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Case Analysis in
Engineering Management
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Leadership and Management Case Study #1

Laura is the associate director of a nonprofit agency that provides assistance to children and
families. She is the head of a department that focuses on evaluating the skill-building programs the
agency provides to families. She reports directly to the agency leadership. The agency has been cautious
in hiring this year because of increased competition for federal grant funding. However, they have also
suffered high staff turnover. Two directors, three key research staff, and one staff person from the finance
department have left.

Laura has a demanding schedule that requires frequent travel; however, she supervises two
managers who in turn are responsible for five staff members each. Both managers have been appointed
within the last six months.

Manager 1: Kelly has a specific background in research. She manages staff who provide research support
to another department that delivers behavioral health services to youth. Kelly supports her staff and is
very organized; however, she often takes a very black and white view of issues. Upper-level leadership
values Kelly’s latest research on the therapeutic division’s services. Kelly is very motivated and driven
and expects the same from her staff.

Manager 2: Linda has a strong background in social science research and evaluation. She manages staff
that work on different projects within the agency. She is known as a problem solver and is extremely
supportive of her staff. She is very organized and has a wealth of experience in evaluation of family
services. Linda is very capable and can sometimes take on too much.

The managers are sensing that staff are becoming overworked as everyone takes on increased
responsibilities due to high staff turnover. Staff have also mentioned that Laura’s "glass half-empty"
conversation style leaves them feeling dejected. In addition, Laura has not shared budgets with her
managers, so they are having difficulty appropriately allocating work to staff. Laura said she has not
received sufficient information from the finance department to complete the budgets. The finance
department said they have sent her all the information they have available.

As staff become distressed, the managers are becoming frustrated. They feel like they are unable
to advocate for their staff or solve problems without key information like the departmental budget.
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I. Background of the Case

Nowadays, a fast-changing modernized world affects organizations with reductions and
employee turnover due to an increase in competitive federal grant funding. The nonprofit agency
where Laura works at is a great example of this. The agency grants aid to families and children.
Laura is the associate director of the agency and the head of the department that is responsible
for evaluating the skill-development programs that the agency grants to families. However, due
to Laura’s hectic schedule that has a need for frequent travel out of the agency, she was not able
to manage the department effectively. That year the agency was not able to hire new staff and
that increases the workload and responsibilities of the other staff.
The staff in the department that was headed by Laura was in great distress and
overworked. The managers that she supervises are frustrated because they were not able to solve
the department’s problem and issues that were caused by a lack of key information and also
Laura’s attitude and performance to work has great effect to them. She was not able to manage
her team efficiently. Leadership is expounded as the capability to influence. Effective leadership
plays a vital role in efficient management, and to be an effective leader, one has to learn how to
communicate with others clearly.
The fishbone diagram for the root cause analysis of the case study is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Fishbone Diagram

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II. Objectives
The objectives of this case study are:
1. To be able to utilize both management and leadership skills effectively.
2. To improve leadership and management skills.
3. To build staff confidence and boost morale for better performance in work.
4. To improve communication between the head, managers and employees.

III. Alternative Courses of Action

Plan A – Study different management and leadership styles and conduct leadership
training
I. Advantages:
Studying different management and leadership styles will help department
heads and managers to acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses as a leader.
This will help an individual to know how to use these strengths, and make use of
different leadership styles to make up for the areas of weakness. Leadership
training can help to increase productivity, implement effective leadership style for
better decision making, and also expand employee engagement for a clear and
precise communication around the work environment.
II. Disadvantages:
One of the main disadvantages of conducting training is it could cost a lot
of money because it is required to pay someone to be the trainer. Even if it will be
conducted internally or externally, spending money is still required. The other
disadvantage is it uses a lot of time. This could cause a temporary staff shortage in
a department due to the absence of the managers and department heads because of
the training.

Plan B- Create an effective incentive program for the employees

I. Advantages:
An effective incentive program will increase employee morale and
performance. This will increase their productivity and will help them grow in
their roles. The employees will make a huge effort to improve their skills and
expand their knowledge about their work. It also escalates job satisfaction and
loyalty to the organization.
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II. Disadvantages:
One of the disadvantages of an employee incentive program is that it could
cause a conflict within the organization. Due to its selection process, some
employees might get jealous when they don’t receive an incentive when some of
their colleagues have received it. That will lead some of the employees to think
that there is favoritism among them. It could escalate unhealthy competition
among the employees because some incentives are limited only to a few
individuals of top performers.

