The final project for this course is the creation of a new manager case report.
An engineering project can be thought of as a complex system with many interrelated parts. In your role as an engineering manager, you must be aware of the
typical problems that can disrupt that system. Sometimes, you may be brought into an existing project—perhaps because of a restructuring in the organizational
chart, or because the project has gone off-track and is in need of new leadership. When that happens, it is important to thoroughly assess the project dynamics
before implementing new management strategies.
For this project, you will assume the role of a newly hired engineering manager for a company called VALID: They have brought you in to diagnose and fix the problems plaguing an important project—the development of safer, thermally stable lithium-ion batteries. Using the VALID case study, you will assess the root cause issues and identify possible strategies to present to the executive leadership team. The main areas of dysfunction include methodological or handoff failures between the different teams, interpersonal and communication breakdowns across the technical divide, and potential ethical dilemmas in balancing engineering integrity with business needs. You must apply the knowledge gained throughout this course to develop a new manager case report aimed at transforming the project into a well-functioning system.
The case study materials you will need for this project can be found in the VALID case study ZIP folder. Within the folder, you will find the following folders and documents:
VALID Case Study Overview: This document gives an overview of the project and some introductory details; provides resources explaining the recent
industry problems; clarifies the problem statement, the project structure, and the challenges; and provides some cryptic notes left by the former
manager that are meant to help students ask the right questions about the project.
VALID Personnel and Team Structure File: This folder contains resumes explaining the background and expertise of the key players on the project teams.
These files are meant to help students assess the motivations, mindset, and dispositions of key technical and nontechnical team members. In other words, students should apply the knowledge gained from the textbook readings to the information provided about these people involved in the VALID project.
VALID Communication File: This folder contains email exchanges between the technical teams and the manager, and between the nontechnical teams and the manager. It also includes an interoffice marketing memo.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Examine fundamental engineering design methodologies and their implications for effectively organizing highly specialized resources and personnel
within engineering projects
Illustrate the distinct mindset common to engineers by identifying motivations, dispositions, and assumptions that impact work performance
Translate information critical to the success of engineering projects by applying appropriate technical and nontechnical terminology
Evaluate codes of ethics regulating the various engineering disciplines for their implications for appropriate engineering management
Analyze engineering projects as complex systems that require strategic management for successfully executing project plans
Prompt
What are the root cause issues in the project, and how can they best be addressed to transform the project into a well-functioning system? Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Introduction
A. Establish a context for your report by summarizing the important details of the case and identifying the purpose of this report for your audience (i.e., your executive leadership).
B. Explain the underlying engineering management principles that guided your inquiry. Remember that your audience may have a different philosophy, so be sure to clearly articulate your understanding of engineering projects as complex systems and explain why this analogy is useful.
II. Project Methodology
A. Assess the extent to which the project suffers from methodological dysfunctions. To what extent has methodology been logically and consistently applied through each of the stages of development? Defend your position with specific evidence.
B. Specifically identify examples of handshake issues in which the silos between working groups prevented effective transitions from one design step to the next.
C. Evaluate the current use of the project’s resources and personnel. Are all team members working in appropriate roles related to their specific expertise? Could the team’s resources be more strategically allocated? Defend your position with specific evidence.
III. Project Team
A. Characterize the mindset of the engineers on the project team. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Defend your position with specific evidence.
B. Specifically describe the motivations, dispositions, and assumptions of the engineers working on the project team. How are they distinct from those of the nontechnical members of the project team? Illustrate with specific examples.
C. Assess the extent to which the distinct mindset of the engineers impacts their work performance. In what ways are the engineers not thinking or acting strategically? To what extent are they failing to maintain a holistic view of the entire project? Illustrate with specific examples.
D. Communication
i. Characterize the overall effectiveness of internal and external project team communications. Where have there been successes and failures? What have been the impacts of each?
ii. Draft a revision for one example of failed internal communication between technical members of the project team. Be sure to apply appropriate terminology that more effectively communicates the ideas.
iii. Draft a revision for one example of failed external communication between technical and nontechnical members of the project team.
Be sure to apply appropriate terminology that more effectively communicates the ideas.
IV. Ethical Concerns
A. Evaluate the extent to which the project has been hampered by ethical dilemmas. Has there been an appropriate balance between engineering integrity and business needs? Defend your position with specific evidence.
B. Identify which elements of the engineering codes of ethics apply to the ethical dilemmas present in the case. Cite specific examples of each to illustrate.
C. Reflect on the ethical concerns in this case in regard to how they inform your own personal moral code as an engineering manager. How would you weigh the costs and benefits of the opposing values in this case? Illustrate with specific examples.
V. Conclusion
A. Referring to your analysis, characterize the overall health of the existing project: Is it a well-functioning system? Why or why not? Defend your position with specific evidence.
B. Determine general recommendations for how you will improve the health of the project now that you are taking over the role of manager. Be sure that you address each of the identified issues in the earlier sections of your report.
