9784: Technology and Engineering Management PG
Assignment #1
Due Date: 14 March 2016 at 5:00pm
All assessment items must be uploaded to Moodle.
No other forms of submission will be accepted. Submissions via email will be ignored. If a student chooses to submit his/her assignment via the Internet off the campus, it is the responsibility of the student to guarantee the accessibility of the Internet. Not being able to access to the Internet at a location that is off the campus is not an excuse for extension.
Students will be asked to confirm the following online declaration at the point of submission. I certify that:
• The attached assignment is my own work and no part of this work has been written for me by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorised by the lecturer/s concerned;
• Material drawn from other sources has been fully acknowledged as to author/creator, source and other bibliographic details according to unitspecific requirements for referencing; and
• No part of this work has been submitted for assessment in any other unit in this or another Faculty except where authorised by the lecturer/s concerned.
The first page of each assessment submission should include the following information:
Student Name:
Student ID:
Assessment Name:
Date of Submission:
Short Answer: (3.5 marks per question). 70%
1. How would you distinguish between engineering management and management in general? ?
2. Give an example of the Abilene Paradox, other than the ones given in class. Write your example in paragraph form stating the Abilene Paradox and how your example conforms to this paradigm. State this so that someone outside of class may understand what we are talking about.
3. What have we learned from classical management thinking? Give 3 items?
4. What was a positive value of Max Weber’s model of “bureaucracy”? ?
5. How would you distinguish between engineering management and leadership?
6. A strategy is a statement about the way to achieve objectives. Why is it important to have alternate strategies?
7. What changes in an organization structure might you expect as a result of the information revolution?
8. Can multinational companies overcome the need for co-location of team members when the teams must be created with people who come from greatly separated geographical locations? If your answer is yes, how can they accomplish this? If your answer is no, support your answer. ?
9. Give a company’s mission that you found on the web.
10. What is a difference in a Vision and a Mission for a company?
11. Some companies require that employees who receive training at the company’s expense enter into a contractual agreement to stay with the company a number of years or repay the company if they leave. Is this unduly restrictive, or is it justifiable? Why?
12. What are four items to remember when putting your resume together?
13. Do you think that engineering leaders of today are leaning more toward the servant leadership? Why? 2 reasons.
14. In considering leaders, name a leader and 3 of the qualities discussed that this person has.
15. Why is planning said to have “primacy” among the managerial functions?
16. If as a manager of an engineering company you ask that engineers become more familiar with financial reports, what would you tell them are the benefits? Give 3.
17. Usually we address the Scientific Method for solving problems, why is the engineering problem solving method better for engineers?
18. Distinguish between traditional line authority and staff authority. Give an example within UC. (or in your company)?
19. Delphi Technique?
A. List 4 characteristics of the Delphi technique.
B. Give an example of a situation to use the Delphi technique.
20. Herzberg specifically classed salary as a hygiene factor, not a motivator. How does salary fit in with Maslow’s hierarchy? Discuss how these two statements relate.
Quantitative Problems: (6 marks per question). 30%
1. Based on the expected value, which of the investment options listed below is the best choice, if my choice is to make money. The states of the economy are given with their probability of occurrence. Also given is the amount of money to be made in each state (given in thousands of dollars)
States of
nature
Alternatives .4
Solid Growth .3
Recession .3
Inflation
Expected Value
Bonds 12 6 3
Stocks
Certificates of 15
-2
4
Deposits 4.5 4.5 4.5
A: Expected value of bonds – 7.5, stocks – 6.6, certificates of deposits – 4.5.
2. WP Machine shop makes deluxe and regular skis on a weekly schedule for the area skiing enthusiasts. They also supply both regular and deluxe skis to local sporting goods stores. A deluxe pair of skis requires 40 minutes for roughing and 20 minutes for finishing, whereas a regular pair of skis requires 20 minutes for roughing and 27 minutes for finishing. With only 1,000 minutes for roughing and 800 minutes of finishing time available per week and a profit realization of 4 Euros and 3 Euros for the deluxe and regular, respectively, what weekly mix of the two types of skis should be produced to meet the contract’s requirement and maximize profits.
Do Not Solve!!!
What is the problem? Give (in mathematical terms):
• Decision Variables?
• Objective Function
• Constraints
3. Super Electronics, Inc. is a specialist in the emerging field of microcomputers. The firm currently produces two products: a personal computer with the label GE-1000 and a small computer with the label GE-2000. The company has set up two modern production assembly lines. The assembly time requirements, the production capacities of assembly lines, and the unit profit for the two products are as follows:
The management of Galaxy Electronics is attempting to determine the best possible weekly production schedule for GE-1000 and GE-2000 to maximize total profit.
Do Not Solve!!!
What is the problem? Give (in mathematical terms):
• Decision Variables?
• Objective Function
• Constraints
4. The Blue Manufacturing Company has had sales for the years 2006 through 2009 have been $48,000, $64,000, $67,000, and $83,000, respectively.
a. What sales would you predict for 2010 using a weighted moving average with weights of 0.50 for the immediate preceding year and 0.30, 0.15, and 0.05 for the three years before that?
b. What sales would you predict for 2010 using a simple four-year moving average?
c. Are the answers in a and b the only predictions to use? Why?
5. The Acme Sales Company has had sales for the years 2011 through 2014 have been $50,000, $64,000, $67,000, and $80,000, respectively.
a. What sales would you predict for this year using a weighted moving average with weights of 0.40 for the immediate preceding year and 0.30, 0.20, and 0.10 for the three years before that?
b. What sales would you predict for this year using a simple four-year moving average? ?
Are the answers in a and b the only predictions to use? Why?