IIE as a
subject for
Management
Engineering
By Jesse W. Brogan
President,
President, The Management Upgrade Shop
Management engineering is an emerging area of
industrial engineering, the application of basic efficiency principles to the
work of gaining performance through an organization. A first level of evaluation for the operation
of IIE is found through examining the organization’s existing mission and
vision statements.
IIE
IIE
provides leadership in developing industrial engineering; in representing the
industrial engineering profession; and in enhancing the capabilities of those
who are involved in or manage the application, education, training, research or
development of industrial engineering.
IIE Vision Statement
The
Institute will be globally recognized as the premier membership organization
for industrial engineers and their profession. The Institute will value and
serve its individual members and customers and exceed their expectations and
requirements.
The Assignment Test: “Looking at these statements as an
employee or worker within IIE, do they provide you personal guidance on what
you should or should not accomplish through your efforts.”
The Customer Test: “Looking at these statements as a dues-paying
member, do they provide assurance that you will receive the value that supports
your decision to pay dues?”
The result of
the test: These statements are not
written to support performance, and are accordingly insufficient to serve
management engineering.
Management
engineering techniques are designed to support the efficient management of
organizations. A primary purpose is to
draw the efforts of workers to a singular performance focus that is defined at
the top of the organization. I start with
the pairing principle (IE, Feb 2004, Member Forum), which associates the
products of the organization with those who receive and value it.
The first step
is identification of the functional customers; these are the ones who provide
the resources that guarantee the continued existence of the organization
because they receive value. IIE is
funded through membership dues, clearly identifying dues-paying members as the
organization’s functional customers.
The next step
is identification of functional products.
Functional products are what functional customers both value and receive
from the organization. Whatever IIE
members value and receive because they pay their dues, are functional
products. The organization will best
assure its own continuation and health by generating and delivering those
products most valued by its members.
I would caution
against the modern mismanagement direction of looking for what such an
organization is best able to provide.
The organization is not its own functional customer, and nothing that
the organization does for its own purposes will increase its value to those who
fund it. The strategic focus has to be
on those who provide business income. These
members are working industrial engineers and students of industrial engineering. I recognize three general classes of
functional product that will be so valued as to generally encourage payment of
dues: credentials, community and promotion.
Credentials:
The credentials
addressed will be those valued by practicing industrial engineers and
engineering students. Value will be
partly dependent upon the notoriety of IIE among those who will review or see
their credentials, and partly on the value of membership credentials as tokens
of the member’s professional characteristics or abilities.
Community:
Industrial
engineers tend to get locked up in jobs.
Their communication within their profession, and with people who
understand their abilities, aspirations and limits, is often constricted. Professional events and advances in their
professions are easily missed. A good
means for communication to and among members and leaders in the profession is a
very valuable service.
Promotion:
Industrial
engineers value their own hard work in obtaining degrees and other indications
of ability or witnesses to effort. These
need to be presented to others in such a way that the individual engineer can
benefit. Again, notoriety of the
organization among those who will hire or otherwise reward industrial engineers
for their membership in IIE is extremely valuable to the member.
Management
engineering is technical support for management. Value is found in the ability of this
technical support to bring a corporate effort to a sharp focus on performance
essentials, so that managers can best assure the generation of value. In this case, we are addressing the direction
of the larger effort of the
Differences in
direction of action from present efforts are obvious from the beginning. IIE is not presently in the business of
producing visible membership signs, and has little emphasis on assuring the
value of credentials it issues for meeting the needs of members. The focus of publications seems good, but
emphasis on interpersonal communication is in serious need of study. IIE efforts to promote IE’s can only be
called primitive; with past efforts focused more on convincing new IE’s to
joint than on promoting those who are paying the bill.
Notoriety:
One of the
greatest sources of value will be the notoriety of IIE, giving us a fourth
functional product. The notoriety of IIE
cannot be accomplished by services to members, but only by services to those
who will hire or otherwise value IIE members.
Even this first
general analysis has identified classes of important beneficiaries for IIE
services that now receive nothing.
Consider the potency of an IIE publication serving as an “Operator’s
Manual” for the person who hires or otherwise purchases the services of an
industrial engineer.
With the change
in focus, we can seek to maximize, in terms of income-generating value, the
four classes of functional products identified above.
Focus on Credentials:
Membership
credentials are unlikely to have value to members until they have value to senior
IIE management. When I joined, I did so
on the basis of my 1967 degree from the
Our present
venal attitude toward membership will only change when IIE management openly
demonstrates their commitment to assuring the value of membership; and that
through resourcing the effort that will accomplish close checking of candidates
before allowing entrance. IIE
credentials will have value to members only after others in the business
environment become aware that they are something that cannot be bought for any
price; but must be earned by education or practice. There is a second necessary effort:
communicating this new attitude to others in the business environment.
Credentials
need to be worth showing. Every member
should probably be given a periodic membership certificate suitable to frame
and put on the wall, attesting to their individual membership activities,
associations and accomplishments. It
will have value when members are eager to post these on the wall, and perhaps
want to send copies to employers to announce who they are and what they can do.
Credentials
will grow in value only as IIE becomes notorious, either for its value or for
its activity. In its present form, IIE
is not known for the value it produces for anyone except its members.
Focus on Community:
Community is
built on people who share something such as a common expertise or educational
experience. The sharing of this
expertise, both in its increase and its application, is the basis for
community. Professional Journals are an
important part of this sharing. Other
sharing opportunities do not appear to be strongly encouraged in today’s
operations.
Can we increase
the value of our IE journal to members?
Consider a regular listing of technology transfer items that seem to
have good promise, with contacts for gaining further information. The IE is better able to support innovation
than other professionals, and the IE who identifies this type of potential may
have increased value to an employer.