Plan C – Conduct a team-building within the organization

I. Advantages:
Conducting a team-building will help to improve the communication
between the employees, managers, and head. This will strengthen their
relationship and will also help to reduce stress levels that were caused by the
many workloads at the workplace. This will develop unity within the organization
and will also cause in the increase of productivity and performance.
II. Disadvantages:
Conducting a team-building is an expensive process. It is required to pay
for the cost of the activities and the labor of the staff for that team even though
they are not doing something productive related to their work. It consumes a
plenty amount of time. Some team-building’s achieved results are for short-term
only. After the team-building event, some of the teams will soon return to their
baseline and this only implies that in order for a team-building to beneficial, it
must be conducted regularly, but this is not a practical solution.

Plan D - Utilizing transparent tools for team management

I. Advantages:
An example of a transparent tool for team management is the MeisterTask.
It is a software that is used for team management to provide an overview of
scheduled projects, tasks, and responsibilities assigned to the team. This will
inform the team members of the task that are assigned to them, such as the details
and the deadline. This will organize the workflow within the organization. This
also helps the team members to understand clearly their role in a project and the
managers and heads could lessen the hands-on approach to their members because
all tasks and responsibilities are displayed transparently.
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II. Disadvantages:
The use of transparent tools could consume a lot of time and an additional
responsibility for the managers and heads because they are the ones who will
organize it for every new project and task assigned to their team or department.
Also, some transparent tool is not free to use; some require a monthly subscription
to be able to use all of its features, therefore it will be an additional expense.

IV. Recommendation
Prioritize accountability in conducting leadership training. This implies that employers
should hold their employees accountable to take part in leadership training. The training should
also encourage the employees to continuously improve themselves for better performance. The
course of the training should fit the situation. It is also important to emphasize the goals of the
training so that the participants will be aware of the purpose of the training.
In order to protect the integrity of the incentive, employers should set up parameters for
it. Such as setup a limit or cap on incentive payments. For example, the incentive payments are
three times the target or will not exceed 100% of salary. It is important to make sure that the
employees’ focus is not only on the incentive because this might affect the quality of their
performance and sometimes this will cause some employees to do unwise actions for the
attainment of the incentive award.
It is also recommended that Laura and both the managers to undergo an evaluation of
leadership and management styles. This will help them know their capabilities as a leader and
what is needed to improve for them to be efficient in managing their staff. This will also help the
two managers to understand each other capabilities and fully utilize it to help the manpower.

V. Conclusion
Leadership and management play a vital role in organizational success. These two must
be present in an organization because if there is only good management but no leadership, the
results might be bureaucratic. If there is only an efficient leadership but ineffective management,
the results might be meaningless. Also, interaction between head, managers, and employee is
required to build a better communication system within the workplace. Because effective
communication helps to resolve the organization’s issues faster and smoothly. Efficient
leadership inspires the whole team to strive for greater accomplishments, and effective
management serves to motivate them to not lose sight of the organization’s goals and objectives.
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Case Analysis 2

Case Problem

Art auto company C Ltd is facing a problem of declining market share due to increased
competition from other new and existing players in the market. Its competitors are introducing
lower priced models for mass consumers who are price sensitive. For quality conscious
consumers, the company is introducing new models with added features and new technological
advancements.

Guide Questions:
1. Prepare a model business plan for C Ltd. to meet the existing challenge. You need not be
very specific about quantitative parameters. You may specify which type of plan you are
preparing.

Preparing a strategy is the best option for this situation. Comprehensively planning a strategy
is the vital key in attaining the company’s goals and objectives.

The Objectives of the company are:

 To surge sales significantly over the next years.

 To offer new and high-quality products that are budget-friendly.
 To increase the customer base per year.
 To attain 100% customer satisfaction.

Mission
C Ltd.’s mission is to provide state-of-the-art automobile with value-based price.
Prioritizing the customers’ satisfaction will increase the sales of the company. To ensure success
in the market, the company will strive for the improvement of its products and services to tend
with the customers’ demands and innovate products that will bring more convenience to the
users and will adapt with the advancement of the technology.

