Engineering Management Principles - Case Study Example

1. Executive Summary The most prevalent definition which signifies the managerial roles is that a “manager is individual who achieve goals through other people” (Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge, 2007, P. 8). Thus whatever the allocated job of a manager is be it a engineer manager or any other, the people skill takes a prominence. “It can be an argument that planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling describe what management is and not how it is carried out”. In today’s ever dynamic and turbulent organizational world, the spotlight for managers should be on the framework of management rather than on the managerial functions themselves. The functions are very generic in nature. Much of the work in organizational behaviour till date has the underpinning of relatively stable ambience. “Managers need to develop and hone their interpersonal skills if they are going to be effective in their jobs” (Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge, 2007, p. 34). Moreover, the roles of a functional manager like that of an engineer manager become more critical when ethical performance also come into picture. All these aspect of managerial functions and ethical norms has been described in the given case study. This assignment will endeavor to evaluate all these aspects from a preview of an engineer manager. 2. Table of Content Sr. No. Topic Page 1 Introduction 1 2 Body of Analysis 2 3 Reference List 6 3. Introduction The case discusses the management, contractual and ethical issues from the point of view of an engineer manager. The protagonist in the case, Tim has recently changed his job from a small star up civil engineering consultation to a bigger firm. In the new company he finds some ethical gaps. Tim has to deliver his role both as a corporate citizen of the new company as well as an ethical independent manger. The objective of the case study is as under: Review and analyse the role of engineers as managers Evaluate the characteristics of effective management control, including elements of operations and financial control Distinguish and discuss the social and legal responsibilities relating to product liability and professional negligence Determine appropriate methods of protecting intellectual property for specific situations Apply the concept of ethics, and select and justify suitable ethical guidelines for specific situations. 4. Case Analysis 4.1. Problem identification The case study outlines a situation which is related to conflict of roles of an engineer manager in an organisation. The conflict has arisen on account of various responsibilities Tim has to shoulder off as far as his job is concerned. The second aspect highlighted by the given case study is regarding the social and legal and professional responsibilities that Tim has towards the society as a whole, towards the existing legal system and finally towards his job. The given case study also poses problems pertaining to awareness related to methods of protecting intellectual property for specific situations. Finally the given case study also boils down to problems of lack of ethical code of conduct prevalent in any organisation. The next part of the assignment will analyse all these problems one by one. 4.2. Problem Analysis Tim is a civil engineer and was initially working with a small organisation. By virtue of being small Bailey Brothers Consultants has very small team with clearly defined roles of all the team members. But in case of the new company, Grand Star, which Tim has joined, is a very large organization with relatively complex and departmentalized organizational structure. The quantum of workload makes Grand Star to function in entirely different way than that of Bailey Brothers Consultants. Tim’s roles have also drastically changed from a mere engineer in Bailey Brothers Consultants to an engineer manager in Grand Star. Thus he now has to shoulder off various aspects of a managerial roles namely planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. These various roles are however conflicting in nature as there are overlapping responsibilities with overlapping goals. Thus the role conflict has given rise to goal conflicts. As an engineer Tim needs to finish the assignment given to him at right time with adequate quality standards in place. But the situation is entirely different. The work load in the organisation has paved ways for shortcuts and independent checking is being done for critical elements only. Thus it can be clearly seen here that an engineering role of quality work is conflicting with managerial role of timely delivery of results. Now Tim being an engineer manager has to shoulder off both responsibilities and hence is facing role conflicts because of mutually contradicting goals. Coming to other problems, it is evident from the case study that Grand Star has no ethical code of conduct in place. The designs available in the database of the company are in fact intellectual property of some other company. Tim also seems unaware of his legal and professional responsibilities as afar as the ethical code of conduct is concerned. At the same time he was also unaware of any prevalent practice to be followed in such cases. Moreover, he witnessed the ethical gap as he was aware that the designs were of his previous company. Else he would not have even noticed it. Such scenario becomes more critical in absence of any legal resort especially in case of intellectual property rights. This becomes more important when an organisation like that of Grand Star, has global reach. With advent of globalisation, the company has to be more careful as far as the intellectual property rights are concerned. Many trade partnerships between countries stipulate stringent intellectual property rights. 