The first assessment item involves submission of a report based on your industry experiences with aspects of management, safety and leadership.

You report will cover three topics:

1. Management Process

2. Safety Management

3. Leadership Evaluation

Topic 1: Management Process

As you have learned in the course material, Engineering Management involves the application of general management functions within engineering teams. In addition, amongst the four well-known management functions, you are likely to be exposed to the Controlling function in a Graduate Engineer role.

You will review an industry-based engineering process and document how management control techniques are embedded within the process to ensure the desired results are achieved. The basis for this topic can be derived from one of the following scenarios:

· Practical industry work placement experience you have undertaken, such as ENEP12010 Industry Practice 2, or BLOC10119 12 Week Industry Practice.

· Observation and enquiry of an industry-based engineering process undertaken during the course of this unit.

· A case study of a documented engineering process that you have sourced via peer-reviewed literature.

You should commence with an overview of the process, including the organisation, the particular group(s) involved and the purpose of the process in terms of its support for the wider organisation’s products or services.

You should then identify and explain how each aspect of the Control Process are applied to your chosen scenario:

· The objectives and standards used, including definition of key performance indicators, and how these relate to higher level objectives of the organisation. Do not neglect to include less visible, but important aspects such as safety or environmental standards.

· How performance of the process is measured, including the engineering principles and management metrics involved in measurement. You should also identify the people, techniques, tools, and technology involved in measurement processes, as well as the type, frequency and characteristics of measurements.

· The analysis and evaluation techniques that are used in order to determine if corrective action is required. This section should identify the criteria used that would trigger a management exception requiring action.

· Actions that are planned to be taken when differences between actual and desired performance are detected. If your experience did not identify instances of corrective action being planned or executed, outline at least two (2) actions that you would propose if exceptions were identified.

Topic 2: Safety Management

In the second topic, you will leverage your industry-based experience to document aspects of a Safety Management System (SMS) and evaluate the influence of safety leadership and culture on the safety success of an organisation.

The basis for this topic can be derived from one of the following scenarios:

· Practical industry work placement experience you have undertaken, such as ENEP12010 Industry Practice 2, or BLOC10119 12 Week Industry Practice.

· Observation and enquiry of an organisation undertaken during the course of this unit.

You should commence with an overview of the organisation and your role.

An operational SMS will include safety processes and procedures that address the following aspects:

· Hazard identification arrangements

· Risk assessments

· Risk control

· Emergency management

· Injury management and return to work

· Supervision

· Training

· Reporting

· Communication, information and awareness

Based on your nominated experience:

· Choose four (4) of the above SMS elements and document the procedures that were implemented by the organisation to address these safety requirements.

· Describe the safety culture within the organisation and outline how safety leadership played a role in the way safety was managed in the workplace.

Topic 3: Leadership Evaluation

For the final part this assessment, you are required to provide an evaluation of leadership that you have experienced from a practical experience.

Based on your own workplace experience, identify how a formal leadership role was exercised. You may elect to choose your own direct supervisor, or another staff member holding a formal leadership role. Your discussion should address either:

· a situation that occurred requiring the application of leadership skills, what was done, and the resulting outcome for the people involved.

· a situation where you felt that leadership skills could have been applied in order to improve an outcome.

Length and Composition

As a guideline, the length of your report should meet the following guidelines:

· Management Process: 1,000 words

· Safety Management: 1,000 words

· Leadership Evaluation: 400 words

These word length guidelines exclude any references. Reports that are substantially longer than this or shorter than this (+/- 40%) are unlikely to score as highly as those that make the best use of the required word length (being on-target and making the best use of the word allocation is always better than being off-message). However, you should not worry about a few words either way - this is a guideline only, and I do not have a 'negative marking scheme' where marks are deducted if the word count is more than 10% over the guideline.

Text should be word-processed, with appropriate layout and use of headings/sub-headings. Diagrams and tabular presentation should be used to illustrate specific aspects of your reports as required. Please ensure that you correctly cite/reference all sources of used, unless they are original and composed by you.

Interpret and apply assessment instructions.
Ability to describe management processes.
Analyse the relationship between standards, measures, and feedback.
Ability to identify and describe safety processes.
Relate leadership and culture to performance.
Describe and evaluate leadership skills.
Accuracy and clarity of report.
Appropriateness of report.

Your second assessment item involves analysing and applying ethical decision-making processes to a case study related to engineering ethics, responding to the ethical issues raised via a Case Study Report.

Your task is to select two (2) of the supplied Case Studies and document how you would approach an ethical issue identified in the case. You will then apply a structured decision-making process to reach a decision regarding your issue. Your decisions should be supported at each stage by referencing appropriate external standards, laws, guidelines and codes, or by describing your personal beliefs and opinions.

For each Case Study, provide a response based on the following guidelines.

Response Guidelines

Commence your response with a summary of your understanding of the case study, identifying the key ethical issues raised. If multiple issues are identified, identify the issue that you are proposing to decide on via the subsequent analysis and decisions.

The major body of your report should mirror the steps included in the decision-making process, as defined by Davis (2013) in your course material:

· State the Problem: including the primary issue identified in the case study.

· Assess the Facts: examine the legal aspects, technical and professional aspects, and state any assumptions that you are required to make.

