Leadership & Motivation
Dr. C. M. Chang
Only to be used by instructors who adopt the text:
C. M. Chang, “Engineering Management: Challenges in the
New Millennium,” Pearson Prentice Hall (2005)
Copyright © 2005 by Dr. Carl Chang
Table of Contents
• Leading - Deciding, Communicating,
Motivating, Selecting and Developing
• Deciding - Rational Decision Making,
Kepnor-Tregoe Method, Gut Instinct,
Group Decisions
• Communicating - Asking, Telling, Listening
and Understanding
2
Contents (Cont’d)
• Motivating - Inspire, Encourage, Impel
Need-based strategy (Maslow Model)
• Selecting – Focus on hard and soft Skills
• Developing - Performance correction and
personal growth
• Special Topics on Leading - Lead
Changes, New Leader Strategy, Superior
Leadership
3
Leadership Style
•
•
•
•
•
1 - Nice Guy
2 - Loser
3 - Compromiser
4 - Task Master
5 - Ideal Manager
Task
4
5
3
2
1
People
4
Use of Leadership Style
• No single style fits all situations
• A person’s dominant style is determined by
personality traits
• Different leadership styles can be effective
with different people at different times
• Advice to engineering managers: Vary style
flexibly according to situation at hand in
order to be effective
5
Leading
• To cause people to take effective actions for
attaining organizational goals (willingly)
6
Question # 4.1
• The company’s product promised to a major customer is
running late and there was intense pressure on the production
team to deliver the product. The Direction of Production was
eventually told by the company President to “deliver or else.”
The Director therefore decided to ship the product, even
though it had not gone through all its testing procedures.
Members on the product team were angry by the uncertainty
in the functionality and reliability of the shipped product. The
Director however insisted: “We will just have to take that
chance.” As the Director of Production, how would you act
differently?
7
Question # 4.2
• As advised by the company President, the Sales
Department received a set of specific
recommendations produced by an outside
management firm to reorganize for maximum
effectiveness. The Sales Manager has the hunch
that several sales staff may disagree with the
recommended changes. The Sales Manager himself is
also not fully convinced of the merits of all
recommendations. But he wants to implement them,
at least in part. How should he proceed?
8
Question # 4.7
• The Board of Directors received a proposal from a business
partner to set up jointly an assembly plant in a third-world
country. This new plant will assemble final products using
key components made by the company. Financial terms are
attractive and the future marketing outlook is bright. There
is just one problem. This third-world country is not a
democracy, has poor records on human rights, neglects to
protect own environment, and does not safeguard workers’
rights. An investment placed by the company would boost
this country’s economy and thus the political position of its
current dictator. Should the company accept the proposal
and why?
9
The Function of Leading
10
Deciding
• To arrive at
conclusions and
judgements
• To assure that the
quality of decisions
made remains high
11
Types of Decisions
• Spontaneous Decisions - Intuitive, hunch or
gut instinct based
• Reasoned Decisions - Based on systematic
studies and logical analyses (to the extend
possible): (1) Assess facts and evaluate
alternatives, (2) Use full mental resources,
(3) Emphasize creative problem-solving,
(4) Think consistently, (5) Minimize the
probability of errors (downside risks)
12
Why Decision Making is
Difficult?
• Management Problems - Ill-defined, of wide
scope, of constantly changing nature,
involving people of unpredictable behavior
• Data/Facts - Insufficient, of poor quality,
excessive, and not to be analyzed and
interpreted in time and within budget
• Impact of decisions - Dependent on people’s
opinion, which change in time
13
Why Decision Making is
Difficult (cont’d) ?
• Nature of Decisions - Compromises among
alternatives, with validity changing with time
• Decision Implementation - Affected by
consensus and commitment of affected people
• Complexity of Decisions – Critically important
decisions involve multiple management levels,
thus requiring coordination
14
Criteria for Good Decisions
• Achieve stated purpose - correct/change the
situation which created the noted problem
• Be feasible to implement - meaningful with
respect to resources required and the value
created
• Have no or limited adverse consequences not causing major disasters to unit or
company in short- and long-term
15
Guidelines for Decision Making
• Study management cases for acquiring close
to real-world experience in decision making
• Prioritize problems in need of decisions, skip
those with minor significance or impact
• Apply a rational process to guide the decision
making process
• Involve those to be impacted by the decision consensus building foster implementation
16
Guidelines for Decision Making
• Make decisions based on incomplete/
uncertain information on hand, assumptions
introduced
• Take the necessary risks
• Delay decision making until the last
allowable moment, but within the
applicable deadlines, avoid making no
decision which is a sign of poor leadership
17
Who is to Make What Decision?
