Administration

Project Management Functions
• Planning
– (what are we aiming for and why?)
• Organizing
– (what’s involved and why?)
• Motivation
– (what motivates people to do their best work?)
• Directing
– (who decides what and when?)
• Control
– (who judges results and by what standards?)

Spring 2008, Engineering Administration 1
King Saud University Dr. Khalid Al-Gahtani

Leading (Directing)
• Motivation and leadership
• Teamworking and Creativity


Motivation
• Motivation tries to determine what gets
people to work and what gets them to
work better
• Motivation affects the production and
quality of work


Motivation (Continue)
• Lack of motivation creates several problems
such as:
– people do not feel like doing the job or
– it gets done but not very well,
– people get to work late,
– miss deadlines, ..., etc.
• Many factors affect why people take jobs and
the weightings applied to each factor vary with
each individual
• Psychology has much to offer in the way of
motivational theories.

Maslow and Herzberg

Self-

H ygiene factor
1. A ch ievem en t
fulfillment 2. recogn ition
3. th e w ork itself
H igh er N eeds
(type of w ork)
(Psych ological) S elf-e xpressio n 4. takin g respon sibility
(level of respon sibility)
5. ch an ce to advan ce
R eco gnit io n, respect (prom otion )

S a fet y, she lter, w arm th, etc 1. W orkin g condition s

M otivators
2. S alary
B asic N eeds
3. R elation s w ith superiors
(P h ysical)
P hysio lo g ica l needs, fo o d, clo thing etc. w orkin g con dition
4. C om pan y policy

M aslo w ’s hierarchy o f need s H erzberg


John W. Hunt
• Hunt proposed that:
– predicting people’s behavior is achieved by
considering their personal goals.
– People can be motivated by creating an
environment in which their goals can be
satisfied while the goals of the organization
are also satisfied.
• Individual’s goals are:
– comfort, structure, relationships, recognition
and status, power, autonomy, creativity, and
growth.


John W. Hunt (Continue)
• Hunt assumes people’s needs are not
constant
– in contrast of Herzberg and Maslow
theories.
• Example: A graduate engineer will have
a goal of finding a job that offer good
training. Later this goal will be better
salary, then the goal is to find flexible
job…etc.

Motivation in Practice
• Practically, motivation is a complex
process-what motive one person might not
motivate another.
• Managers have to try to build up what their
subordinates are likely to like and then
establish what it is that drive them.
• Questioning subordinates is unlikely to
provide reliable answers in short period of
time.

Leadership
• Leadership is the way in which managers
influence people to meet the objectives of
the organization.
• Authority should be achieved through
respect so that people do what is needed
because they themselves appreciate the
need.


Leadership (Cont.)
• Establishing leadership is difficult. It is a
management skill that can be developed
with time.
• People have to be motivated through
sound leadership in order to meet the
company’s objectives.
• There is no correct way to lead, but there
are different styles depending on the
circumstances.

Leading Styles
1. Authoritarian:
– Allowing the subordinate no role in the decision-
making
2. Democratic:
– Where the decision making is delegated to the
subordinates
3. Task-centered leader:
– The leader is concerned with the task to be
accomplished and sees subordinates as tools that
are used to get the job done.


Leading Styles
4. The employs-centered leader:
– Leader is mainly concerned with the welfare and
well-being of subordinates, with the view that if the
subordinates are cared for them the task will be
achieved through their commitment.
5. Theory X:
– “old-fashioned” managers believe that people
dislike work and must be forced to work and that
people prefer to be told what to do.


Leading Styles
5. Theory Y:
– (opposite of X),
– people exercise self-direction and self-
control in the service of objectives to which
they are committed.
– People will actively look for responsibility
and use their imagination and creativity to
solve problems.


Factors of Leadership styles
1. For Managers:
– personalities, background knowledge,
experience, value system, confidence in
employees.
2. For subordinate:
– knowledge, experience, working as groups,
their feeling of independence or to be guided.
3. The situation:
– company’s expectation, culture, constraints
(time, confidentiality, …etc).

