Management Case

1.0 Introduction

The success of an engineering company is affected by everyone employed by the company from the technician on the workshop floor to the manager in the front office. This report aims to highlight the difference in skills required of the manager to that of the engineer and accountant of a small hydraulic engineering firm operating in Germany. The manager's role within this firm will be compared to the roles of the engineer and accountant by analysing and comparing his actions and skills with the relevant managerial theories. The report will then consider the effect of an engineer on business and the global economy in both the capacity as an engineer as well as a manager.

2.0 The Hydraulic Company

2.1 The role of the accountant

The account's role in this company is to ensure that the money is flowing in and out of the company and that all debts and money owing is settled by the due date. He has to make sure that there is enough money available to pay wages and allow for maintenance and upgrading of the workshop and office equipment whilst still making a profit. The accountant has to identify areas where expenditure is high and how to reduce the costs by performing financial analysis of the company.

The account requires technical skills in money management where the decisions are more black and white. His role is less affected by human behaviour and therefore doesn't require strong interpersonal skills to be effective in his job although he still has to communicate with the manager and engineer when consulting on pricing of jobs and the available funds. Thus only basic communication skills are required.

2.2 The role of the engineer

The engineer is responsible for the detailed design of hydraulic equipment ensuring that everything is done to standards. The engineer has to perform risk assessment on the designs for reasonable foreseeable misuse and make decisions on whether the design will be safe. The engineer prepares a pricing and a tentative design for tender for the manager to discuss with the client. The engineer, depending on the technical knowledge of the client, discusses with the client the technical details of the project and offers different options for the client. Once the design is deemed suitable by the client the engineer then supervises the assembly and fabrication ensuring that everything conforms to standards. The engineer then goes out to the site to commission the assembly and to make any final adjustments.

The engineer is like the accountant in that the technical skills of his field are the most important. These skills allow him to be effective in the design and fabrication of the hydraulic system for the customer which is his primary role. Diagnostic and analytical