifications.

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The top position an engineer manager may hope to occupy is the general
managership or presidency of any firm, large or small. As he scales the
management ladder, he finds that the higher he goes up, the less technical
activities he performs, and the more management tasks he accepts. In this case,
it is but proper that the management functions taught in pure management
courses be well understood by the engineer manager.

2.2.4 Management Defined

Since the engineer manager is presumed to be technically competent in his

specialization, one may now proceed to describe more thoroughly the remaining
portion of his job, which 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.”

2.2.5 The Process of Management

Management is a process consisting of planning, organizing, directing (or

leading), and controlling.

Management must seek to find out the objectives of the organization, think of
ways how to achieve them, decide on the ways to be adapted and the material
resources to be used, determine the human requirements of the total job, assign
specific tasks to specific persons, motivate them, and provide means to make
sure that the activities are in the right direction.

The figure below shows Management Levels and Areas

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The table below exhibits the management levels and the type of jobs they are
expected to perform.

Level Type of Jobs

• Directly supervise non-managers.

• Carry out the plans and objectives of
First-line higher management using the personnel
and other resources assigned to them.
Managers
• Short-range operating plans governing
what will be done tomorrow or next week,
assign tasks to their workers, supervise the
work that is done, and evaluate the
performance of individual workers.
• Manage through other managers.
• Make plans of intermediate range to
achieve the long-range goals set by top
Middle management, establish departmental
Management policies, and evaluate the performance of
subordinate work units and their
managers.
• Provide and integrating and coordinating
function so that the short-range decisions
and activities of first-line supervisory

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groups can be orchestrated toward

achievement of the long-range goals of the
enterprise.
• Responsible for defining the character,
mission, and objectives of the enterprise.
Top • Establish criteria for and review long-
range plans.
Management
• Evaluate the performance of major
departments, and they evaluate leading
management personnel to gauge their
readiness for promotion to key executive
positions.

The table below shows the basic managerial roles

2.2.6 Requirements for the Engineer Manager’s Job

Depending on the type of products or services a firm produces, the engineer

manager must have the following qualifications:
• a bachelor’s degree in engineering from a reputable school; In some
cases, a master’s degree in engineering or business management is
required;

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• a few years’ experience in pure engineering job;

• training in supervision;
• special training in engineering management

These are just few qualifications which an engineer manager needs to secure in
order to become a reputable leader of the organization. In order for you to
become an engineer, you need to get a degree in engineering and pass the
licensure exam if there is. Furthermore, learning should not stop and this can be
achieved by securing a masters’ degree in our field of specialization. As the
saying goes, a good leader is a good follower. In order for you to be an effective
manager, you need first to put your feet on the shoes of your subordinates to find
out and understand their positions and stands on various issues of the
organization. Another saying goes that experience is the best teacher. Learning
can be in many forms but experience stands out to be the best. After experiencing
your field of specialization, it is also best for the engineer manager to have a
training in holding people of the organization. Little by little, the engineer
manager will soon learn how to deal with his/her people considering that
everyone has a unique characteristics or traits.

2.2.7 How One May Become a Successful Engineer Manager

Successful engineer managers do not happen as a matter of chance, although

luck is contributory factor. It is very important for the engineer manager to know
the various factors leading to successful management.

Kreitner indicates at least three general preconditions for achieving lasting

success as a manager.
• ability
• motivation to manage,
• opportunity

Ability
Managerial ability refers to the capacity of an engineer manager to achieve
organizational objectives effectively and efficiently. Effectiveness, according to
Higgins, refers to a description of “whether objectives are accomplished”, while
efficiency is a description of the relative amount of resources used in obtaining
effectiveness.”

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Motivation to Manage
Many people have the desire to work and finish specific tasks assigned by
superiors, but not many are motivated to manage other people so that they may
contribute to the realization of the organization’s objectives.

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:
• Favorable attitude toward those in positions of authority, such as
superiors;
• Desire to engage in games or sports competition with peers.
• Desire to engage in occupational or work-related competition with peers.
• Desire to assert oneself and take charge.
• Desire to exercise power and authority over others.
• Desire to behave in a distinctive way, which includes standing out from
the crowd.
• Sense of responsibility in carrying out the routine duties associated with
managerial work.

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 requirements namely obtaining a suitable managerial job,
and finding a supportive climate once on the job.

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Assessment of Learning
QUIZ:

Identify what are being described in the statements and provide answers to
the following:

1. Where the engineer is engaged in the process of learning about nature and
codifying this knowledge into usable theories.
2. Where the engineer undertakes the activity of turning a product concept to a
finished physical items.
3. Where the engineer works in a unit where new products or parts are tested for
workability.
4. Where the engineer is directly in charge of production personnel or assumes
responsibility for the product.
5. This is where the construction engineer (civil engineer usually) is directly in
charge of the construction personnel or may have responsibility for the quality
of the construction process.
6. Where the engineer assists the company’s customers to meet their needs,
especially those that require technical expertise.
7. Where the engineer works as consultant of any individual or organization
requiring his services.
8. Where the engineer may find employment in the government performing any of
the various tasks in regulating, monitoring, and controlling the activities of
various institutions, public or private.
9. Where the engineer gets employment in a school and is assigned as a teacher of
engineering courses.
10. Where the engineer is assigned to manage groups of people performing
specific tasks.
11. Is a creative problem solving process of planning, organizing, leading, and
controlling an organization’s resources to achieve its mission and objectives.
12. It is a Management Level carry out the plans and objectives of higher
management using the personnel and other resources assigned to them.
13. It is a Management Level establish criteria for and review long-range plans.

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14. It is a Management Level make plans of intermediate range to achieve the

long-range goals set by top management, establish departmental policies, and
evaluate the performance of subordinate work units and their managers.
15. Is a process consisting of planning, organizing, directing (or leading), and
controlling.
16-19 Requirement for Engineer Manager job.
20. Managerial ability refers to the capacity of an engineer manager to achieve
organizational objectives effectively and efficiently.
21. Developed a psychometric instrument to measure objectively an individual’s
motivation to manage.
22-23. Give the two opportunity for successful management.
24-30. Give at least 7 Basic Managerial Role’s

ASSIGNMENT:

1. Why engineers are considered an important segment of the society?

2. What are expected of engineers in general?
3. In what current concerns are engineering out puts needed?
4. In what areas are engineers currently involved?
5. How many organizations be classified according the engineering jobs
performed?
6. Which organization level requires the highest management skills for
engineer managers?
7. What is engineering management?
8. How one may define management?
9. What qualifications must an engineer manager have?
10. How may one become a successful engineer manager?

2.3 References
• Medina, R. (2004). Engineering Management. Quezon City: Rex Printing
Company, Inc.
• https://www.livescience.com/47499-what-is-engineering.html

2.4 Acknowledgment
The images, tables, figures and information contained in this module were
taken from the references cited above.

C. M. D. Hamo-ay