Engineering Organizations Research Articles

РЕАЛИЗАЦИЯ РАВНОМЕРНОЙ ЗАГРУЗКИ ПРОИЗВОДСТВА МАШИНОСТРОИТЕЛЬНОГО ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯ

The article deals with an approach to calculation of equipment, employee or work centers load during the production plan forming by machine engineering organizations. The calculations are based on the duration of manufacturing operations and the electronic structure of items, and provide the most balanced workload at the shortest time of production. The article describes the model of item production and the technique of production plan forming according to each work center with the set of calculation constraints. It also calculates the efficiency of an equipment load and time of production based on the current production plan. The calculation of load plan for work centers is provided by auxiliary software module of an interactive web-resource using the T-SQL.

Role of Leningrad architects in last-recovery repair of center of Sevastopol and problem of preserving their heritage

Destroyed in Sevastopol in 1945, it was restored by architects from Leningrad engineering organizations: Centroamerica, Langosteira and Logoinstant, as well as architects from Moscow and other Russian cities. The purpose of the study: to show the influence of representatives of the Leningrad architectural school on the formation of the post-war image of Sevastopol. Methods: publication of historical data not previously entered into scientific circulation, based on the materials Of the state archive of Sevastopol. Results: archival materials about the work of Leningrad architects in Sevastopol were identified, and their implemented projects were reviewed.

САМОСТІЙНА РОБОТА МАЙБУТНІХ ІНЖЕНЕРІВ

The article draws attention to the fact that the organization of the educational process in physics for future engineers is a complex and multifaceted process. It aims at the formation of fundamental system theoretical knowledge and practical skills, skills of future engineers, as a basis for understanding, mastering technical and special disciplines of engineering specialty, as well as the readiness and ability to apply fundamental ZUN in professional activity. The didactic support vector of the educational process is aimed at updating the procedural and substantive components regarding the organization and independent work of future engineers according to the higher education standard of Ukraine for the first (bachelor) level. The article outlines some ways of organizing the future work of future specialists in physics in the field of knowledge 13 – Mechanical Engineering, specialties 136 – "Metallurgy". The article focuses on the fact that conscious preparation of future engineers for laboratory work is subordinated to achieving the result of the student's educational activities of the expected program results of training of future engineers. The example of a mechanism with a friction kinematic coupling during theoretical preparation for the experimental study of the fundamental law of rotational motion dynamics shows some steps to achieve the expected program results of training of future engineers, for example, PR01 "conceptual knowledge and understanding of the basic sciences underlying the relevant sciences metallurgy, at the level necessary to achieve other results of the educational program". Key words: fundamental and professional knowledge, independent work, expected programmatic learning outcomes, mechanism with frictional kinematic coupling.

Analysis of inter-production interaction in the geodesic industry

Modern document management of topographic production was formed and developed since Soviet times, but with the development of market relations, the number of its participants (customers, manufacturers and consumers) has increased significantly. Thus, the role of the geodesist in the construction industry is expanding significantly. The task of the surveyor is to communicate with all participants of the engineering project: architects, representatives of design organizations, planners, engineers at the construction site, utilities, tenants, representatives of government and others. The purpose of this study was to analyze the production interaction between the customer of the work and the geodesic organizations (the survey executor). The survey by questionnaire, which we conducted, was attended by representatives of design organizations that are engaged in the preparation of project documentation for the construction (reconstruction or overhaul) of buildings and structures of various levels of responsibility, and survey organizations that are engaged in the preparation of technical reports on engineering and geodetic organizations.

A Blueprint for Advancement: Infusing Engineering With More Women [Career Advisor

From spectacular engineering marvels to everyday tools, women have been credited for various clever creations. In recent years, local and international engineering organizations have taken the initiative to to promote the field of engineering to women and encourage them to pursue a career in technical disciplines. Although a large sum of money has been spent to attract women to the field of engineering by outreach programs and recruiting initiatives, the fact remains that the number of female engineers has not increased over the past few years. The question of "why" must be answered. A detailed discussion of why female engineers quit their career in later years and also why more young graduates are moving away from engineering is presented in this article.