• Staff
• Staff and Manager
• Manager
18
Decisions by Staff
• Techniques to accomplish assigned tasks or
projects
• Options to continuously improve current
operations and work processes
• Social events - Group picnics, golf outings,
Christmas parties, and others
19
Decisions by Manager and Staff
• Development needs of staff - conference or
seminar attendance, training needs, degree
programs, etc.
• Policy and procedure involving staff
interactions with other departments
• Team membership - workload balance,
personality fit, working relationship,
exposure and visibility, sets of skills, etc.
20
Decisions by Manager
• Priority of tasks and projects, project or
program objectives, budget allocation
• Personnel assignment, work group
composition, evaluation, job action
• Administrative – policies, procedures,
office space assignment, special exceptions
• Business confidential matters
21
Rational Decision Making
Process
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22
Rational Decision Making
Process
• Assess the apparent problem - based on
symptoms observed
• Collect facts - what, how, who, where,
when, why, from people who have direct
knowledge of the problem at hand :
“Management by Walking Around”
• Define the real problem - deviation from
norm, performance metrics to measure
success
23
Rational Decision Making
Process (cont’d)
• Develop alternatives to achieve the desired
resolution - brainstorming, innovation
• Select optimal solution (logical process,
minimizing risks, maximizing probability of
success)
• Set course of action to implement decision,
by allocating resources, specifying action
steps and define target dates of completion
24
Kepnor-Tregoe Decision
Analysis Tool
• Define decision criteria (necessary criteria and
sufficiency criteria)
• Rank-order sufficiency criteria (from 1 to 10)
• Evaluate all options against each sufficiency
criteria and eliminate those which flunk the
necessary criteria
• Score each surviving option relatively with
respect to each sufficiency criteria (from 1 to 10)
25
Kepnor-Tregoe Decision
Analysis Tool (cont’d)
• Compute a weighted score (multiplying the
weight factor of the sufficiency criteria with
the relative score of an option and summing
up such numerical products for each option)
• Choose the option with the highest weighted
score as the best solution to the problem at
hand
26
Kepnor-Tregoe Decision
Analysis Tool (cont’d)
CRITERIA
Criteria
Criteria
Criteria
Criteria
1
2
3
4
Total Weighted Score
WEIGHT FACTOR
OPTION A
OPTION B
OPTION C
R
10
5
8
Go
4
6
10
Go
8
10
6
Go
10
7
8
150
178
199
27
Kepnor-Tregoe Decision
Analysis Tool (cont’d)
• Decision criteria - both necessary
and sufficiency- are externalized
• Relative importance of all
sufficiency criteria are rankordered
• Chosen criteria are “Mutually
Exclusive and Collectively
Exhaustive”
• Decision - equitable, rational,
comprehensive
28
Decisions Not to Make
• Decisions - Not pertinent/applicable to
problems at this time
• Decisions - Can not be implemented
effectively (business priority, resources
constraints, value created)
• Decisions - To be made by others
29
Question # 4.3
• You have been socially pretty active while in college. You know a few
people over the years. Among many friends, the following three stand
out. Liza majors in literature, is very sociable and communicative, and
has an average appearance. She does not hate homemaking. Julie, on
the other hand, majors in computer engineering, has a very sharp
intellect, and is rather strong willed. She is reasonably sociable and has
a passable appearance. Homemaking is not her cup of tea. Debbie is
the high school sweetheart, very adaptable and lovely, easy going,
comfortable to be with, and has a superb appearance. Her social skills
are so so. She likes homemaking which is a tradition of her family and
she does it well. Your grandfather is getting old and your mother has
been bugging you to make up your mind to get married. Time is
running out and you need to make a choice. How would you go about
deciding for one of these three candidates as a prospective mate.