4.3. Recommendations The situation posed in the given case study is very common. It can be witnessed in almost all companies in a form or other. The various recommendations to avoid such situation or at least to mitigate the ill effect will be explained here. First of all big engineering organisations which deals in intellectual property should always have an independent department to decide, plan, implement and follow the ethical code of conduct. Such a department will help in increasing the awareness of the social and legal responsibilities of technical staffs so that they can coordinate their professional duties along with their legal and social obligations. Though this is a time taking initiative but at the same time this will be a preventive mechanism against all such situations. Techno-managerial staffs like Tim also need to be aware of their own responsibilities as far as intellectual property rights are concerned. Moreover, a clear line of thought regarding their various roles in an organisation can come through a clearly indicated job responsibility. These initiatives will be in coordination of ethical code of conduct prevalent in any organisation. Another aspect to deal with such case is called ‘Whistle Blowing’ policy. Many a time’s subordinates are under pressure from their superiors to act in a way which is not ethical. In all such cases the above said policy will help to have a check on undue intimidation of the subordinate staff by top management. All these are organisational level recommendations. Now we will discuss courses of action which would be appropriate for Tim to follow. Tim, being caught up in his own role and goal conflict has revealed that the company he is working into is deliberately compromising on technical and ethical grounds. Being a silent spectator, will not only make him compromise his professional conduct but at the same time will make him responsible for the ethical and legal negligence. Tim can take up this matter with his previous company on a personal level and can advise them that they should get their innovative and original designs patented under intellectual property rights. At the same time he needs to take this matter with his seniors that the database of the company has designs from other sources. It may happen that this might not be the prevalent practice but a mere aberration. Then the top management can take preventive steps which have already been discussed above. Moreover, Top management at Grand Star need to go ahead with patent registration of their own designs as the company itself can be a victim of such ethical malpractices. It is evident from the case study that Grad Star is going through a tough time where it is short of technical staff like draftsman. It is a situation which any company can face. But in such cases a company can always take resort to legal ways in which it can buy designs by paying appropriate price for it. Thus it can serve as a win win situation for both the companies. If Tim finds that the top management is ignorant of all these affairs, then he can take up the matter with appropriate authorities. There might be chances that he would loose his present job which he thought was very crucial for his career progression, but he can go back to his old employers who would be more than glad to accept him back. 5. Conclusion and Managerial Learning It is quite possible that a professional shouldering off various roles and responsibilities can find itself into ethically conflicting situation. The way out can be difficult as the business ethics is difficult to understand and practice. In all such cases, a professional has to take resort to legal stand which is socially as well as professionally correct. This can be found either in the existing ethical code of an organisation or the existing jurisprudence of the law of the land. It becomes very important for all such professional to be fully aware of their responsibilities and rights in case of such ethical malpractices. The roles of a professional manager like that of an engineer manager have been identified or discussed by various researchers over the years. But it has been impossible to see a consensus emerging out of all those contradicting theories. Moreover because of advent of globalization it becomes more important and eminent in the modern industrial world to evolve a universal overview of roles and responsibilities of such techno-manager. It is also the responsibility of an organization to make its employees aware of the ethical business practices. The organization can take leading role in development of framework which can impart ethical and moral know how to all the staff members along with professional career enhancement. The organization should never encourage employees to compromise on ethical grounds for their short term or immediate gains. The ethical balance in a professional ambience can only be reached through a concerted effort of both the company and the employees. 6. References Bartels L.K. et al.: 1998, “The Relationship between Ethical Climate and Ethical Problems within Human Resource Management”, Journal of Business Ethics 17, 799-804. Berenheim, R.E.: 1987, “Corporate Ethics”, (The Conference Board, Inc., New York). Berenbeim, R. E.: 1989, “Corporate Ethics”, (Random House, New York). Brooks, L.J.: 1989, “Corporate Codes of Ethics”, Journal of Business Ethics 8, 117-129. Delaney, J. T. and D. Sockell: 1992, “Do Company Ethics Training Programs Make a Difference? An Empirical Analysis”, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 719-727. Denison, D. R.: 1996, “What is the Difference between Organizational Culture and Organizational Climate? A Native’s Point of View on a Decade of Paradigm Wars”, Academy of Management Review 21(3), 619-654. Getz, K.A.: 1990, “International Codes of Conduct: An Analysis of Ethical Reasoning”, Journal of Business Ethics 9, 567-577. Hofstede, G.: 1980, “Culture's Consequences”, (Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA). Jansen, E. and M. A. VonGlinow: 1985, “Ethical Ambivalence and Organizational Reward Systems”, Academy of Management Review 10(4), 814-822. Jones, T.: 1991, “Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations; An issue-Contingent Model”, Academy of Management Review 16(2), 366-395. Kelly, S. W., S. J. Skinner and O. D. Ferrell: 1989, “Opportunistic Behavior in Engineering Organizations”, Journal of Business Research 18, 327-340. Laczniak, G. R. and E. J. Inderrieden: 1987, “The Influence of Stated Organizational Concern upon Ethical Decision Making”, Journal of Business Ethics 6, 297-307. Read More