Engineering Research Proposal - 1650 Words

Engineering (Research Proposal Sample) Content: NAME OF THE INSTITUTION NGING UNDR UNRTINTY: BSRVTIN RVIWBY STUDENT NAME (Description of the Study) STUDY LEVEL COURSE NAME DATE Observation Summary (300 words)Analytical WritingThe Theory of bounded rationalityNature of decision makingDecision making processesUncertainty and riskDecision Making Process What decision you would have made in this decision (Use the theory of bounded rationality to reflect on your reason for decision making)Observation SummaryThis study is a review of the nature of projects that take place in the construction industry. It uses the case study of Amco Engineering Company Ltd, a construction company in the United Kingdom. Amco is a company that engages in a multiple operations in the areas of Civil Engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical solutions to a variety of industries. It engages in both construction works and project management. Some of the challenges that Amco deals with so often is in provide quality service to all its m any clients. This study focuses on a specific factor that influenced critical decision making in two years ago. Being a contactor that companies prefer, it had to complete two construction works at the same time. The project manager realized that unless they rescheduled one of the construction tasks, a conflict was inevitable between the two and both clients of the companies were threatening to pull out. The project manager made a request to the human resources to employ additional staff on temporary contract to enable them complete the two tasks simultaneously. The Human resources forwarded the decision to the executive board for consideration, where it took two weeks and three days for the board to finally arrive at the final decision. The human resources department approved the request, and recruited temporary staff that assisted in the site based tasks at the construction sites. This decision was very critical for Amco Engineering because it was at a risk of losing two pillar cl ients concurrently. The cost implication of the decision was less than the value that it rescued by maintaining the clients. The two clients never quitted the company as they had threatened, since the level of client service that they obtained was satisfactory. In essence, the factor that influenced the move to make that decision was the influx in the order numbers and sizes versus the shortage of workforce to match the amount of work.The Theory of bounded rationality-Explain the decision making process in this situationAs it is in the theory of bounded rationality, a decision making process recognizes that the individuals have limited rationalities due to the limited information they possess. Their mental cognitive abilities are also limited. This theory also explains that individuals have limited amount time to make decisions. However, the theory of bounded rationality maintains that in spite of the limitations of a man, decision making is a completely rational process of obtainin g an optimal decision solution depending on the accessible information. In the real sense, decision makers usually seek satisfactory decision instead of the optimal choices. In this study, the theory of bounded rationality applies in the nature of the decision making and the processes of looking for optimal decision. Nature of decision makingThe kind of decision that the project management team and the construction engineers had to make was a critical one. It required quick response, but because of the limitations in discretions, the team had to follow a chain of bureaucracy. It had to contact the Human Resources, which again presented the request before the board. Despite the urgency of the decision, it took two more weeks to complete the decision process. The team was aware of the optimal solution they expected but could not have arrived instantly. This indeed is how the theory of bounded rationality applies in the scenario at AMCO Engineering Company. There was another limitation in terms of time. Human resource did not have sufficient time to explore the parameters that warranted recruitment of more staff. Another limitation was in the cognitive capabilities. It could not relate different parameters at the same time to determine whether their decision was optimal or merely satisfactory. Perhaps there was a different idea which could have yielded better returns that the quick choice of staff recruitment. Cognitive limitation manifested in the board sitting as well because even during the two weeks of deliberation, they never saw the need to survey the situation on the ground. They never approached the two clients to negotiate deals with them, but implemented an idea that had not stood the test of time.Decision making processesThe decision making process in the company began at the point of problem identification. The project management team managed to establish that the challenge was the work load they had in serving the two company clients concurrently. T here was a risk of delivering poor service to clients, which could have escalated to them withdrawing from AMCO. After the identification, the team leader took the next step of formulating a formal request to the relevant entity, that is, human resources department. The next step was for Human resources to involve the senior and executive decision makers, who are members of the board. The board had to sit in committees to discuss the implications of the decision on the company performance, compared to the benefits the company was going to have. Having confirmed that it was a rational decision, they approved the proposal, and allowed Human resources to proceed with the recruitment process.Uncertainty and riskThere were possible risks that the team had to grapple with in the process of pursuing the optimal decision. Of course, the first risk is the possibility of losing the clients. The impact of the risk could have been critically high, considering that the two were the pillar client s of AMCO by that time. Secondly, the decision to recruit more staff had not gone through the right channel of critical analysis. There was limitation in the time, and every action had to be extremely quick. This was a risk to the entire company, because it would cause a sudden increase in staff overhead. This had a negative influence on the overall performance of the company, in a temporary process of salvaging its reputation. Even before deciding to approach the Human resources with a proposal to recruit temporary employees, there was a risk of incurring a long bureaucratic process of making the board of directors to make approvals. Implementing a new idea requires risk analysis and a standard approval policy to govern the nature of decisions that a company has. This is a preventive risk management control. It is cheaper and more effective than corrective remedies after experiencing a loss. The amount spent on paying new staff was not in the mind of decision makers at the beginnin g of the year. It is a risk of implementing budgets without control. The decision I would have made in this decision (Using the theory of bounded rationality to reflect on your reason for decision making)Managing a company definitely involves a struggle to overcome uncertainties. So often, decision makers come across situations where they have to make critical decisions within limited times and with limited resources. The situation at AMCO Engineering was a typical illustration of management within uncertainties. Before making any decision, it is logical to engage the construction team in a discussion to establish their strategic plan. Through th...