30
CRITERIA
WEIGHT
FACTOR
LISA
JULIE
DEBBIE
Physical Appearance
Intellect/Knowledge
Adaptability/Compatibility
Future Earning Power
Perceived Homemaking
Capability
Social Ability
Total Weighted Score
31
CRITERIA
WEIGHT
FACTOR
Physical Appearance
9
Intellect/Knowledge
5
Adaptability/Compatibility
9
Future Earning Power
10
Perceived Homemaking
Capability
8
Social Ability
10
Total Weighted Score
LISA
JULIE
DEBBIE
32
WEIGHT
FACTOR
LISA
JULIE
DEBBIE
Physical Appearance
9
5
8
10
Intellect/Knowledge
5
Adaptability/Compatibility
9
Future Earning Power
10
Perceived Homemaking
Capability
8
Social Ability
10
CRITERIA
Total Weighted Score
33
WEIGHT
FACTOR
LISA
JULIE
DEBBIE
Physical Appearance
9
5
8
10
Intellect/Knowledge
5
8
10
5
Adaptability/Compatibility
9
8
5
10
Future Earning Power
10
8
10
5
Perceived Homemaking
Capability
8
8
5
10
Social Ability
10
10
8
5
401
387
385
CRITERIA
Total Weighted Score
34
Other Decision Support Tools
• Forecasting (exponential smoothing,
time series)
• Regression Analysis (singlevariable, multi variables)
• Risk Analysis (Monte Carlo)
• What -if Solver
• Simulation Modeling
• Decision Trees
• Optimization (linear programming,
integer/dynamic programming)
35
Decision Making by
Gut Instinct
• Spontaneous Decisions - Intuitive solution
for complex and ambiguous problems
defying systematic analyses (No data)
• Brain Activities - Left-side (logical, rational
and conscious) versus right-side (intuitive,
subconscious); Innovative ideas surface
unexpectedly, due to accumulated “patterns
and rules” derived from past experience
36
Decision Making by
Gut Instinct
• Intuitive decisions can be wrong from time
to time, feedback from trusted sources is
needed to “recalibrate” patterns and rules
frequently
• If repeated, feedback-based learning tends
to improve quality of intuitive decisions
made in the future
37
Decision Making in Teams
• Group dynamics
• Conflict,
consideration,
closure
• Criteria for good
group decisions
38
Decision Making in Teams
• Group dynamics - New dimensions to
decision making: (1) Coalitions/alliances
among team members - position-based
advocacy, (2) Conflicts of interests, (3)
Personality clash (fighting words, selective
seeing, interruptions, personal friction)
• Leadership Role: (1) Managing conflict,
(2) Consideration and (3) Closure
39
Decision Making in Teams
(Cont’d)
• (1) Minimize Conflict – Follow an Inquiryfocused solution-discovery process, not to
conduct a position-fighting exercise:
(A) Share information, (B) Think critically,
(C) Debate ideas rigorously, (D) Check
assumption relentlessly, (E) Apply rule of
reasoning, and (F) Testing strengths among
competing ideas (not competing positions)
40
Decision Making in Teams
(Cont’d)
• (2) Show Consideration - Make sure that
the “losers” perceive fairness of having
their ideas heard and considered: (A) No
predetermined solutions, (B) No personal
preference of leaders, (C) Listen actively to
all ideas - taking notes, asking questions,
(D) Explain logic of final decision and why
the views of the ‘losers’ were not accepted
41
Decision Making in Teams
(Cont’d)
• (3) Manage Closure:
(A) Early Close (group think phenomena)
as unstated objections will show up at
implementation phase: leader to inject
questions and promote additional debate,
(B) Late Closure (endless debate between
warring factions, trying to resolve all
trivialities just to be fair) - Leader to cut off
debate and announce decision
42
Decision Making in Teams
(cont’d)
• Criteria for good group decisions (a) Multiple Alternatives to create
(b) Assumptions to check
(c) Decision criteria to externalize
(d) Dissent and debate to promote
(e) Perceived fairness to assure
43
Communicating
• To create
understanding and
acceptance by
conveying facts,
viewpoints,
impression and/or
feelings
44
Guidelines for Communication
• Communicate with a clear purpose
• Select proper form to communicate - faceto-face talk, phone conversation, emails,
video-conference, staff meeting, written
memos, web-posting, net-meeting
• Be honest and open, welcome suggestions,
offer pertinent information to dispel fears
• Keep communications channels open
45
How to Communicate?