Competition
There are competitors who are releasing models that have low price with new features.
These competitors are those who are well-known in the market, such as the MG Motor-Carmona,
Nissan Motor Philippines, and Toyota Motor Corporation. These are just few of the competitors
that auto companies have.
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Strategies:
Image plays a vital role in moving forward to higher echelons of automotive sales and
attaining the company’s goals. Uplifting its image to the public by advertisement through
prestigious trade publications and actively promoting to a selected group of people located
around the area of the target market.

By offering latest model and excellent service, the customer base will increase. The
model of the automobile to be release must have new features, something that other models
doesn’t have. Models that have competitive price, but at the same time has a top-notch quality
that will not compromise the customer’s safety when in use.

Marketing Strategy

The company will use inbound marketing strategies because nowadays, it has the highest
potential of growth.
 Through Search Engine Optimization, the company’s official website will appear on
different search engines such as Google, MS Edge, Firefox, and etc.
 Through social media marketing, the target market will be easily to reach out, because
nowadays, most of people are spending more time in social media.
 Through word-of-mouth advertising of satisfied customers, the company’s customer base
will grow and uplift the company’s image. In order to achieve this gaining 100%
customer satisfaction is a must.

2. Identify the limitations of such plans.

Here are the limitations of the strategies mentioned above:
 Expensive
Advertising to different platforms and releasing new model of automobiles requires a
massive amount of money.
 Lack of experience of the technical staffs
Releasing a model that will adapt to the latest technologies requires great technical skills,
knowledge and experience in order to differentiate it from the other competitors.
 Maintaining 100% customer satisfaction
Customers taste and needs are not constant. Due to the fast changing of the environment,
there’s a possibility that the company might not be able to cater all the needs of its
customers.
 The success of the plan is not certain. The company must predict the future plans of its
competitors in order to come up with a new plan greater and better than them.
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3. How will you seek to remove these limitations?

To remove these limitations, the company must:

 Allocate funds in advance.

 Have a team composed of skilled and experienced professionals.
When recruiting, it must be done comprehensively, selecting the best candidate
for the technical team. As much as possible select those candidates that have greater
experience in the technical field of automotive industry.

 Always listen and consider the customers’ feedback and suggestions. Because this plays a
vital role in catering their needs and attaining 100% customer satisfaction.

 The plan that the company will make must be futuristic, that will look for the possible
events that may occur in the near future.

On the next page is the business plan made for the C Ltd.
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Executive Summary

C Ltd. manufactures automobile at a competitive price. The company keeps on adapting

with the latest trend and the demands of costumer, and always ensures that the products that will
be release in the market are defect-free and offers flawless services that go beyond the bounds of
customers’ expectations.

Market

In today’s world, almost everyone needs a car to lessen the hassle of traveling. Many
families prefer to travel together, and many professionals have work located far from their home,
so it will be more convenient if they have their own car. They can travel anytime they want
without waiting for the scheduled trip of the public transportations.

Competition

The automobile industry is oligopolistic with various manufacturers around the globe.
There are big companies that are well-known in every part of the world and are more trusted by
the consumers. Customers are cautious in choosing which company they’ll buy a car. The more
we can provide high-quality automobiles at a competitive price, the more we can gain the trust of
our customers. The company keeps on innovating in order for our models to be able to adapt
with the advancement of the technology. We will always ensure our customer’s satisfaction and
will rely to their suggestions and preferences to determine what kind of design and specifications
most of the car buyers prefer.

Objectives

 To surge sales significantly over the next three years.

 To offer new and high-quality products that are budget-friendly.
 To attain an increase of 20% in the customer base per year.
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Mission

C Ltd.’s mission is to provide state-of-the-art automobile with value-based price. We give

importance to our customers’ satisfaction. We strive to achieve and maintain good relationship
with our employees, suppliers, and customers in order to offer flawless services. To ensure our
success in the market, the company will strive for the improvement of our products and services
to tend with the customers’ demands and innovate products that will bring more convenience to
the users and will adapt with the advancement of the technology.

Keys to Success
To succeed and attain our goals, C Ltd. must:
 Have a team composed of skilled and experienced professionals.
 Have innovative marketing strategies.
 Listen to customers’ feedback and suggestions.
 Using forefront, updated technology in order to enhance our products and services, while
making ourselves different from our competition.

Company Summary

C Ltd. is an automobile manufacturer that is located at Carmona Toll Plaza, Maduya,

Carmona, Cavite. Combining the experience from other automotive industries, the company
began to operate in 2000. Aside from offering different models of car, the company also offer car
maintenance and repair, utilizing automotive parts that are high-quality and will ensure the safety
of the customers.

