Module overview
This module provides students with an introduction to management, accounting and law applicable to the operations of an engineering-based organisation. Emphasis is placed upon introducing managerial knowledge and skills required to apply effective management techniques to engineering projects. This is set within the context of ethical and environmental concerns and the entrepreneurial, financial, team development and legal processes determining sustainable success in business.
Students are taught and assessed within groups to address managerial decisions, accounting for engineering decision-making, law in engineering, marketing, human resource management, entrepreneurship, leadership, teamwork, project management and project risk management.
This module is linked to FEEG2001 Systems Design and Computing and SESS2016 Ship Structural Design and Production where group design projects provide the basis for assessing Project Management, Project Risk Management, Leadership and Teamwork skills. This supports the development of effective management and group working skills within the context of designing and delivering a challenging engineering project.
Guest lecturers from industry are invited to discuss their current industrial practice and project management experience. Case studies are used to illustrate key principles and to provide examples.
Linked modules
FEEG2001 or SESS2016
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Appreciate ethical management of measurement processes and the limitations of financial analysis.
- Appreciate Real Options and strategic management accounting.
- Pursue effective and ethical leadership and teamwork including briefing, providing feedback, negotiation, motivation and influence.
- Practice accounting for projects and manufacturing/service processes
- Appreciate price setting and management of product lines.
- Understand factors affecting project implementation.
- Consider how to best manage growth and change. Understand factors affecting project implementation.
- Understand legal systems relevant for engineering.
- Assess market needs and contribute to marketing strategies addressing market opportunities.
- Appreciate the nature, scope and impact of managerial roles, skills, ethics and decisionmaking, supporting effective project work and evaluation for continuous improvement
- Appreciate manufacturing, projects and systems management, operations management and quality management
- Understand relevant costs and Investment Appraisal.
- Understand entrepreneurial characteristics and behaviours stimulating creative approaches and innovation in large organisations as well as in start-ups.
- Recognise and explore key legal requirements for engineering, including; legal responsibilities, IPR, health & safety, employment, welfare, social and environmental legislation.
- Consider options to organise and develop human, physical, financial and knowledge-based resources to address objectives in engineering businesses.
- Understand the principles of Activity Based Costing, budgeting and financial control.
- Relate managerial decisions to Human Resources Management including employee relations, performance management, personal and team development.
- Define cost categories and overhead cost allocation.
Partial CEng Programme Level Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Within the assessments, the students incorporate engineering principles within the the wider context of a business environment. They identify technologies, research their manufacturing using literature (company profiles, academic journals and standards) and link performance measures to the business model and value proposition
- In case studies, students must evaluate the legal, ethical and technical frameworks associated with delivering engineering products or services. This includes the concepts of individual and corporate responsibilities.
- The students incorporate engineering principles within the the wider context of a business environment. In both assignments, the students must analyse a product or service (semester 1) or their group output (semester 2) in relation to its technical performance using engineering measures and SI units to define its engineering function.
- In the semester 2 assignment, the students must use an analysis toolkit, including cost/quality/time and resource management to derive an appropriate solution for exploiting technical performance of an engineering product or service.
- Risks in relation to both health and safety and project completion are taught and assessed with the use of standard project management tools, such as risk tables, SWOT analysis, stakeholder engagement etc.
- Lecture discussions are used to assess team-work, diversity and inclusion in relation to individual and group perspectives for the successful delivery of a task. Personality and group working type descriptors are used formatively to understand different personality types and how this might be managed when working in groups or with stakeholders with different values or perspectives.
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- C1 The students incorporate engineering principles within the the wider context of a business environment. In both assignments, the students must analyse a product or service (semester 1) or their group output (semester 2) in relation to its technical performance using engineering measures and SI units to define its engineering function. C4 Within the assessments, the students incorporate engineering principles within the the wider context of a business environment. They identify technologies, research their manufacturing using literature (company profiles, academic journals and standards) and link performance measures to the business model and value proposition. C5/M5 The semester 2 assignment requires students to develop a project plan for commercially developing an engineering aspect of their FEEG2001 or SESS2016 (co-requisite module) group projects. They use the business model canvas to demonstrate business and customer needs and must identify relevant engineering codes of practice and industry standards, such as ISO or BS. Lecture discussions are used to assess teamwork, diversity and inclusion. Personality and working type descriptors are used formatively to understand different personality types and how this might be managed when working in groups or with stakeholders. C6 In the semester 2 assignment, the students must use an analysis toolkit, including cost/quality/time and resource management to derive an appropriate solution for exploiting technical performance of an engineering product or service. C8 In case studies, students must evaluate the legal, ethical and technical frameworks associated with delivering engineering products or services. This includes the concepts of individual and corporate responsibilities. C9 Risks in relation to both health and safety and project completion are taught and assessed with the use of standard project management tools, such as risk tables, SWOT analysis, stakeholder engagement etc. C11 Lecture discussions are used to assess team-work, diversity and inclusion in relation to individual and group perspectives for the successful delivery of a task. Personality and group working type descriptors are used formatively to understand different personality types and how this might be managed when working in groups or with stakeholders with different values or perspectives. C14/M14 In the semester 2 assignment the students must select engineering units of measure, assess how they impact the performance of their technology and how they would develop a project to improve or exploit these measures. C15/M15 In the semester 1 assignment SBAQs are used to link legal principles to engineering and management processes. In the semester 2 assignment the students are tasked with identifying an aspect of their co-requisite projects that could contain IP and to use this to build a project plan and business model to exploit it. C16/M16 Both assignments are group work. The students are required to self-assess their working habits using personality and group working type descriptors personality and group type descriptors. Using these, they reflect on their individual contribution to the group output. C17/M17 In the semester 1 assignment, the students assimilate knowledge of a chosen technology and relate its function, via engineering measures and metrics to the business model and value proposition being used by the company supplying the product or service. This is then related via a group report suitable for business and technical managers along with legal teams. C18/M18 The students are taught the importance of note and minute taking, which is assessed for actively in the semester 2 assignment. Accurate records in relation to self and company learning along with individual and corporate accountability are emphasised.