Why do people seek knowledge? Tracing factors that affect knowledge seeking intention

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand factors that motivate an individual to seek knowledge on knowledge management systems. Specifically, the work seeks to clarify the impact of organizational practices on an individual’s intention to seek knowledge. The overarching theme is to broaden the current understanding of factors that impact individual knowledge seeking behavior and narrow down factors for which interventions can be developed.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews were conducted with the members of knowledge management (KM), human resources (HR) and learning and development teams of Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Private Limited (RBEI) to understand knowledge behaviors of employees. Subsequent to an exploratory analysis, the survey methodology was used to collect data from members of RBEI. A proposed theoretical model was then validated using partial least squares.FindingsEmpirical findings suggest that to motivate participation, organizational KM practices need to be geared towards promoting curiosity and engaging learners. Results indicate that overt recognition of knowledge seeking behaviors by HR could be counterproductive.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited to an MNC engineering organization in one geographic location; one must be cautious when generalizing these results. Replicating this study in multiple organizations will help mitigate this limitation.Originality/valueLittle is known on the effect of KM and HR practices on knowledge seeking behaviors. This work addresses this gap and presents a comprehensive model.

The impact of digital transformation on formal and informal organizational structures of large architecture and engineering firms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of digital technologies adoption on the forms of organization of large architecture and engineering (A/E) firms. Network theory has attracted scholarly and managerial attention, particularly from the perspective of the changes of project organization. However, little research focuses on network theory as a lens for understanding and managing the new forms of firms’ organization. Additionally, conventional organizational analyses are hampered by the lack of methods for understanding the changes in roles and relationships due to the adoption of digital technologies and examining their impact on organizational structures.Design/methodology/approachTo address this gap, this research adopted a mixed-method case-study approach. This approach combined interviews, regular check-ins, and document analysis with data mining and social network analysis (SNA) to capture the changes of intra-organizational roles and relationships and for understanding their impact on the firm’s organizational structure. Using the data gathered, the authors created a dendrogram that shows the formal organizational structure, a sociogram that displays the informal organizational structure and a network map that visualizes the interplay between the two structures.FindingsFrom this analysis, the authors identified four main findings: informal roles – as go-to people for advice and information about digital technologies – play within A/E firms facing digital transformation; such go-to people operate through informal networked relationships and beyond their formal roles; most of these relationships do not overlap with the formal reporting relationships; the combination of both these roles and relationships create an informal social network. The authors also show how managers can use SNA to understand the changes in roles and relationships due to the adoption of digital technologies and to diagnose their impact on organizational structures.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the literature of organizational design and change management from a network perspective in the context of the digital transformation of large A/E firms. It provides a systematic data-driven approach to understanding the changes of intra-organizational roles and relationships within A/E firms facing digital transformation and to diagnosing the impact of these changes on firms’ organizational structures.

The effect of knowledge management on perceived software process improvement

Purpose This study aims to present insights on the relationship between perceived software process improvement (PSPI) and information technology (IT)-enabled knowledge management (KM). Moreover, the study provides an understanding of the mediating effect of critical success factors (CSFs) for effective IT-enabled KM on the previously mentioned relationship. Design/methodology/approach The respondents in the study involved employees in the software engineering (SE) organizations in national capital region in India. The structured equation modeling technique carried out through IBM.SPSS.Amos.v21-EQUiNOX was used to develop and evaluate the proposed framework. The proposed hypothesis testing has been carried out by path analysis using SPSS process macro. Findings The findings of the empirical study reveal that a significant relationship exists between the variables under investigation. Moreover, it was observed that CSFs act as a mediator between PSPI and IT-enabled KM. The identified factors are associated with various aspects as managerial, infrastructure, financial, systems and processes for IT-enabled KM. IT acts as a moderator between KM and PSPI and facilitate the various phases of KM as knowledge creation, storage and retrieval, sharing and application of knowledge. Practical implications The present study introduces a framework for identifying and applying the CSFs that influence the KM initiatives for PSPI in an SE organization. The practitioners can use the CSFs for assessing the performance (strengths and weaknesses) in process of software development and KM practices. Researchers can use the resultant framework proposed in the empirical study for PSPI, IT-enabled KM, and in academia, the framework supports to organize the study of IT-enabled KM for PSPI. Originality/value The general comprehension of the relationship between IT-enabled KM and PSPI for Indian SE organizations is scarce in the literature. Following, the analysis expands the earlier research by exploring the mediating role of the CSFs and the moderating effect of IT for KM and PSPI relationship.

