436-284 Organisational Engineering

Students may only gain credit for one of 436-284, 436-203 Manufacturing Studies 1, 436-363 Manufacturing Studies 2 or 436-383 Design & Industrial Psychology.

Students will be expected to be familiar with material covered in level 100 mathematics.

This subject provides an introduction to management for manufacturing, mechatronics and mechanical engineers, focused around the achievement of organisational goals, and covering the major topics of strategy, systems, structure and resources, particularly people and money.

Unit 1, Industrial Psychology: Upon completion of this unit, students should have gained knowledge of human behaviour in work organisations; be able to identify relationships among organisational variables including formal structure, interpersonal relations, groups, managers and motivation theory; and be able to transfer their knowledge and skills to the behavioural problems of the future employers.

Topics covered include individual and group behaviour in organisations, particularly in small organisations; motivation, leadership and morale; organisational culture, group dynamics, conflict and its resolution; power, politics and ethics; and organisational change.

Unit 2, Engineering Economics: Upon completion, students should understand how engineers contribute to business (including costing and financial management); have acquired knowledge for measuring economic performance of people; be aware of competitive methods; and be able to assess equipment purchase proposals, cost a design and comprehend the principal ingredients required to manufacture and manage efficiently.

Topics covered include theory of perfectly competitive markets, theory of the firm, consumer theory, methods of competing and increasing gross margin; recording of business transactions, break-even calculations, sources of income, capital and operating expenditure; preparation of budgets and performance measurements, analysis and interpretation of financial statements (financial position, financial performance, funds movement), cash budgets; organisation charts and corporate structure; operation of service departments, decision making and personal communications; and costing of designs and services, criteria for equipment purchase and management information systems.

Two examinations of 2 hours at the end of semester (70%), syndicate participation and presentations held throughout the semester (15%), four individual assignments each up to 1000 words excluding computations, tables, graphs, etc. due throughout the semester (15%). All components of assessment must be satisfactorily completed to pass the subject.