Bubonic Plague - An Overview - Free Essay Example

Many people see the Black Death as a devastating event that occurred in the past. In todays world, no one has physically been through the Bubonic Plague, but reading, seeing and hearing about it gives chills to people. There were many effects of the Black Death that was extremely horrifying. People were affected in many ways. The Black Death was affecting society socially, economically and in health by the Black Death. When people hear the phrase Black Death, they think about individuals who were killed because of this awful disease that spread throughout Europe and Asia back in the day. People back then were happy because there was a lot of social interaction with other people. Men would be working with their coworkers while women and children were at home interacting with their neighbors. Nowadays, people are using technology as a means to communicate with people who are around them and also far away. Studies have shown that in todays digital age the importance of face-to-face communication seems to be fading (Ashton 2013). However, in the past, it was not a problem because people would go to each others houses and have conversations that would last for quite some time. When the Bubonic Plague arrived, visiting each others places decreased because people were genuinely afraid that this disease might affect their loved ones. In fact, people abandoned their friends and family, fled cities, and shut themselves off from the world in order to escape the plague (Decameron 2010). This disease was socially affecting the society because it made communication really weak and it also decreased it as a whole. During this whole-time frame, people were not only going through the Bubonic Plague, but they were also going through depression, isolation and ignoring the fact that the Black Death existed. The society was already in shock about how people were just dying so quickly that they decided not to acknowledge this. Instead, they would enjoy themselves by drinking, eating, dancing, having fun and doing all various kinds of things that would distract them from thinking about the Bubonic Plague. Some people would cry their hearts about because they lost their loved ones. Other people would just lock themselves and their families up to prevent them from getting the disease. The Black Death affected the society in ways where people would not know how to respond to these happenings. People w ould not have any words to say anything about it because they were frightened, disturbed, reluctant and unhappy. Them experiencing all of these emotions at the same time was unexpected and destructive. Todays economy is really different than the economy back in the day. As usual, the economy goes up and down and is not really consistent. In the past, an individual would get a job based on their class. However, when the Bubonic Plague arrived, everything changed. Laborers were demanding for more money since there were fewer people to work. In fact, the Black Death made the lower-class gain money and the upper class lose money because they had fewer people to work but had to give more money since wages were rising. During that time, the serfs were the ones who were at a benefit the most because they were no longer tied to one master; if one left the land, another lord would instantly hire them. In this way, they were making money and saving it as well since there was a need for workers during that period. The Black Death also had an impact on the Kings because they were the ones who were holding the economy together due to the fact, they had all of the money. Another tragic incident that was happening with families was that they were losing the sons of the family because the plague was really contagious that it could jump on any person any time and anywhere. It got to the point, where people would not go to the market to trade, go to hospitals to get checkups done, or any special event because everyone thought that the end of the world is here, and they wanted to survive from it. Studies have shown that the Black Death had killed between seventeen to twenty-eight million people. The Plague had many negative effects economically, however; it also had positive effects on places that were not built to be surrounded by a huge crowd of people. During that time, people who could afford a living lived in cities that were advanced on a higher level. Once the plague came, it ruined those good cities because they were infected of the plague. Consequently, those cities and towns that were not well developed were starting to get developed because there was a less chance of getting infected after all there was not a huge population over there. Those rural cities and towns were rising and cities that were infected of the plague were falling. In this way, small towns and cities grew, while large estates and manors began to collapse (Pests 2018). The Black Death made some people grow economically, and some not grow. The Bubonic Plague was a terrifying event in history because it had changed many things in the past. The Black Death changed countries socially and economically that had a massive impact on the coming years back then and today. In todays world, the Black Death is remembered as a heartbreaking occurrence that will be given honor today and in the future.