46
Asking
• Asking open-ended insightful
questions to gain knowledge
and to improve understanding
of the situation at hand
• Quality of questions is an
clear indication of the
questioner’s grasp of the
situation at hand
47
Telling
• Offer information to keep people (peers,
employees, bosses, supply chain partners,
customers) informed about matters of
concern to them
• Judgement is needed as to what to tell and
what not (“Need to Know” paradigm), seek
balance between (1) trust-creation and no
surprise versus (2) control over information
48
Listening
• Remain focused in listening to the subtext
and true meaning of the exchange
• Maintain eye contact
• Exercise self-discipline to control own urge
to talk and avoid interrupting others
49
Understanding
• To hear by the head and to feel by the heart
• Assess the degree of sincerity - verbal
intonation, facial expression, body language
• Recognize shared meaning (emotional and
logical)
50
Common Barriers to
Communications
•
•
•
•
Semantics
Selective Seeing
Selective Listening
Emotional Barriers
51
Common Barriers to
Communications
• Interpretation of Semantics (words/terms may
have multiple meanings)
• Selective Seeing - See only what one wants to
see
• Selective Listening - Hear only what one wants
to hear (screen out ideas divergent to own
opinion or self-interest)
• Emotional Barriers (strong attitude and
feelings, personal biases)
52
Techniques of Communicating
• Know what one wants to say and say what one
means (some people want to impress others,
not to express themselves) “The answer is definitely a maybe”
“It is not probable, but still possible”
• Know the audience (tailoring to the receiver’s
frame of mind - belief, background, attitudes,
experience and vocabulary)
53
Techniques of Communicating
(cont’d)
• Get favorable attention - Taking into account
of receiver’s interest and emotional standing
• Get understanding - Leading the exchange
from present to future, familiar to unfamiliar,
and agreeable to disagreeable
• Get retention - Repeat the ideas (Rule of Four)
• Get feedback - Asking questions
• Get action to enhance communications
54
Question # 4.6
•
Jerry Lucas is the Division Director. As Branch Chief. Bob Sanford reports to Lucas. Bob
Sanford has four section chiefs reporting into him. Bob Sanford is technically competent with
extensive experience in solid rocket propulsion, being regarded to be the best expert in this
field. He is highly dedicated to work, but inexperienced in managing technical people, as he
has been on the job for only two years. Sanford handles his subordinates quite roughly. He
reversed section chief’s decision without prior consultation with them. He demands that no
information or data be transmitted to persons outside the group without his knowledge and
concurrence. He would also bypass his section chiefs to go directly to people and encourage
them to come to him directly with problems. Rumors have it that he places spies or informants
within the group. As expected, he delegates no decision-making authority to his section chiefs
and regards his section chiefs to be technically incompetent. He creates an atmosphere of fear
and suspicion with low group morale. Bob Sanford does not report to Jerry Lucas candidly on
project progress and on difficulties encountered. He does not understand his own
responsibility of building team-work, enhance group morale and create employee satisfaction,
while achieving the goals of his group. He is lacking the skills and willingness of resolving
conflicts within the group. Finally, the section chiefs as a group went in to see Jerry Lucas,
complaining about the lack of authority and the oppressive atmosphere in the section. What
should Jerry Lucas do?
55
Question # 4.5
•
Marketing needs to submit a proposal to a global customer and called a review
meeting next morning. By the time Bill Taylor, Design Manager, was so
informed in the late afternoon, all his design staff had left and there was no
one available. Bill Taylor decided to work on a proposal himself throughout
the night so that he can talk with all his design staff in the next morning, one
hour before the Marketing Review meeting. All staff agreed with the proposed
design, except Henry King, a senior staff, who is recognized as the most
experienced and best designer in the group. His objections were that the
current design is too complex and that it would take another week to improve
on the design for assuring its functional performance. In order to pacify him,
Bill Taylor invited Henry King to come along to the Marketing Review
meeting so that he would feel the pressure Marketing is exerting on Design.
