Engr' Mgt 211 Managing Engineering

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Engr. Mgt 211 Managing Engineering Technology

• Chapter 4
• Monitoring the Environment

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Defining the environment

• An organizations environment consists of
  institutions and forces outside the organization
  that can affect its performance
• Static vs dynamic environments
• Environmental uncertainty
• Capacity
• Volatility
• Complexity

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Sources of environmental uncertainty (external)

• Customers
• Competitors
• Suppliers
• Government
• Media ( bad news)
• Special Interest Groups

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Environmental Scanning

• Screening large amounts of information to detect
  emerging trends, monitor the actions of others
  and create scenarios

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Environmental Scanning Tools

• Competitive Intelligence
• 95 accessible to the public
• Scenario Development
• Consistent view of what the future is likely to
  be
• Forecasting
• Benchmarking

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Competitive Intelligence

• Fastest growing environmental scanning tool
• Seeks basic information about competitors
• Most information (approximately 95) is
  accessible to the public

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Scenario Development

• A scenario is a consistent view of what the
  future is likely to be
• Environmental scanning is likely to reveal issues
  and concerns that could affect an organizations
  current or planned operations

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Forecasting

• Predictions of outcomes
• Types
• Revenue forecasting
• Technological forecasting
• Techniques
• Quantitative and Qualitative
• Effectiveness static environment

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Benchmarking

• Comparing performance on a measurable scale key
  in-house business operation with other
  organizations similar operation

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Benchmarking

• Four steps
• Form a benchmarking team to identify benchmarking
  targets or best Practices
• Collect data from internal operations and
  external organizations
• Analyze data to identify performance gaps and
  determine their causes
• Prepare and implement an action plan to meet or
  exceed performance standards

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Ethical Issues in Environmental Scanning

• Spies in rival firms, hiring competitors
  workers, or lying to get competitive information
  may be unethical

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Managing the Environment

• Classifying Strategies
• Internal Strategies
• External Strategies

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Managing the Environment

• Internal Strategies
• Changing Domains
• Recruitment
• Buffering
• Smoothing
• Rationing
• Geographic Dispersion

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External Strategies

• Advertising
• Contracting
• Coalescing
• Lobbying

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Environment Issues

• Culture Differences
• Power
• Individualism versus collectivism
• Quantity of life versus quality of life
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Long term versus short term orientation
• Implications for management
• Culture Shock

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Social Responsiveness

• Classical View
• Professional managers, responsible to
  stockholders, financial return
• Socioeconomic View
• Corporations are chartered by governments
• Responsibility to the larger society
• Related Concepts
• Social obligation, social responsiveness and
  social responsibility

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Satisfying the Customer

• Primary determinant of success
• Quality
• ISO 9000 certificate attesting that an
  organizations factory,laboratory or office has
  met quality management requirements determined by
  the International Organization for
  Standardization in Geneva.