Company Ownership
C Ltd. is owned by its co-founders, Tim M. Fernan and Andy M. Avila.

Company History
During the initial startup stage of C Ltd. one of the major hindrances before it operates
completely, was the lack of capital. As the sales are growing through the years, the company
managed to design and manufacture state-of-the art automobiles. But as the company keeps on
innovating its products, it requires additional capital to acquire the needed parts and equipment,
overall, decreasing the cost of goods sold by 20%.

Products and Services

C Ltd sells automobile integrated with new technology and safety features, developed using
advance equipment. It offers maintenance and repair services. The parts use for replacement repairs have
excellent quality, that is not lesser than its original replaced part. Usually, the average hour of repair
varies from 2 days to 2 weeks depending on the issue.
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Future Products

C Ltd is currently planning for the new model to release. The company wants to enter the
industry of environment friendly automobiles. The research and design for the zero-emission vehicle is
still on going.

Market Analysis Summary 

Target market
The customers who will be interested in this kind of products and services are usually the
professionals, those who have stable job, especially those whose job locations that consume long
time of travel and also those kinds of jobs that require frequent travelling to other places. The age
of the target customers is ranging from 25 to 65 years old.

The target customers of C Ltd wants:

1. Competitive price
2. Models that are not outdated, easy to maintain and not costly to maintain.
3. Timely accomplishment of the work on the car maintenance and repair services.
4. Capability to offer excellent close customer services.

Service Business Analysis

Automotive sales and service is one of the massive industries around the globe. This type
of industry has many small and large sub-groups, each provided with high amount of capital. Its
products and services are known through word-of-mouth recommendations from the costumers.
And bought through high recommendations from the target market.

 Competition

There are competitors who are releasing models that have low price with new features.
These competitors are those who are well-known in the market, such as the MG Motor-Carmona,
Nissan Motor Philippines, and Toyota Motor Corporation. These are just few of the competitors
that we have.

ADVERTISING

The following are the various program of advertising that the C Ltd. use:
1. Magazines and newspaper ads.
2. Articles in magazines and press releases
3. Flyers
4. Website ads
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These advertising approaches are the those that will be easily notice by the customers. These are the
ones that can be seen in different platforms, especially in social media.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

Image plays a vital role in moving forward to higher echelons of automotive sales and
attaining the company’s goals. C Ltd. aims to uplift its image to the public by advertisement
through prestigious trade publications and actively promoting to a selected group of people
located around the area of the target market. By offering latest model and excellent service, our
customer base will increase.

Marketing Strategy

The company will use inbound marketing strategies because nowadays, it has the highest
potential of growth.
 Utilizing Search Engine Optimization, the company’s official website will appear on
different search engines such as Google, MS Edge, Firefox, and etc.
 Through social media marketing, the target market will be easily to reach out, because
nowadays, most of people are spending more time in social media.
 We aim to gain 100% customer satisfaction, because through word-of-mouth advertising
of satisfied customers the company’s customer base will grow and uplift the company’s
image.

Sales Plan
The mentioned marketing strategies will increase our customer base. The salesmen will
be compensated a portion of their salary through their commissions. Salesmen that will exhibit
an excellent performance will be rewarded with bonuses. The integrity of our sales and services
will not be sacrificed. It is vital that our salesman’s approach to prospect customers is adopted in
an organized way to ensure that we will keep the potential customers on our side.

Management Summary 

C Ltd is operated and owned by the cousins, Tim M. Fernan and Andy M. Avila

Personnel Plan

The compensation of the executive staffs is through the return of profits on their investment.

9 sales staff assigned to operate the sales floor are compensated by 15% of their pay scale on
commissions.

Since the company’s offering maintenance and repair services, 5 specialized mechanics will be
paid ₱ 18 000 monthly.

The secretarial and maintenance staff will be responsible of the administrative matters.
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Case Analysis 3

Case Analysis: PRETTY DOVE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: I'll follow the Boys

It was December when Engineer Milagros Abrera founded her own company, the Pretty Dove
Development Corporation (PDDC). The company was able to by a 51- hectare farmland along the
diversion road in Baliwag Bulacan. The land was developed in a residential subdivision with lot sizes
ranging from 300 to 500 square meters. Selling began as early as June.