Teamworking and Creativity
• Teamworking
• Optimization Team Composition-Theory
• Managing the Creative Process
• Problems Solving
• Methods to Improve Solution Generation
• Decision Making (Proposal Evaluation)


Teamworking
• Teamworking is a life long habit for mankind:
– In family,
– at school, and
– at work we work in teams.
• Teams are often formed to solve problems
and so needed to be creative.


Teamworking (Cont.)
• Teamworking brings true holisom.
– Holistic team is an entity whose whole is greater
than the sum of its parts.
– This means that the group acquires new abilities
that the individuals could not have provided along
(i.e. colonies of ants).
• Mangers need to know:
– how to bring about the benefits of holistic teams
– and has to avoid forming ineffective teams (team
composition).

Optimization Team Composition-
Theory
• Team theories describe how to form the
best possible team.
• A good theory must describe not only how
to select individuals, but has to select
groups that will work effectively together
“team balancing”.


1. Simple Theories
• In most models, separate team roles are
identified:
– could be functions that the team requires for
success such as leading, or
– they may be attributes of people that are helpful
in teamworking such as respect for colleagues.
• Each theory describes a way of identifying
the attributes a given individual can bring to
the team (through questionnaire).

1. Simple Theories (Cont.)
• These theories do not provide:
– experimental evidence to support their
prediction
– nor do they provide a way of measuring the
role each individual take in team with accuracy.
• They are only concerned about:
– having the required expertise in the team
– and not concerned about team homogeneity.


2. Advanced Team Theory
(Belbin Theory)
• Belbin’s research was centered on the
performance of teams at a management
game called “Teamopoly”.
• Belbin uses proven psychological
classifications to generate his team roles.


Team-role developed by Belbin
1. Company worker (CW);
– carries out agreed plans systematically and
efficiently.
2. Chairman (CH);
– control the way in which a team moves toward
the group objectives.


3. Sharper (SH);
– shapes the way team effort is applied
(discussion, outcome of group activities).
4. Plant (PL);
– advances new ideas and strategies to major
issues.


5. Resources Investigator (RI);
– explores and reports on ideas,
– development and resources outside the
group.
6. Monitor Evaluation (ME);
– analysis problems,
– evaluates ideas and
– suggestions.


7. Team Worker (TW);
– supports members in their strengths and
underpinning members in their shortcomings.
8. Completer Finisher (CF);
– ensures that the team is protected against
mistakes in aspects which need high
attention.


2. Belbin Theory (Cont.)
• A questionnaire-based analysis of team
roles are used to produce a numerical
rating for each individual.
• A successful team is a balanced team,
– one in which all roles are present and
unbalanced team will be a losing team.


• This theory was experimentally verified,
therefore, it has found its way into the
practice of many organizations that use it
for forming teams (i.e. Board of Directors).


• Belbin also produced a list of dangerous
group combinations:
– as a contradiction to the proposal that the
best way to form a team is to pick one expert
or more in each field required.
• Belbin theory takes into account
availability of expertise and team
homogeneity.


Managing the Creative Process
• Contemporary creativity comes from
group-work.
• Modern problem solving is an organized,
rational approach aimed at producing the
required breakthroughs at the times they
are needed.


Problems Solving
• Problem solving is the gateway to progress
• Several techniques exist. Any good
technique should include the following
steps in some form or another.
– STEP1: Examination
– STEP2: Proposal
– STEP3: Implications
– STEP4: Implementation


STEP1: Examination
• In order to solve a problem one should be
clear on what the problem actually is.
• Clarity of thought and the application of
rationality are the keys to being accurate
in identifying the real problem.


STEP2: Proposal
• A good problem solving depends on being
able to identify the best solution to the
problems.
• It is usually difficult to arrive at the best
solution straight way.
• The ideal approach is to produce lots of
different ideas and then weigh one against
another to find the best one.