The current
focus, on IE’s presenting ideas, applications and interest items for each other
in journals and conferences is valuable, but there is a great deal more
potential if the focus is widened to a more general definition of
community. Should business management
groups be invited to be a spectator for IIE events?
Focus on Promotion:
The
value of my membership as to personal promotion is how much additional salary a
prospective employer is likely to pay for my services because I proclaim myself
as a member of IIE. It is how much more
likely an employer would be to hire me if I proclaim membership. Would it be worth more if I was active in IIE
than just maintaining membership?
We currently
have no effective IIE focus on promotion.
The present focus is on creating and maintaining membership, a focus
that has little if any direct value to the current member.
The more
general concept of “promoting industrial engineering” may be a lofty-sounding
goal, but is a false direction when addressing value to individuals who you
want to join the organization. IIE is
going to promote industrial engineering whether or not some specific IE joins;
and that IE will get the same benefit from the promotion of the general
profession whether or not he joins. The
need is for adding personal value to membership in IIE.
Implementing a
more effective attitude and approach will start with central management, with
an internal change in what is important.
Making credentials mean something to employers will support promotion,
adding to that aspect of value.
Otherwise, the focus of promotion has to be on those who can promote
industrial engineers. Current efforts
are so tightly focused on servicing members that IIE provides no effective
benefits for those who might hire or promote individual IE’s.
Consider the
potency of our previously-mentioned “Operator’s Manual” when given to
prospective employers or business customers who buy the time or effort of an
IIE member. A version of this manual for
download and printing by any member can serve many uses, including the
advertisement of the common skills of industrial engineers. The cost of providing these through a website
is next to nothing, the promotion potential for IIE members can be substantial.
I would
consider emailing an electronic version of this “Operator’s Manual” to either
the personnel office or the local senior manager’s office in any organization
that employs IIE members.
What else can
you give to the employer to help him better use, or appreciate, his IE? Would a periodic thank-you or message of
appreciation be in order? Would an IIE
employer hotline be a justified support service?
Focus on Notoriety:
Both promotion
and credentials rely upon the notoriety of IIE, on the organization’s public
face and recognition. Maintaining and
increasing notoriety should be recognized as a major purpose for IIE activities. The organization needs to become an ongoing
and active contributor to every part of government that deals with performance
efficiency and engineering education or practice. It should be soliciting inputs from members
and submitting position papers like a
For
perspective, read the introduction to Frederick Taylor’s landmark text on the
Principles of Scientific Management. It
starts out with public purpose as the original reason for the action that has
lead to establishing the profession of Industrial Engineering.
IIE should be
promoting IE’s through contacts with external management organizations. I would consider this as another use for the
“Operator’s Manual.” The same could be
useful as a handout for those graduating from business schools, especially
MBA’s.
IIE might consider
enhancing its employment support service where IE’s can post IE jobs and
resumes. I might suggest providing
generic job description text for use by employers. IIE can look for special support services to
be provided to those who are seeking to employ IE’s, especially in light of
promoting IIE members.
You should note
that the activities that are addressed are not really that different than what
IIE has done in the past. The difference
is more in priority and in the intensity of focus on value for the individual
member. The focus is different, being on
the purpose for the existence and continuation of IIE as a viable entity,
instead of looking at IIE as a stand-alone professional organization with a
purpose of its own.
Proposed IIE
The
Institute will provide valuable customer services to its members, including
useful credentials, community and networking services, and promotion of its
members as the highest-quality industrial engineers.
Proposed IIE Vision Statement
The
Institute will assure maximum value in IIE membership through both promotions
and restrictions. The Institute will
provide a forum for passing information valued by industrial engineers, will
provide unique opportunities for sharing and networking with other industrial
engineers, and will provide for having member-expertise recognized. The Institute will pro-actively promote both
industrial engineering and IIE members before all interested parties, both
directly and through increase to the value of IIE credentials.
So how are
these any better? They seem to say
pretty much the same thing, and promote the same basic activities.
The difference
is fundamental. The focus is on the
customer and what the customer values, rather than on the administration and
what it wants to accomplish. It isn’t
that great a difference to those who work in the IIE organization, beyond
having a much stronger statement of what they are to accomplish. The big difference will be seen by the
members, who should expect to receive a considerably higher value.
And the
cost? There is little question that
there is going to be expense associated with the additional work. Someone is going to pay the bill. There will always be complaints about any
increase in dues.
Members are
going to pay the bill, no matter how big or small it may be. The difference is in receiving a much greater
service for a few dollars more. What is
it worth to have your private organization contact your boss with
recommendations on how to get the most value from using your skills? How much is it worth to have your membership
in IIE recognized for the challenging things that IIE has been able to
accomplish through promoting its own members?
Would I, as a
member, be willing to pay more for a membership that would have a recognized
dollar value to employers? You bet I
would!
What this
approach really accomplishes is the use of investment logic to support IIE
managers as they maximize delivery of value to members through their
decisions.
What values
should be generated at the chapter level?
Can the delivery of these values be enhanced from the corporate
level? Most networking will have to be
local; should corporate management be doing something to actively support the
rendering of this value? Should the
generation of credentials be at the chapter or corporate level, or perhaps both
depending on credentials sought?
How
valuable is the use of chapter leadership to accomplish corporate communication
with members? Is this type of channel of
sufficient value to be supported, or simply directed? How should managerial communication be
coordinated with the use of the organization’s journals?
Opportunities
for maximizing efficiency and effectiveness through industrial engineering
applications within IIE are there, and management engineering provides pointers
to where a more focused approach is likely to be most productive.