Engineering Project Management

by
Dr. Ehsan ul Hassan
 Managing Systems

Manager’s job can be

analyzed in the perspective
of managing systems
 What is a system?
Interrelated components which come together for some purposes.

Interrelations

Purpose
Components

Boundary

constraints Environment
 SYSTEM
System is a set of interrelated and
interdependent parts arranged in
a manner that produces a unified
whole.
 TYPES OF SYSTEM

Closed System Open System

Systems that are not Systems that

influenced by or do not dynamically
interact with their interact with their
environment. environment
 Business as Open System

Input Process Out Put

Lab, Machinery Manufacturing
Product
Raw Materials Subassembly etc.
Services
Finance etc

Environment
Contingency Perspective
An approach that says that
organizations are different.
Face different situations
(contingencies). and require
different ways of managing.
 Contingency Variables

Organization Individual
Size Differences in term of
•Desire for growth
•Tolerance of ambiguity
•Expectations

Environmental
Uncertainty
•Political
•Technological
•Economical Change
Contingency Perspective

In these different situations

managers have to face different
problems and use different
motivational techniques,
leadership styles and job
designs.
 Organization
A deliberate arrangement of
people to accomplish some
specific purpose.
 All Organizations have a
management structure that
determines the relationships
b/w functions and positions
and subdivides and delegates
roles, responsibilities and
authority to carry out defined
tasks.
It is a framework in which an Organization arranges
it’s jobs.
Basic Elements of Organizational
Structure
Basic six key elements of Organizational
Structure:
Work specialization
Departmentalization
Chain of command
Span of control
Centralization and decentralization
Formalization
9–
14
Organizational culture

Organization as a Personality
 Organizational Culture

Organizational culture: the shared

values, principles, traditions, and ways
of doing things that influence the way
organizational members act and that
distinguish the organization from
other organizations.
Dimensions of Organizational
Culture
Strong Versus Weak Cultures
 Contrasting Organizational Culture
• Risk-taking and change discouraged

• Creativity discouraged

• Close managerial supervision

• Work designed around individual employees

• Risk-taking and change rewarded

• Creativity and innovation rewarded

• Management trusts employees

• Work designed around teams

 How Culture Affects Managers’
decisions
• Because an organization’s culture constrains what they
can and cannot do and how they manage, it’s particularly
relevant to managers.