STEP3: Implications
• Usually a proposal designed to solve a
problem will have implications.
• Some implications are significant enough
to render a proposal unworkable.


STEP4: Implementation
• No solution to a problem is complete
without due considerations being given to
implementation of the solution.
• Implementing a solution to a problem is a
management issue. A plan must be
produced for implementing the solution.


Methods to Improve Solution
Generation
• To generate ideas needed for the proposal
phase of the problem-solving process, two
techniques are presented:
– (1) Brainstorming,
– (2) lateral thinking.


(1) Brainstorming
• The technique aims at generating a big
number of solutions to a given problem. In
most cases only a few of the generated
ideas will be used to solve the problem.


(1) Brainstorming (Cont.)
• The technique relies on having a group
seeing the problem with fresh eyes and
using their imagination to produce
solutions.
• During a brainstorming session, ideas
should be generated free from rational
constraints. After the session a rational
approach is used for the selection of a
good solution.


(2) Lateral Thinking:
• In vertical thinking one starts with known
conditions and then applies steps of
reasoning to reach a goal (engineers use
this).
• In lateral thinking one has an inspiration
and sees a new angle of the problem and
the solution is accordingly. It is a
brainstorming on your own.


Decision Making (Proposal
Evaluation)
• Good decision making is a key to success
• Decision making as a process can be
divided into independent, elemental
sections and optimizing each one.
– I Decision-making Techniques
– II Collecting
– III Start with Objectives


(I) Decision-making Techniques
• Objectives facilitate clear and corporately
beneficial decision-making at all levels.
• Rational decision making is impossible with
conflicting objectives.


(II) Collecting
• Whenever a decision is to be made there are
always options.
• Data collecting aims at:
(1) collecting sufficient amount of facts about each
option
(2) ensuring that all options are known.
• Quantity and accuracy of data collected has
to be consistent with the measurable effects
of the decision.

(III) Start with Objectives
• Occasional wrong decision is an inevitable
consequence of making decisions. People should
learn from mistakes.
• Some of the evaluative techniques that may be
used to assist the process are:
– (1) Search for Extrema
– (2) Penalty Costs
– (3) Matrix Assessment
– (4) Overriding Constraints
– (5) Use of Math
– (6) Consequence Analysis

(1) Search for Extrema
• Sometimes objectives may require the decision
maker to aim at extremum (max. or min.) of
some variables. (e.g. min. possible time ≥ C.P.
plans)
• Extrema are poor ways to specify objectives and
lead to unclear choice (What project duration is
acceptable should be the question)
• Sometimes they are appropriate and they are
used in common practice.


(2) Penalty Costs
• All decision come not only with potential
benefits but also with costs associated
with the decision being wrong (Penalty
costs)
• The Risk associated with the decision
usually decided taking it or not.


(3) Matrix Assessment
• A very simple and effective way of
choosing among alternatives when many
different attributes have to be weighted
against each other (see Fig.)


(3) Matrix Assessment
M a x. P last ic- P last ic-
A ttribute G la ss S ilic a
sco re N3 N2
C larit y 20 19 17 15 17
L o w co st 20 5 15 10 18
W e ig ht 20 2 19 13 16
R e fract ive inde x 15 14 8 9 12
unifo rm it y 10 10 6 8 6
S tabilit y 15 15 11 13 11
T otal 100 65 76 68 80


(4) Overriding Constraints
• In some cases overriding constraints significantly
reduce the number of options available. Such
constraints should first be identified before the
beginning of the process:
– (i.e. upgrading an existing camera model without
changing the original body shell-space constraint).


(5) Use of Math
• A good technique to use to arrive at a
decision (unbiased and dependable).
Some times it allows for probability
evaluation in the process of decisions
making.


(6) Consequence Analysis
• In some cases the consequence of a
decision interacts with the issue upon which
the decision is made.
• Anticipating all consequences possible of a
given action is not usually possible so
efforts should be directed in the most
important directions.
• For the use when the consequence of a
decision is so essential in the selection
process (price reduction decision).

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