ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION Engineering Administration



Engineering Administration

Ans1- After becoming the Vice President of Operations at Clybourn, the first main task would be to increase the inventory turns per year that is calculated with this unique formula (Sales/Average Inventory). The previous annual sales were $100 million, and, the value of inventory was $50 million. However, Clybourn was not competitive with the present inventory turns per year. There is a need for, increasing it to a very large extent. The current value of inventory turns per year was 2, and, it should be increased to 4 turns in 2011. Last year, Clybourn's executive management had a comprehensive, enterprise wide improvement plan that focused on increasing sales, throughput, service levels, reducing inventory cost, and, obsolete inventory. At that time, managers had a huge task of maintaining every department in a proper way and were given complete authority in managing all the affairs at the best possible level (Daugherty, 1995).

Managers had to review the performance of their respective departments on a regular basis and provided their feedback to employees after assessing the matters of the report in detail. Currently, one of the managers has been given a message to become the Vice President of Operation at Clybourn. Now, it is a big development and the strategy along with the way of working is going to change completely after becoming the Vice President of Operations at Clybourn. Now, the responsibility has increased further for the former manager. Vice President of Operations will now need to prepare proper strategies and plans for various operations of the firm. The current major task of the Vice President is increasing their inventory turns out. First of all, he would need to develop strategic goals by laying out a clear guideline for the firm. Leaders provide a direction to employees by keeping in mind their goals and targets. This is the major difference between managers and leaders. Managers have a task of managing various operations in the company and leaders have a task of preparing the overall strategy and guidelines for the firm. In the current situation, their primary goal is to increase the inventory turn out. This can only be achieved by increasing sales and overall productivity. It is not going to be easy because of high competition in the industry. Leaders will need to prepare a plan for increasing their sales and expanding their operations in other markets. An effective strategy would be required to enhance the position in the market. A formal planning will then enable Clybourn to achieve the desired level of inventory turns per year. This would also result, in an increase in the overall sales of Clybourn. Therefore, these are the differences between managing the transition and leading the transition (Klein, 1990).

Ans2- The only source of sustainable competitive advantage is the Knowledge Worker (KW). It has been studies that it costs around $30,000 and $40,000 to replace a KW today. The firms cannot afford to bear these costs especially under a tough business ...