· Identify the Stakeholders: including individuals, groups, and any more broadly-defined entities (e.g. the environment) that may be impacted by decisions to be made.

· List Options: you should attempt to define at least three (3) options that you will apply tests to in the subsequent step.

· Option Tests: apply relevant test for the selected options using criteria that are relevant to the case study.

· Tentative Choice: assess briefly whether you believe the original issues has been addressed.

· Final Choice: define your final choice, answering the appropriate review questions in relation to this choice.

You should conclude your response with a short summary of the decision and recommendation. Note that in ethical cases, there is unlikely to be “one right answer”, as ethics are influenced by individual viewpoints and factors such as age, knowledge and experience.

Length and Composition

As a guideline, the length of your Case Study report should be around 1600 words, excluding references. Reports that are substantially longer than this (say over 2000 words) or shorter than this (say less than 1200 words) are unlikely to score as highly as those that make the best use of the 1600-word length (being on-target and making the best use of the word allocation is always better than being off-message). However, you should not worry about a few words either way (this is a guideline only, and I do not have a 'negative marking scheme' where marks are deducted if the word count is more than 10% over the guideline).

Text should be word-processed, with appropriate layout and use of headings/sub-headings. Please ensure that you correctly cite/reference all sources of used, unless they are original and composed by you.

Interpret and apply assessment instructions.
Ability to identify and describe ethical issues.
Analyse relevant legal, technical and professional issues.
Ability to provide reasonable decision options.
Express ethical views in a clear and appropriate manner.
Consistently apply a decision making framework.
Accuracy and clarity of report.
Appropriateness of report.

The final assessment item of this unit involves the development of a career plan, presented as a portfolio and consisting of the following parts:

1. Leadership Vision

2. Technical Development Plan

3. Professional Development Plan

4. Summary

Leadership Vision

The first part of your portfolio involves assessing your own current leadership style and identifying practical improvements in your leadership skills and abilities.

You should undertake the Leadership Style Assessment, answering candidly and documenting your answers and results. Based the suggested results, reflect on how your assessed style matches your self-perceived performance in an industry work placement situation. Provide three situational examples relating to your own leadership style that support your conclusions.

You should now review the Leadership Vision Tool, documenting the answers to the questions and providing a vision and mission statement.

You should now develop a brief plan to improve your leadership capability, focussing on the initial two years of your career. Based on your understanding of the broader concept of leadership, identify three (3) practical actions to improve your leadership abilities, aligning to your stated vision and mission.

Note that these improvements may be opportunities for exercising leadership within technical, professional, workplace, community, or social contexts. Or they may involve undertaking further reading and/or skills development. They should be written with the SMART model in mind: i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

Technical Development Plan

Based on your study and work experience to date, you may have a firm opinion about the type of specialization you may want to pursue within you chosen discipline. However, if you have not considered this to date, this exercise provides you with the opportunity to do some research to identify available options.

You should firstly outline your preferred technical specialisation in the context of your discipline, and then identify the key skills and/or competencies that professionals practicing in this field need to possess. You should couch your skills assessment in terms of Stage 1 Competency 1.3, i.e. in-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge within the engineering discipline.

Conduct some further research, focused on future changes in your specialisation, identifying at least three (3) trends that could influence how this field is applied. Such trends could include:

· Economic conditions influencing demand and supply of products or services.

· Increasing use of information technologies impacting efficiency and performance.

· Trends in the use of alternate, or replacement technologies within an industry.

· Research offering the potential for evolutionary, or revolutionary improvements.

· Regulatory changes causing changes to the use of materials and processes.

Based on your currently-assessed skills, document a plan consisting of three (3) actions that you will undertake over the next two years in order to develop your technical proficiency within your specialisation. Your aim should be to achieve technical competence to the point at which you would consider yourself Stage 1 Competent: i.e. Proficiently applies advanced technical knowledge and skills in at least one specialist practice domain of the engineering discipline.

Your actions could include undertaking formal postgraduate studies or short courses, attending industry conferences, obtaining industry certifications, independent reading, obtaining a mentor, or joining a technical committee. As above, your plans should conform to the SMART model.

Professional Development Plan

The third part of your portfolio involves developing a development plan that addresses the professional aspects of your career, with a 2 year timeframe in mind. As per the Engineers Australia Career Development Guide, your plan should address Years 1-2 in the “Experience Journey”.

Provide at least five (5) ideas and actions that address the following professional development areas:

· Seeking feedback from your stakeholders (employers, clients).

· How you will start to build a network of contacts.

· Non-technical skills and knowledge (e.g. project management skills).

· How you will pursue Chartered or Registered status.

· Your current thinking on longer term (5 year) goals.

Summary

As the final part of your portfolio, include a tabular summary of your plan. This will consist of the following elements:

1. Your personal leadership vision and mission.

2. Technical Development Plan actions.

3. Professional Development Plan actions.

Interpret and apply assessment instructions.

Analyse leadership skills.

Express an achievable vision and mission.

Conduct research into a technical specialisation.

Self assess and perform a skills gap analysis.

Articulate feasible (SMART) technical development actions.

Articulate feasible (SMART) professional development actions.

Summarise plans and actions.

Accuracy and clarity of report.

Appropriateness of the report.