A Four-Pillared Holistic Model for Improving Performance in Engineering Virtual Project Teams

The adoption of virtual teams across engineering organizations continues to rise, given the added benefits compared with co-located teams. However, virtual teams face additional challenges related to managing tasks, communication, and collaboration, requiring distinct facilitation practices for efficient governance. Engineering leaders and organizations should be aware of such practices to enable successful outcomes of their virtual teams. This research presents a four-pillared holistic model for enabling successful virtual project team performance. The model is built on four pillars: (i) Governance Methodology, (ii) Human Interaction, (iii) Technology Management, and (iv) Organizational Environment. A research construct was established to determine the correlating relationships and predictive capabilities between the four model pillars and project performance. The research findings confirmed that each pillar has a strong, positive correlation with project performance, and overall, all four pillars are positive predictors of the performance of a project. Discussion of the results, along with the implications for engineering managers, stakeholders, and organization leaders are presented along with the study limitations and areas for future research.

The Importance of Expertise Visibility Across Organizational Boundaries for Individual Performance

The importance of knowledge sharing within engineering organizations is well acknowledged within the literature. A critical step to organizational knowledge sharing involves expertise visibility, or knowing who knows what, as employees must first identify who has the knowledge needed for project or organizational tasks before engaging in knowledge exchange. Thus, expertise visibility is theorized to improve group and organizational performance; however, there is a dearth of literature that has analyzed the importance of expertise visibility on employee performance. Due to the importance of employee performance for group and organizational performance, this research analyzed the relationship between expertise visibility and employee performance. Specifically, we analyzed responses to survey questionnaires to compare visibility across organizational boundaries with employee performance using social network analysis and linear regression analysis. Results showed that being visible across technical expertise, office, and hierarchy boundaries were associated with increased employee performance. Engineering organizations can use these results to encourage and incentivize employees to become more visible outside of their immediate groups in order to increase their performance. The paper contributes to theory of transactive memory by showing the importance of expertise visibility for performance at the individual level.

A Positive Use of "No" [MicroBusiness

Every organization, even a monopoly, has limited resources: limited money, limited staff, and limited facilities. The role of a good manager is to make the most of those resources, to provide the greatest possible contribution to the organization’s objectives. This means that it is important for the manager to say “no.” I have been part of, or have managed, many engineering organizations in my career. In my experience, there are always more than enough things to work on. And that’s where “no” comes in. An organization’s success is based on what it achieves, focusing on the work that has the greatest impact. That means rejecting some work, even work that is worthwhile. It’s not easy, but it can be done.

An Agent-Based Model of Miscommunication in Complex System Engineering Organizations

Communication in engineering organizations affects the performance of the complex systems they design. Miscommunication occurs when communication results in a “deficiency” or “problem” that hinders parties from fulfilling their individual or collective values. A recent study demonstrated widespread miscommunication in a Fortune 500 engineering firm about the definition of “an estimate” in a complex system design context. Building on that work, this article used a Monte Carlo simulation (8800 runs) of an agent-based model to demonstrate how systemic design process miscommunication may affect complex system performance. Each run of the simulation created a unique 1000-artifact system using a network generation algorithm and converged its design through optimization. Systems where estimates communicated “current” designs outperformed systems where estimates communicated “future” projections of their designs instead. Varying the fraction of the population, which uses each definition of an estimate varied system performance and uncertainty. Whether related to estimate definitions or more generally, this article demonstrates that miscommunication may affect system performance.

Pre-Design Survey Work For Reconstruction And Overhaul Of Buildings

The main problems regarding the organization of high-quality implementation of pre-design survey work carried out during the reconstruction and overhaul of buildings and structures and their solutions are considered. The specifics of conducting engineering surveys and survey work with the use of modern technical means and equipment, making it possible to accurately assess the reliability and safety of buildings, are underlined. The results of the survey of the technical condition of bearing structures and engineering-geological surveys of the administrative building site in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District (Salekhard City) are given as an example of high-quality pre-project studies. Numerous defects of reinforced concrete structures of foundations, formed as a result of construction and installation works - poor quality pile splicing to the design level of the bottom of the grillage with low strength concrete without anchoring the reinforcement, tilting of separate piles and factually their emergency condition - were revealed. According to the results of the survey, recommendations were developed to strengthen the bearing structures. The importance of the problem of creating an engineering organization, whose activities will be aimed at improving the survey work, including the survey of the technical condition of existing buildings, and the creation of high-quality overhaul and reconstruction projects based on them, is noted.

LID coupled design of drainage model using GIS and SWMM

ABSTRACT Urbanization creates developed catchment and generates peak flows in a short time. Upgradation of the existing drainage system to accommodate those altered flows have become a challenging task. As a result, implementation of LIDs in urban areas, nowadays, becomes a traditional solution to mitigate urban runoff issues. However, the integration of LIDs in urban drainage design still have not yet been fully investigated. In this paper, the LID coupled drainage system is designed for Aurangabad city (Maharashtra State, India) by using SWMM. Design of drainage model has been classified into two groups as a conventional drainage system and a system with low impact development (LID) to investigate the performance of the LID coupled drainage model. The results of the model simulation show that a combination of at least two or more LID implementation is necessary for satisfactory results. The finding of the study shows that RWH is more effective in highly urbanized areas, whereas, pervious pavement gives satisfactory results in moderately urbanized areas. Also, LID practices can effectively reduce the pressure on the urban drainage system if two or more LIDs are coupled together. Therefore, Simulation results suggest implementing a drainage system with the implementation of pervious pavement and RWH. Abbreviations: AMC: Aurangabad Municipal Corporation; BMPs: Best Management Practices; CPHEEO: Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization; GIS: Geographic Information System; IDF: Intensity-Duration-Frequency; IRC: Indian Road Congress; LID: Low Impact Development; LULC: Land Use Land Cover; RWH: Rainwater Harvesting; SWAT: Soil and Water Assessment Tool; SWMM: Storm Water Management Model; US EPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency

Using principles as activity drivers in human activity systems

AbstractEngineering activity possess robust methods for designing, realizing, and managing complex engineered systems. As engineered systems become more complex, engineering activity's complexity is growing along with it. Current engineering management tools and methods, although they serve well for many engineering activities, begin to fail when the complexity of the engineered systems exceeds a threshold. Part of the problem is that social, organizational, and psychological sciences have been integrated in limited capacity into engineering activity. Further, the methods and tools for managing engineering activities tend to be rigid and often do not adapt well to complex engineering environments. To address these limitations, the author proposes for the use of the purposeful human activity systems framework as a systems perspective on engineering activity. The framework provides a flexible approach to managing engineering activity by enabling the selection and application and effectiveness measurement of the best social, organizational, and psychological methods and tools according to the specific needs of the engineering organization.

The relationship between attachment style and creativity: The mediating roles of LMX and TMX

ABSTRACTThe capacity and willingness of employees to deploy their creativity in the pursuit of organisational goals is a cornerstone of many organisations’ competitive advantage. Drawing on the actor-context interactionist perspective on creativity, we propose that insecure attachment styles act as distal antecedents that reduce employee creativity through the mediating role of social exchange relationships (i.e., leader-member exchange [LMX] and team-member exchange [TMX]). To test the proposed model, data were gathered from 192 employees and their respective supervisors in 12 engineering organisations. Hierarchical multiple regression and Monte Carlo mediation using the lme4 and mediation packages in R was performed to test the proposed hypotheses. Results revealed that while high quality LMX and TMX relationships are positively associated with creativity, insecure attachment styles have significant negative effects on employees’ perception of the quality of their LMX and TMX relationships, which, in turn, lead to lower creative output. Taken together, our results reveal the important influence of insecure attachment styles on creativity and in particular highlight the central role of leader-follower and team member relations as underlying mechanisms in this regard. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice.

An Agent-Based Model of Miscommunication in Complex System Engineering Organizations

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings includes abstracts of all papers and symposia presented at the annual conference, plus 6-page abridged versions of the “Best Papers” accepted for inclusion in the program (approximately 10%). Papers published in the Proceedings are abridged because presenting papers at their full length could preclude subsequent journal publication. Please contact the author(s) directly for the full papers. An Agent-Based Model of Miscommunication in Complex System Engineering OrganizationsJohn Meluso and Jesse Austin-BrenemanJohn Meluso U. of Michigan and Jesse Austin-Breneman U. of MichiganPublished Online:1 Aug 2019https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2019.14198abstractAboutSections ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AbstractCommunication in complex system design organizations affects the performance of the systems they design. Miscommunication occurs when communication results in a ""deficiency"" or ""problem"" that hinders parties from fulfilling their individual or collective values. A recent study demonstrated widespread miscommunication in a Fortune 500 engineering firm about the definition of ""an estimate"" in a complex system design context. Building on that work, this study used a Monte Carlo simulation (8800 runs) of an agent-based model to demonstrate how systemic design process miscommunication may affect complex system performance. Each run of the simulation created a unique 1,000-artifact system using a network generation algorithm and converged its design through optimization. Systems where estimates communicated ""current"" designs outperformed systems where estimates communicated ""future"" projections of their designs instead (p<0.001). Varying the fraction of the organization which uses each definition of an estimate varied system performance and uncertainty. Whether related to estimate definitions or more generally, organizational miscommunication may affect system performance.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 2019, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 1 August 2019 Published in print 1 August 2019 InformationCopyright of Academy of Management Journal is the property of Academy of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.KeywordsAOM Annual Meeting Proceedings 2019AOM Boston 2019

A review of progress and opportunities to foster development of sustainability-related competencies in engineering education

ABSTRACTOver the last decade and prompted by the United Nations (UN) 2030 Framework, significant engineering bodies have been calling for education directed towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this paper, the authors reflect on progress to enable SDG knowledge and skills in engineering studies, overviewing key examples of efforts within the global professional engineering and education community, including Australia and the United States of America (the US). Acknowledging differences in language and guidance around the world, the authors discuss the need to provide clear and concise language regarding: 1) statements for desirable graduate attributes, 2) required knowledge and skill (i.e. competency) development, and 3) commentary/guiding elements and indicators. The paper concludes with recommending accreditation bodies and professional societies and colleges make use of current international review processes underway by the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) and the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO), to update accreditation and supporting documents to ensure graduates have capacity to deliver solutions for ‘thriving humanity and planet’ in the twenty-first century. The authors also challenge educators to review and renew their institution’s desired graduate attributes and program offerings to ensure curriculum develops capacity for achieving the UN SDG goals, targets and indicators.

Evolution of the Helix Project: From Investigating the Effectiveness of Individual Systems Engineers to Systems Engineering Organizations

AbstractThe U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) have faced challenges in systems engineering in recent years (GAO, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018). The Helix project started in 2012 as a multi‐year longitudinal research study mainly to understand what makes systems engineers effective. The previous Helix work on individual systems engineers is a critical input to this project focus. In 2018, the Helix team shifted from an exclusively workforce focus (within the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) Human Capital Development Strategy area) to encompass how organizations can become more effective at systems engineering as a discipline and includes organizational characteristics that influence the effectiveness of the systems engineering workforce, as well as how they better enable their systems engineering workforce. This paper provides an update on the research including the updated methodology to investigate the organizational systems engineering effectiveness.

Transforming the Engineering Organization with Systems Engineering and Quality Management

AbstractNever have the challenges of complex product and systems development been greater. Rising complexity coupled with the need for fast development cycle times and lower development and support costs have driven development efforts into a Faustian dilemma. Is it better to become highly agile by forgoing documentation, process and discipline—or to labor under the burden of restrictive, formal processes which use much needed time for non‐development activities like planning, design and documentation? As some development organizations sell their quality souls for expediency, while ignoring the eventual price they may pay, others stay the course, hoping their ponderous processes do not leave them vulnerable to disruptive start‐ups and new business models. Is there a better path? Yes, modern development concepts properly deployed and implemented in a values‐based quality management environment provide a choice of chaos versus quality.The dramatic growth and development of the Internet of Things (IoT) has produced new kinds of risks and unknowns that can result in dangerous unintended consequences and the increased impact of undiscovered defects on people and processes. Reports of major security defects and breaches of data storage have become commonplace.As has always been the case, effective and successful product and systems development is a function of optimally employing people, process and tools. In what follows, we will describe the important challenges and opportunities in each of these three areas, and show how a values‐based quality management approach provides the context, values and standards for achieving both short‐ and long‐term success. Values‐based quality management has all of the protocols, due diligence, rigor, systems thinking, and scientific thought associated with 1QR. It also includes the added emphasis of 21st century techniques, and the ability to train and retain high‐performers.