Unexpectedly, Henry King stood up and re-iterated all his design objections at
the Marketing Review meeting, causing a tremendous embarrassment to Bill
Taylor and his boss, Stanley Clark, the Design Director. Bill Taylor became
furious. What should Bill Taylor and Stanley Clark do?
56
Motivating
• To motivate is to
apply a force that
excites and drives
an individual to
act, in ways
preferred by the
manager/leader.
57
How to Motivate
• Inspire - Infuse a spirit of
willingness (By work
done, leadership traits,
examples set)
• Encourage - Stimulate
through praise, approval
and help
• Impel - Force (Coercion,
compulsion, punishments)
58
Techniques to Enhance
Motivation
• Participation - Promoting ownership of idea,
project, task and program
• Communication - Objectives, metrics
• Recognition - Fair appraisals inducing
loyalty and confidence
• Delegated Authority - Convey trust
• Reciprocated Interest - Show interest in
Results
59
Keys for Successful Motivation
• Accept people as they are, not try to change
them - personal preference, values and
standards
• Recognize that other have drives to fulfill
own needs - self-actualization, recognition,
ego, self-esteem, group association, etc..
• Motivate by addressing the unsatisfied
needs - Maslow Need Hierarchy Model
60
Maslow Hierarchy Need Model
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• Self Actualization - Selfdevelopment and realization
of own potential
• Esteem - Ego, recognition
• Social - Peer acceptance,
group affiliation
• Safety - Job security
• Physiological Needs - Food
& shelter
61
Maslow Hierarchy Need Model
• A higher level need only arises when lower
ones are already satisfied
• A satisfied need no longer dominates the
individual’s behavior, the next higher need
takes over
• An unsatisfied need acts as a motivator Central to need-based motivation strategy
• The top level needs are never fully satisfied
62
Motivating Factors for
Professionals
• Scope of self expression and creativity,
having room for making decision, choosing
methods and utilizing own talents fully
• Independence with minimum supervision
• Recognition for achievements
• Variety of challenging work is motivating
• Pay and benefits are minor motivators
63
Selecting
• By selecting people,
managers gain staff
with right skills,
dedication, value
systems, personality,
and win their loyalty
over time
• Associate themselves
with the right mentors
and leaders
64
Standard Procedure of
Employee Selection Process
•
•
•
•
•
•
Define needs
Define qualifications
Get applicants
Review and pre-screen applicants
Conduct interviews - Asking good questions
Decide on job candidates
65
Skills Assessment
• Hard skills - Technical capabilities readily
assessed (transcripts, reports and references)
• Soft skills - Behavior in team work,
interpersonal skills, leadership quality,
cooperative attitude, mental flexibility and
adaptability - all related to personality psychological profile, value systems and
deep-rooted beliefs are difficult to evaluate
66
Challenges of Selecting
• Managers are not trained to assess soft skills
- major sources of job-related problems and
key factors for career failures
• Candidates are polished to “Talk the talk
and walk the walk,” masking their true
long-term personal behavior
• Selecting people remains a major challenge
to all managers
67
A Best Practice in Selecting
• Companies: Mazda Motor, Flat Rock,
Michigan and Diamond-Star Motor,
Normal, Illinois
• Selection Criteria: (1) Interpersonal skills
to get along with people, (2) Aptitude for
teamwork, (3) Personal flexibility, (4) Drive
to improve continuously
68
A Best Practice in Selecting
(cont’d)
• Selection Process: (1) Multiphase process
involving tests, exercises, and role playing in
group activities, (2) Pick the best (based on
soft skills) employees and train them well
technically
• Results: Got 1300 people out of 10,000
applicants at $13,000/person hiring expenses
• (Source: Williams J. Hampton, “How Does Japan Inc. Pick its American
Workers?” Business Week, October 3, 1998)
69
Developing
• Purpose: To improve knowledge, attitude
and skills of employees
• Knowledge: Cognizance of facts, truths and
other information
• Attitude: Customary dispositions toward
people, things, situations and information
• Skills: Ability to perform specialized work
with recognized competence
70
How to Develop People
71
Guidelines for Employee
Development