Syllabus
Managerial Decisions:
Appreciating the nature, scope and impact of managerial roles, skills, ethics and decision-making, supporting effective project work and evaluation for continuous improvement. Awareness of options to organise and develop human, physical, financial and knowledge-based resources to address objectives in engineering businesses. Case studies introducing the relationship between management and engineering; manufacturing, projects and systems management, with an introduction to operations management and quality management.
Accounting for Engineering Decision Making:
Defining cost categories and overhead cost allocation; Activity Based Costing; Budgeting and financial control; Relevant costs and Investment Appraisal; Real Options and strategic management accounting. Accounting for projects and manufacturing/service processes; Ethical management of measurement processes; Limitations of financial analysis.
Law in Engineering:
Introducing company and commercial law with awareness of key legal requirements for engineering, including; legal responsibilities, IPR, health & safety, employment, welfare, social and environmental legislation; Legal systems relevant for engineering.
Marketing:
Introducing marketing – assessing market needs and contributing to marketing strategies, addressing market opportunities, price setting and management of product lines.
Human Resources Management:
Introduction to human resource management including employee relations, performance management, personal and team development.
Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Teamwork:
Introducing the basis of effective and ethical leadership and teamwork including briefing, providing feedback, negotiation, motivation and influence.Entrepreneurial characteristics and behaviours stimulating creative approaches and innovation in large organisations as well as in start-ups; managing growth and change.
Project Management & Project Risk Management:
Introducing factors affecting project implementation. Introducing project management techniques for coordinating resources, planning implementation, budgeting, assessing risks and achieving engineering goals within the context of developing internal capabilities and evolving ambitions reflecting the commercial, social, environmental and regulatory environment, and how these techniques are applied through engineering projects.
Note: Ethics and Social Responsibility will be embedded under each setting as appropriate.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
1. Lectures for the delivery of new material and concepts.
2. Guest lectures to provide input from industry.
3. Tutorials and workshops to discuss and reflect on the application of FEEG2006 within the FEEG2001and SESS2016 group design projects.
The teaching pattern is summarised below.
Semester 1
A twelve week lecture course consisting of two single (45 min) lectures per week. The delivery dates for each subject area are flexible in order to allow for the inclusion of external lecturers.
- Accounting for Engineering Decision Making (weeks 1- 7)
- Management for Engineers (weeks 7-15)
2 x 45min Guest lectures ‘Setting Engineering Management and Law in Context’ are incorporated within the Semester 1 lecture course to support the taught content. These will be delivered by industry
figures/ alumni/ visiting professors.
Semester 2
A twelve week lecture course consisting of two single (45 min) lectures per week. The delivery dates for each subject area are flexible in order to allow for the inclusion of external lecturers.
- Law in Engineering (weeks 19-24)
- 2 x 45 min lecture/ workshop sessions
- 1 x 45min Briefing workshop on applying Project Management and Teamwork to the FEEG2001 and SESS2016 group design projects.
- 1 x 45min Review Workshop reflecting on the application of Project Management and Teamwork (learning from common issues arising from the coursework applicable to the FEEG2001 and SESS2016 group design projects.)
- 1 x 15min ad-hoc advice session regarding the ‘Project Management, Project Risk Management, Leadership and Teamwork’ assessment and the application of these skills associated with the FEEG2001 and SESS2016 group design projects, is available subject to agreement and pre-booking by each group.
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Completion of assessment task | 112 |
Seminar | 2 |
Lecture | 34 |
Practical classes and workshops | 2 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Reading and case studies. Suggested reading and case studies will be provided during the lectures.
Teaching Notes. Module teaching notes for lectures provided weekly on Blackboard.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
Assessments are reviewed on a group basis. A group mark is awarded for summative assessments.
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Journal
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: written feedback on completion
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: Yes
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Report | 60% |
Report | 40% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Coursework assignment(s) | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal