Managing Engineering and Technology

Fifth Edition
Morse and Babcock

Historical Development of
Engineering Management

Chapter 2
Chapter Objectives
• Describe the origins of engineering
management
• Identify the different basic management
philosophies
• Discuss the future issues that will affect
the continued development of engineering
management.
 Historical Development of
Engineering Management
• Earliest civilizations required
management skills wherever groups of
people shared common purpose
– Military ventures
– Organized religion
– Tribal activities
 Ancient Civilisations
– Living in communities post agricultural
revolution
– Settlements close to river: Constructing
‘Trajectum de Maas’ in Maastricht, Diverting
‘River Gangir’ in eastern Iraq
• Neolithic Revolution (New Stone Age)
– From Hunters and Gatherers to living in
communities, by 6000BC over 1000 people!
– Plants and animals were domesticated
Ancient - Egyptians
– 4000 – 1600 B.C.
– Used managerial principles/job descriptions
– Built pyramids
• Great Pyramid of Cheops/Giza/Khufu
• Only tools: levers, rollers, immense earthen ramps
• 13 acres, 2.3 M stone blocks, avg. 5k pounds
• 100,000 men, 20-30 years to complete
• Same effort in worker-years as putting man on the
moon
• Difference in height of opposite corners of base 0.5
inch only!
What if we were to build the
pyramid today?
• While the pyramid was originally built by
100,000 workers over the course of 20-
30 years using strength, sleds and
ropes, building the pyramid today using
stone-carrying vehicles, cranes and
helicopters would probably take 1,500
to 2,000 workers around five years, and
it would cost on the order of $5 billion
 Stonehenge (3000-2000 BC)
• Stonehenge is a
prehistoric monument
in the English county
of Wiltshire
Ancient Iraq - Babylon
• Hammurabi Code
– 2123 – 2081 B.C.
– Unique code of 282 laws
– Governing business and societal dealings, e.g.
– “If a builder of a house for a man and does not
make its construction firm, and the house which
he has built collapses, and causes the death of
the owner of the house, that builder shall be put
to death”
 Ancient – Military
• Cyrus 580-529 B.C.
– First Achaemenid Emperor. He founded Persia by
uniting the two original Iranian tribes
– Use of staff
– Recognized use of order and division of work
• Alexander the Great 323 B.C.
– Distinction between line and staff
– Used discipline and delegation
– Functions of Supply, Provost Marshal and Engineer
Ancient - Romans
• 284 B.C.
• Estate and farm management
• Emphasis on personnel selection and
placement
• Known for building roads, bridges, and
water management
Medieval Period
• Four centuries of Dark Ages

• No books on management written

Islamic Empire - Caliphate
• Mostly not mentioned in traditional
books!
• Plethora of contributions
Origins – Arsenal of Venice
• Complex of state-owned shipyards and
armories clustered together in Venice in
northern Italy in early 1400s
– Manufacturing
– Numbering of inventory parts/Lumberyard
– Standardization of parts
– Assembly line
– Piecework pay and daily wages
– Double-entry bookkeeping (debit and credit)
Arsenal of Venice
 (End of) Cottage Industry
• Before 18th Century
– Farm families would spin
cotton, wool to yarn or thread
on a spinning wheel
– Weave it on a hand loom
– Wet the goods with mild alkali
– Spread them on the ground for
months to bleach in sun
Industrial Revolution
1750-1800
– Spinning Jenny – Chlorine Bleach
• 8 threads at once • Quick bleaching

– Water Frame – Steam Engine

• Phased out water power
• Water powered
– Mule – Screw-cutting Lathe
• Made possible more
• Combination of
durable metal machines
Spinning Jenny and
instead of wood
Water Frame
– Interchangeable
– Power Loom
• Weaving machine
manufacture
Industrial Revolution
Problems of the Factory System
• Recruiting/Training Workers
• Explosive Growth in Mill Towns
• Supervisors, No Background
• Upper Management, Sons or Relatives
Management Philosophies
• Scientific
– Adam Smith, Frederick Taylor, the Gilbreths

• Administrative
– Henry Fayol, Max Weber

• Behavioral
– Hawthorne Studies, Abilene Paradox, Maslow
Adam Smith
• Wealth of Nations
• Division of labor
• Pin manufacturing industry
• 10 specialized workers could produce
48000 pins!
• Independent workers not even 10 pins
together!
Father of Scientific
Management
• Frederick Winslow Taylor 1856-1915
• Taylorism
• Theory of management that analyzed and
synthesized workflows
• Discarding ‘rule of thumb’ in favor of time
study work
• “a broadly accurate guide or principle, based
on practice rather than theory”
Taylor (1856 – 1915)

• Time Study work

– Breaking down work into ‘elements’ or
better ‘elementary motions’ discarding
unnecessary motions
– Timing these elements to determine a fair
day’s work
– Differential piecework: Higher rate per
piece for higher worker productivity
Taylor
• Replaced old rule of thumb
• Believed in selecting, training,
teaching and developing workers
• Time Study
• Standards planning
The Gilbreths (1868 – 1924)
Frank B. Gilbreth: (1868-1924) Devised a
system for classifying hand motions into
17 basic divisions Therbligs (Motion
study work)

