EERI 473

Engineering and society / people

Lecturer: Prof Johann Holm
PhD Eng

Date: 23 August 2018

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 People -> Society(ies) -> Culture(s)

Broader
Environment
including
Society

Shareholders Enterprise Society

Directors Society Labour Force

Culture Culture
Value System Culture Value System
Value System

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 Society
• Society may be characterised by:
• Likeness – shared lineage, tribal affinity, family benefit or compactness due to
shared experiences that lead to mutuality
• Reciprocal awareness – acting in a mutually beneficial manner amongst
members, and sometimes excluding others due to lack of likeness
• Differences / diversity – recognition of differences (subordinate to likeness) such
as biological differences (gender), race, age and other natural variations
• Interdependence – a critical element of a society that enables individuals to
benefit from collective contribution
• Cooperation – society must have common goals and work together (form an
economy) as opposed to mutual destructiveness
• Conflict – an important necessity due to human nature that must be outperformed
by cooperation and mutuality
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/society/6-basic-elements-or-characteristics-which-constitutes-society, accessed on
2018/08/23

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 Culture
• Culture may be (generally) characterised by:
• Social organization – families, friends, religious groups, etc. sometimes organized
in classes
• Customs and traditions – defined by rules / patterns of behaviour formed over a
period of time
• Language – passing on traditions and beliefs to future generations
• Arts and literature – promote cultural pride and unity, teach and visualise
• Religion – enough said… be mindful of, and sensitive to religion
• Government – to address common needs, regulate economy, etc.
• Economic systems – traditional (survive), market (open), command (government),
mixed
• Cultures change due to environmental change, engineering, sharing and
absorption, new philosophies, etc.
Acquired non-tangibles (beliefs – symbols and religions),
tangibles (artefacts), and behaviours (activities) that define a society

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 Engineering and society / culture

• Must be a mutually beneficial arrangement (not the traditional one-sided approach)

to:
• Address the needs of both enterprise and society as a shared entity
• Understand, value and preserve societal values and cultures
• Respect cultural differences between enterprise society and society in general
• Align goals and objectives within set constraints within a shared value system
• Cooperate, share and behave in a way beneficial to all parties
• Resolve conflict from differences in a structured manner
• Acknowledge compromises to be made for new value to be gained
• Share in gain and value created by shared effort and investment
• Ensure sustainable, long-term engagement by forming a new, shared society

• This all requires good management, including engineering management…

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 Elements of management
Enterprise Shared Values Culture
Culture

Engineering
Manager

Labour
Society Ecology
Remuneration
+
Upliftment

Corporate Social
Responsibility

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 Full life cycle – Human Resources (HR)

Acquisition Utilization
Developmental culture – change Operational culture – repetition
is normal and will cause conflict is normal and will require patience
• Development principles apply • Sustainability principles apply
• Project management activities • Operations management activities
• Quality implies “change on promise” • Quality implies “repeat on promise”
• Include societal / cultural requirements • Ensure societal stability is maintained

Loosely called Loosely called

“Engineering” “Production”

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 Full life cycle approach – HR (ii)
Human resources must be considered from a full life cycle perspective (i.e. a Systems
view)
Machine Acquisition Machine Use
Machine Machine Construction
Machine Use and
Requirements Procurement and
Phase-out
Specification and Logistics Integration

Machine Life Cycle

• Transport – contractor • Operation – employee / contractor

Engineer - contractor
• Construction – contractor • Management – employee

CONTRACTS!

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 Full life cycle approach – HR (iii)
Agree and appoint:
• Determine fit-for-purpose – contract and appoint Communicate!
• Define key result areas (focus areas - KRA)
• Define key performance indicators (KPI)
• Plan development (PDP – train)

Measure and adjust:

• Measure tasks / deliverables and reward (regular – KPI)
• Development discussions (PD – optimize performance)
• Annual performance reviews (PR – longer term)
• Communicate and give recognition (reward / incentivize)

Act upon exception:

• Evaluate measurement (reward first)
PEOPLE - MEASUREMENT GOVERNS
• Deviations – determine root cause(s) PERFORMANCE
• Adjust where required (optimize)
• Handle exceptions / dismissals (Legal – CCMA)

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 Human Resources - challenges
97% OF ALL FAILURES ARE ASCRIBED TO PEOPLE
Motivate!

To my knowledge – lack of leadership is biggest cause of issues… Engineers are LEADERS!

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OHS – Refer to HIRA slide set

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 For EERI 473 – submission on 30 Aug 2018
• Each individual:
1. Economic impact of society on Houers
a) Identify and list the effects of (i) labour disputes, (ii) political influence, and (iii) an economy under
pressure on Houers’ profitability – link these effects to Houers’ operations data wrt labour
b) Perform a sensitivity analysis on the profitability of Houers with respect to labour cost
c) Document your findings in an Excel spreadsheet and graphs (you must use your own economic
analysis spreadsheet from your group) in report format
d) Compare these results with the sensitivity of environmental factors (i.e. which has largest effect?)
2. From a full life-cycle perspective, which types of contracts will be used to manage human resources
(i) during acquisition, and (ii) during utilization?
3. As an engineering manager, what are your duties to ensure social stability at a factory located in a
developing / rural environment? List 5 items with a brief description (one page maximum) from a full
life cycle perspective (i.e. consider CHANGE and STABILITY).

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