Engineering management - Assignment Example

Identify the heuristics that decision makers might use in making estimates in the situations listed below. Explain how biases might emanate from the use of these heuristicsa. Members of an interview panel making estimates of the probability that a candidate would be a successful appointment In such a case, members of the interview panel reviews the qualifications, qualities and experience of an applicant and determines whether they will be a success appointment or not. In determining the success of the applicants, they evaluate the applicant’s previous job performance and qualification.

Therefore, by evaluating previous performance of applicant, it offer precise and a concise statement of what the applicant is capable of doing if given a chance. Thus, in the end an applicant may end up getting the job. b. A marketing manager of company manufacturing computer peripherals making a forecast of the number of new orders that will be obtained next month By assessing the demands of the computers, the marketing manager concludes that demand and supply delineates an economic model of determining prices in the market.

In this regards, the price of a commodity in a competitive market will vary until it reaches a point where the quantity demanded is equals to the quantity supplied. Therefore, other than friendly prices on the market, an increase in income results to an increase in demand. Thus, as incomes increases, people are able to purchase more which means many may opt to purchase the products next month. c. A sales executive estimating the correlation between the sales of a product and advertising expenditure In this case, increased advertising leads forecast consumers expected utility, which means they become aware of the product, and in the end might buy it.

Sales of product and advertising expenditure are intertwined in that decrease advertising will always have a negative influence on the customers purchasing behavior. Therefore, a sales manager needs to invest more in advertising in order to increase the sale of the product. It is rational that if the sales manager has to make maximum sales, they must be in a position to balance between all expenses that he incurs and the volume of production. This will help it keeping the prices and maintaining a competitive advantage over the competitors. d. A manager of an international construction company making an estimate of the risk of civil unrest in a country which was formerly part of the Soviet Union and where the company is considering making investments The manager needs to understand that expanding its operations into other countries especially former Soviet Union ally, a company can face a number of political and economic challenges.

One of the political challenges is government interference. Different governments have different levels of business interferences. Such things as business laws and taxing system of a country affect the progress of a company. To deal with this, the business needs to make calculations of all the required payments to the government and determine if it will be profitable to carry out their business in the specified country. If it turns out to be profitable, the business is supposed to venture into the country and comply with all the taxation and payment requirements to the governmente.

A company doctor estimating the degree of association between the exposure/non-exposure of workers to a chemical pollutant and the incidence of a particular respiratory illness among these workers The company doctor needs to advise the firm that occupational health involves the protection of the human health by controlling the work environment whether they are at risk of exposure or not. Workplace is one of the places that people spend most of the time in their lifetime apart from home. This place must thus be free of chemical, physical, and biological agents of diseasesf.

The manager of a manufacturing company estimating the relative probability of (i) a strike at the company’s Pittsburgh plant in the next year and (ii) the company experiencing a long-term loss of market share following a strike over pay at its Pittsburgh plant in the next yearThe probability of a strike in the Pittsburgh plant could be because of worker dissatisfaction with either management or compensation. The behaviors of the workers will signify to the manager if a strike would happen or not.

However, the rising tension at the work implies that if the company fails to address the issues, they will strike next. Lack of proper worker compensation would imply that they are not motivated to work. This means the company would perform dismally due to poor work performance. This in turn makes the firm to incur losses because of poor work performance. Work CitedJones, Gareth. Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. Boston: South-Western College Pub, 2009. Print.