Before founding PDDC, Engineer Abrera accumulated many years of experience working with
companies from construction to real estate development. The exposure helped her in managing the
activities of the company. As a general manager of PDDC, Engineer Abrera expanded its operations.
Rawlands were acquired in Cabanatuan City and San Jose City in Nueva Ecija, in Bataan and in Tarlac.
The marketing department of the company was able to sell the developed residential lots as quickly as
they should.

Engineer Abrera feels contented as the company's performance was beyond her expectations. As
she was reminiscing her graduation day at the University of the East in March, she remembers the word
of her close friend:

"Mila we have already finished our B.S. in Civil Engineering course. Someday, you and I may be
successful, but remember, nothing lasts forever. However, there is something you can do to delay the
inevitable."

Engineer Abrera suddenly thought that what her company is reaping now may not last forever.
They demand for residential lots may decline or there may be an oversupply of lots offered for sale.

In a recent meeting of the key officers of the company, the marketing manager hinted that the
company's sales growth may have already reached its peak and recommended that maybe it is time to
consider designing a new product.

After the meeting, Engineer Abrera sank in deep thought thinking of the relevance of a new
product design. After all, when she considered developing residential lots, it was as if she had a natural
feeling that households will require them. Years of observing keenly in the market gave her with
sufficient insights on demand and product specifications. Now, she feels so lost in deciding what moves
she should make.
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I. Background of the Study

On December 19, 1990, the Pretty Dove Development Corporation (PDDC) was founded by
Engineer Milagros Abrera. But it is inevitable when a company has reached its peak, and its sales will
decline. Just like what happened to the PDDC, they need to have a new design for their product because
nowadays, the companies that offer residential lots are increasing, therefore the customers have many
choices on which company they will choose, thus, this may lead to the decrease on sales of the PDDC.

The fishbone diagram for the root cause analysis of the case study is shown in Figure 1.

II. Objectives

The objectives of the study are:

1. To determine if designing and making a new product is the best choice for the company that has
reached its peak.
2. To come up with new marketing strategy.
3. To ensure that the products produce have excellent quality.
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III. Alternative Courses of Action

Plan A – Come up with a new marketing strategy and design new product

I. Advantage

In order to prevent the decline of sales, the PDDC must have a new
marketing strategy to attract customers, and design new product that will be
patronize by their customers. Thus, this will increase the sales of the company.

II. Disadvantage

Planning and implementing a new marketing strategy and design of new

product is time consuming and also expensive. It require many experience
professionals to ensure the success of its execution.

Plan B – Enhance the work-layout

I. Advantage

Enhancing the work-layout will help the company to control the

production efficiently and make it more organized. This will also help to reduce
the production time and use of the existing space effectively.

II. Disadvantage

Upon planning of the enhancement of the work-layout, it requires many

amount of time and also huge amount of money. Time and money plays a vital
role in the success of execution of the plan.

Plan C – Engr Abrera should search and find a new location where there is high

demand, thus the demand survey is important.

I. Advantage

This plan will ensure that the company will hit the market share , thus
this will prevent its sales from declining.
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II. Disadvantage

It this plan will not be successfully done, there’s a possibility that the
demand for the business might decline. This plan is time consuming and it
requires a quite large number of manpower.

IV. Recommendation

To prevent the possible decline in the growth of sales, they should come up with preventive
measures. This will help them to determine the possible cause and factors that affect the growth of sales.
This will help the company to come up with the right decisions and will reduce future expenditures. In
planning and designing a new product, it must be feasible to determine if it is effective or not. They
should also consider the price of the new product. It is recommended that it is not too expensive for the
target market, and must be in accordance with the taste and preferences of the customers. Since their
company is offering residential lots, they must ensure that its location is accessible and near to the market,
schools, and other establishments, because in getting a residential lot, customers always consider its
location.

V. Conclusion

It is inevitable when a business has reached its peak, and there’s a possibility that the success it is
experiencing will not last for a lifetime. Therefore, it is necessary that when building and managing a
business, they should always have a backup plan, in case things might get complicated or the business
growth will not sail smoothly. Also, being innovative plays a vital role in attracting customers. A business
must have a variety of products, and must not be fully confident that they will always stay on top. They
should be open for changes that will lead to the improvement of handling their business and its growth.
They should also have different preventive measures that may cause a reduction in the growth of the
business. This is where proper planning and operations management is highly needed. This will help in
choosing and implementing the best decision for the growth of the business.