Business 4 Ps - Business Fundamentals for Engineering Managers

Engineering Management Master’s Program[pic 1]

EMP 503 Business Fundamentals for Engineering Managers

Assignment # 1

Due Date: October 24, 2016

Group Members:

Abdulhadi Al-Marhoon # 200007900

Ebrahim Al-Ajji # 20089353

Salem Al-Shehi # 201607175

Majed Haded # 201201950

Contents

1. Effectiveness Vs Efficiency        

2. Strategic Plan of Qatar University        

3. Reference        

1. Effectiveness Vs Efficiency

1.         Effectiveness & Efficiency both are commonly used terminologies in any business. They are used to track the performance of any organization, it is part of the KPI. The definition of (effectiveness) is basically achieving the intended goal, no matter how and the (efficiency) is performing in the best way with the least cost, time and resources. There were two arguments discussed regarding whether a manager should be efficient and effective at the same time, or a manager can be efficient, but not effective. I would strongly agree with the first argument, which is (a manager who is efficient must also be effective). If a manager is focusing in one aspect only, such as effectiveness, this focus will enable the organization to achieve its goal eventually, but it will be with high cost, low quality and no proper utilization of the resources. A manager could be overstaffed to achieve one goal, but the productivity will be very low and the cost of wages will be high. On the other hand, if a manager is focusing on the efficiency of the organization, but misses achieving the company goal, then this is not being effective, therefore efficiency & effectiveness are both needed at the same time, to achieve the goal of the company with low cost, proper resources utilization & high productivity.

1.         One case that can be used to support the argument is that in my current department (Logistics) at work, we used to focus on how much product (orders) do we fill per shift, to fulfil customer need, basically we wanted to be effective by achieving our target without delays, however with the time, we started to observe some gaps in the operations, one of these gaps is the high number of reworks. The problem started with the mindset of the previous leadership of that specific department, every time they receive a new lot of product, they kept the production lines running as if this lot is on spec product and the packaging was done using the raw material of the on spec product. The reason behind it is to show in their KPI that the lines are running more than 90% of the total running time. Another reason for keeping lines running, they thought that they cannot keep up with the upstream rate, causing process upset is something not wanted during the run, also there were orders needed to be filled. A sample is collected from every Lot received, then it will be sent to the LAB for analysis, 40 minutes later, the Operations will get the feedback if the lot is on spec or off spec. Several times the Operations received the analysis result that the lot is off spec. Operations had to go back and pull out all of the product from all containers and recycle them back in the system, using the right raw material for the off spec product. Yes at the end of the shift we filled the orders with the product needed, but the efficiency was bad as we had time loss, raw material and resource waste or loss, basically we were effective to fill orders for our customers, but our efficiency went down with the way we handled the Operations. The gaps have been identified and actions were taken to improve the efficiency. Also the company started to do benchmarking study with other companies which have same business in the same region. We started looking at both effectiveness and efficiency. Basically the bench marking looked on how much product did we produce and if we achieved our goal, also we started looking at resources utilization and productivity as they are part of efficiency. Some gaps have been identified & observed and opportunities for improvements are being evaluated to improve efficiency and effectiveness.    

1. Strategic Plan of Qatar University

1.         The structure used for QU strategic plan is basically same approach as the previous planning cycle.  The development of the strategic planning started by reviewing the Mission statement. The Mission statement was reviewed by internal and external parties. Four key performance areas were identified based on the revision of the Mission statement. As a result, four groups were formed to work on the second strategic plan. The working groups of the first planning cycle met for some assessment, recommendation and lessons learned from the previous planning. All of the recommendations were captured by the second working group, then each working group derived a list of internal factors (strengths and weakness) and external factors (opportunities and threats), that are related to their strategic area. The four working groups suggested having three-year cycle plan to be mapped with Qatar National Development Strategy. Later on, a discussion was held with the higher level of the concerned parties, the outcomes were shared with the four working groups, to incorporate them in the plan. The draft plan was presented to the president for comments, and then the final plan was cascaded to the lower units to follow the same approach as was adopted in the first cycle.  Basically the below areas were defined to complete the strategic plan of QU.

• Vision
• Mission
• Key performance areas
• Objectives
• Strategies
• Key performance indicators
• Targets
• Actions

There are four key main performance areas (KPA’s) that the QU is focusing on to define the strategic goals. The first area is related to quality of education. The second area focuses on research. The third area focuses on community services & outreach and the fourth area is dedicated for the efficiency and the effectiveness of the operational process.