• Emphasize employee’s role in development
(good for the individual and company)
• Appraise present performance and future
potential
• Counsel for improvement (to induce selfimprovement, set example)
• Develop Successors - Career Planning Plan
of Some Progressive Companies
72
Special Topics on Leading
• Leading Changes
(Eight-step processes to
create and sustain
changes)
• New Leaders (Strategy
for First 6 months)
• Advice for Superior
Leadership (Eight
attributes and more)
73
Leading Changes
• Changes take time to set in and there are eight
critical steps to follow:
• (1) Establish a sense of urgency - Identify
marketing and other factors supporting the
urgent need for change, getting 75% of
corporate leaders on board
• (2) Form a powerful guiding coalition -
Secure shared commitment of top leaders
74
Leading Changes (Cont’d)
• (3) Create a vision - Have an easy-tocommunicate vision to direct the change
efforts
• (4) Communicate the vision - Using all means
available to spread the words
• (5) Empower others to act on the vision Encourage risk taking and removal of systems/
people resisting change
75
Leading Changes (Cont’d)
• (6) Plan for short-term wins - Select
projects to achieve wins within the first one
to two years, in order to keep momentum
• (7) Consolidate improvements - modify
systems and promote people in favor of
changes
• (8) Institutionalize new approaches Ensure leadership development/succession
76
Corporate Transformational
Changes
Corporate Transfromational Changes
9
8
# Changes
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Ye ar
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Advice for New Leaders
• New Leaders - Sailing through dense fog in
first 6 months (short visibility ahead)
• Seven-rule strategy to follow:
• (1) Leverage the time before entry - Study
the new situation (SWOT analysis), prepare
questions
• (2) Organize to learn - Technical, cultural
and political arenas
78
Advice for New Leaders
(Cont’d)
• (3) Secure early wins - Get some wins in
first 6 months
• (4) Lay foundation for major improvements
- Initiate pilot programs to try out new
technology tools, Change ways to measure
performance, Introduce new ways of
operating and viewing business, Promote
positive examples, and Envision new
mechanism to do business
79
Advice for New Leaders
(Cont’d)
• (5) Create a personal vision - linking to core
value and be compatible with top-priority
projects
• (6) Build winning coalitions - linking with
powerful groups in top-management,
middle management and working groups
• (7) Manage own time and stress, Secure
technical, political and personal advisement
80
The Transition Pyramid
Achieve
Prioritized
Projects
Securing
Early Wins
Learning
Laying the
Foundation
Visioning
Coalition
Building
Source: Michael Watkins, “Seven Rules for New Leaders,” Harvard Business
School Notes # 9-800-288, June 8, 2001.
81
Guidelines for Superior
Leadership
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
(1) Maintain absolute integrity
(2) Be Knowledgeable
(3) Declare expectations
(4) Show uncommon commitment
(5) Get out in front
(6) Expect Positive results
(7) Take care of people
(8) Put duty before self-interests
82
Profile of Successful Leaders
• Strong drive for responsibility
and task completion
• Vigor and persistence in
pursuit of goals
• Venturesomeness and
originality in problem-solving
• Drive to exercise initiative in
social situation
• Self-confidence and sense of
personal identity
• Willingness to accept
consequence of decision
and action
• Readiness to absorb
interpersonal stress
• Willingness to tolerate
frustration and delay
• Capacity to structure
social interaction systems
to the purpose at hand
83
Conclusions
• Engineering Managers should pay attention
to: (1) Making decisions under uncertainty
(not suffering from paralysis by analysis), (2)
Motivating other engineers with proper
motivators, (3) Communicating by proactive
asking and intensive listening, (4) Selecting
to focus on soft skills, (5) Developing people
using personal examples.
84
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
3-1. John P. Kotter, “What Leaders Really Do,” Harvard Business Review, pp. 03-11
(May-June 1990).
3-2 L. R. Bittel, “Leadership – The Key to Management Success,” Franklin Watts
(1984).
3-3 W. C. Geigold, “Practical Management Skills for Engineers and Scientists,”
Lifetime Learning Publications (1982).