Lillian Moller Gilbreth: 1878-1972)

First Lady of Management
The Gilbreths
• Bricklayer
– Three sets of motions
• Deliberately but slowly
• Rapidly
• Teaching their helpers
• Classifying hand motions
– 17 basic divisions, ‘therbligs’
• Authoring 6 books together with wife
Administrative Management

• Henri Fayol

• Max Weber
Henri Fayol (1841-1925)
• Engineer

• Developed 14 “general principles of

administration”

• Divided management activities into five

divisions
Functions of Managers
Fayol
• Planning (Selecting what to do)
• Organizing (Establishing structure)
• Command (Replaced today with
Leading)
• Coordination (Not separate anymore)
• Control
Fayol
• “…long personal experience has taught
me that the use of higher mathematics
counts for nothing in managing
businesses and that engineers, mining
or metallurgical, scarcely ever refer to
them.”
Comparison
Fayol and Taylor
• Both referenced functional
specialization
Fayol-principles of management
Taylor-secure efficiencies

• Both emphasized “one best way”

Max Weber (1864-1920)
• Major influence in a classical
organizational theory
• Bureaucracy
– Division of labor
– Hierarchy of authority
– Loyalty to the ‘office’ not individual holding it
– Selection vs election of office bearers
– Employment based on expertise
– Rules and procedures must be written
– Rigid
– Impersonal
Behavioral Management
• Hawthorne Studies

• Abilene Paradox

• Maslow
Hawthorne Studies
• Illumination experiments (1924-
27)
– Vannevar Bush (MIT)
• Relay room experiments (1927-32)
– Elton Mayo (Harvard)
• Wiring room experiments (1931-
32)
– Elton Mayo (Harvard)
Illumination Experiments
• Original intent was find the level of
illumination that made the work of
female coil winders, relay assemblers,
and small parts inspectors more
efficient.

• Conclusion - persons singled out for

special attention perform as expected
Relay Room Experiments

• Six female workers removed from

production line to form a “team”
• No supervision, but closely monitored
• Test variables
– Length and frequency of breaks
– Length of work day
– Length of work week
– All changes resulted in increased output
(absenteeism dropped 65%)
Wiring Room Experiments
• 11 men working together
– Production rates stabilized at a
norm, even though pay was by
the piece
– Those above or below the norm
were ridiculed and abused
– Complex social group and
hierarchy
Hawthorne Outcomes
• “Hawthorne Effect” – studied people behave
differently: as you expect them to
• Theory Y – People are intelligent, motivated,
hard workers
• Self-Directed Teams – Work groups form an
organization without supervision.
• Implications for control
• Criticisms?
Abilene Paradox
• Failing to manage agreement effectively
• Inability of a group to agree to disagree
• Group decision making
• Workplace, family, friends
• Personal examples?
Definition
• Motivation is a psychological feature
that arouses an organism to act towards
a desired goal and elicits, controls, and
sustains certain goal-directed behaviors
Maslow – 60’s

• Hierarchical theory of human needs

Biological / Physiological Needs

Security / Safety Needs
Social Needs/Love/Belongings
Esteem/Ego Needs
Self-actualization/Self-fulfillment
Motivational
Motivational
Theory
Theory
Maslow’s Hierarchy

Herzberg
Motivational

Herzberg
Hygiene
 Surah Ibrahim (14:37)

Rab-banaa in-niy askantu min dhurriy-yatiy bi waadin

ghayri dhiy zar’In 'Inda baytikal muHarrami rab-banaa li
yuqiymuS Salaata faj’Al af’idatam minan naasi tahwiy ilayhim
warzuqhum minath thamaraati la’Al-lahum yashkuruun
Prophet Ibrahim (as) and
Professor Abraham Maslow
“Oh Our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell
in a valley without cultivation, By Thy Sacred House; In
order, Oh our Lord, that they may establish regular
prayer; So fill the hearts of some among men with love
towards them, And feed them with Fruits: So that they
may give thanks.”(Quran: Chapter 14; Verse 37)
 Inverted Pyramid?
Wife of Prophet Ibrahim (as), Bibi Hajar and son Ismail (as)
Left between Safwa – Marwa on command of Allah (swt)

In the prayer, the order of needs is illustrated as being:

Spiritual needs: “establish regular prayer”
Social needs: “fill the hearts of some among men with love
towards them”
Physiological needs: “feed them with fruits”  
Bibi Hajar’s Sunnah
Contemporary Management
Issues - Challenges
• Quality and Productivity
• Customer Focus
• Information Technology
• Project Management
• Globalization
• Management Theory and Leadership
Contemporary Management
Applied Perspectives
• Peter Drucker
• Peter Senge
• Steven Covey
• Tom Peters
• Scott Adams
• Michael Porter
• Thomas Friedman