3-4 C. Margerison and R. McCann, “How to Lead a Winning Team,” MCB (1985).
3-5 C. Meyer, “How the Right Measures Help Team Excel,” Harvard Business
Review, pp. 95-103 (May-June 1994).
3-6 W. G. Pagonis, “The Work of the Leader,” Harvard Business Review, pp. 118126 (November-December 1992).
3-7 A. Zaleznik, “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?” Harvard
Business Review, pp. 126-135 (march-April 1992).
3-8 Cliff Ragsdale, “Spreadsheet Modeling and Decision Analysis,” Third Edition,
South Western College Publishing (June 2000).
85
References (cont’d)
• 3-9 D. M. Geogoff and R. Murdick, “Manager’s Guide to Forecasting,”
Harvard Business Review, pp. 110-20 (January-February 1986).
• 3-10 S. Wheelwright and S. Makridakis, “Forecasting Methods for Management,”
John Wily and Sons, New York (1985).
• 3-11 R. R. Blake and J. S. Mouton, “The Managerial Grid,” Gulf Publishing
(1964).
• 3-12 G. k. Cheves, “Characteristics of Effective Leaders in System,” A
Supplement to Industrial Management, p. 4 (July-August 1992).
• 3-13 C. Argyris, “Good Communications That Blocks Learning,” Harvard
Business Review, pp. 77-85 (July-August 1994).
• 3-14 R. Bolton, “People Skills,” Prentice Hall (1979).
• 3-15 J. Fast, “Body Language,” Pocket Books, New York (1971).
• 3-16 M. Young and I. E. Post, “How Leading Companies Communicate with
Employees,” IEEE Engineering Management Review, pp. 24-31 (Spring 1994).
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Question # 4.4
• The Engineering Director of the company is asked
to send one engineer abroad to assist in the
installation of equipment. There are three
qualified candidates, each working for a different
manager under the Director. The Director knows
that all three engineers will want to go, but their
bosses will not, for fear of losing time in doing
their own very critical projects. How should the
Director make the choice?
87
Question # 4.8
• What are some of the important
characteristics of effective leaders? Which
of these characteristics are more difficult
than others for engineers to acquire?
88
Question # 4.9
• The plant manager noticed a need for reducing the amount of waste
materials which occurred in the production process. A task force was
set up, comprising of the plant manager himself and two of his
supervisors, to examine the problem. They met for three months and
published the task force objectives, and findings on the plant bulletin
board regularly. The plant manager found out to his surprise that the
workers on the shop floor showed very limited interest in the task force
and ignored the bulletin board entirely. At the end of the three-month
period, the task force came up with several excellent recommendations,
which require changes in work practices. Most of the workers
implemented the recommended changes very reluctantly and some even
secretly worked to sabotage the new practices. Eventually, all
recommendations were withdrawn. What went wrong? How should the
plant manager have handled this case?
89
Question # 4.10
• The project was running late and the Section Manager thought, it was time
for a pep-talk with his staff. He realized that he was considered to be
somewhat of an autocrat by his staff, but this time he thought that he
would show them that he was one of the members on the team and that
they would work together as one team in order to succeed.The Section
Manager thought he made quite a good speech. He pointed out the project
is running late and that, if they failed, the customer could cancel the
contract. He explained further that as manager, he was responsible for the
success of the project and so everyone would be equally to blame for the
failure of the project. Unexpectedly, a group of staff came in to see him a
few days later, seeking to clarify if they were all under threat of
unemployment, should it turn out in the future that they were late and the
contract was cancelled by the customer. What went wrong? How would
you do differently?
90
Question # 4.11
• A regional sales manager suspected that one of his
customers was having some financial troubles.
However, he was reluctant to mention it to his boss,
because he felt that he could be wrong. He kept
quite for several months, continuing to take large
orders from this customer and hoping that this
customer could recover from its troubles.
Eventually, the customer went bankrupt and
defaulted on the payment of several large bills.
What went wrong? How would you do differently?
91
Question # 4.17
• Conflicts between technologists and
managers may arise, when the technical
professionals (with the skill to make a
decisions) have to deal with a manager
(who has the right to decide). Why such
conflicts often exist in organizations
wherein everyone works toward the same
common goal?
92