Principles and Practice of Engineering Management Summative Assessment CW4

Assessment Brief

For this summative assessment, you are required to choose one of the following two scenario options for your case study:

Scenario 1: Tata Motors

Tata Motors is India’s and now one of the world’s largest automobile companies. Established in 1945 and part of the Tata Group established by Jamshed Ji Tata, the company has a global presence, with a purpose to provide “safer, greener and smarter mobility solutions” (Tata, 2024; Khanna, 2023).

Khanna, S.V., 2023. Corporate social responsibility: A case study of Tata Motors. Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research, 12(12), pp.74-80.

Tata Motors (n.d.). Our Global Presence [Online] Available at:
https://www.tatamotors.com/organisation/our-globalpresence/#:~:text=Tata%20Motors%20is%20a%20renowned,trucks%2C%20buses%20and%20defens
e%20vehicles. 

Tata Motors (n.d.). About US [Online] Available at:
https://www.tatamotors.com/organisation/about-us/

Tata Motors and the case study (Nano):

For this case study, you will explore the Tata Motors Nano Car. The vision of Ratan Tata, conceptualised in the early 2000s, aimed at providing middle-class Indians with a safe and affordable mobility option (ET Online, n.d.). However, the original Tata Nano proved be a disaster and has had to be repositioned to hopefully enter the market again as the Nano or Neo EV (Cardekho, n.d.).

You are tasked to critically evaluate key theories and models that have been used by Tata Motors and then critically analyse the challenge of the Nano project and what it means for the future. Following that consider two challenges and two benefits of implementing quality management and continuous improvement practices, critically appraising operations or supply chain. Finally reflect on
the challenges of communicating effectively to the multiple stakeholders relevant to this project.

For further details on each Task, please refer to the section “Assessment Tasks.”

CarDekho, (n.d.). India Car News [online] Available at: https://www.cardekho.com/india-carnews/tata-nano-ev-launch-fact-vs-fiction-32279.htm (Accessed 22nd December 2024)

The Economic Times, (n.d.). Ratan Tata's Nano: Ambition, affordability & the stigma of being 'cheap' [online] Available at: Ratan Tata life: Ratan Tata's Nano: Ambition, affordability & the stigma of being
'cheap' - The Economic Times 

Other References:

Devi, A.J., 2023. TATA Motors limited: A revolution in electric cars-a case study. International Journal of Case Studies in Business, IT and Education (IJCSBE), 7(2), pp.156-172.

Mukherjee, J. 2021. Tata Nano: Case of Repositioning: Case Analysis. Vikalpa, 46(3), 188-190. https://doi.org/10.1177/02560909211044253

Palepu, K., Anand, B.N. and Tahilyani, R., 2011. Tata Nano-The people's car. Harvard Business School Strategy Unit Case, (710-420).

Scenario 2: Select a case study of your choice

Choose a real-life engineering company and project of your choice from any industry or sector, located in any country. The engineering company you choose must have an online presence, as you must provide URL links to their website and project information in Task A.

You may want to consider projects listed on the World Bank - Projects website, where you can search for a case study project by country, sector, or theme

World Bank Group. (n.d.) Projects & Operations. [Online] Available at:
https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/projects-home, 

Instructions:

• Visit the World Bank project site via this link or search for "The World Bank + advanced search + projects" on Google.
• Use the advanced search feature to find your project. You can filter projects based on their region, country, sector, and so on. Then, click on "Search" at the bottom of the page to see projects.
• Click on "Full Project List" to view all projects.
• Here, you can add filters to your search again to find the projects by country or other filters if you wish to select a project from your home country or another country of your choice.
• Select your project and visit the "Documents" tab, where you can find files related to that project.
• Find the Project Information Document (PID) of the project. Check the official PDF file of the PID and share the link to this document at the beginning of your report.
• Conduct independent research on the selected project to gather relevant information and insights.

Additional Considerations:

• Students should choose a company and project that they are genuinely interested in and have access to sufficient information about.
• The company and project should be relevant to the learning outcomes of the assessment.
• Students should consider the complexity of the project and ensure that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to complete the assessment successfully.

Assessment Tasks

You are an Engineering Management graduate and you have been tasked by the Engineering Development Director of your selected engineering company, to submit a 20-minute recorded presentation, based on the Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3 in Section 3.2 and LO4 in Section 3.3, to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and principles of engineering management (learned in the module), as well as your ability to apply them to real-world engineering management scenarios.

• Your presentation should demonstrate your ability to apply the principles and practices of engineering management to real-world scenarios. You should use examples from the company you have chosen to illustrate your points and demonstrate your ability to analyse and evaluate different management approaches and strategies.
• Your presentation should be well-researched and referenced according to the Harvard Referencing guidelines. You should use a range of credible sources to support your arguments and provide a reference list at the end of your presentation.

Presentation Structure

This presentation is to include:

• Task A: PowerPoint slides presentation, consisting of 20 slides.
• Tasks B, C, D: Referenced Speaker Notes (maximum of 2000 words) to support your presentation.
• Task E: Reflection statement on the challenge of delivering complex concepts effectively (maximum of 500 words).
• Task F: 20-minute Teams recorded presentation to the Engineering Development Director delivered by you in the capacity as engineering management graduate.

3.1 PowerPoint Slides.

Task A:

You should submit your PowerPoint slides, speaker notes, and reflection statement through the Hub and upload the Teams video in mp4 format. Your uploaded file must be in Word.doc format and NOT pdf format.

Your slides should be visually appealing, with clear and concise text, relevant images, graphs, or charts as necessary. You will be provided with the BPP slides template.

There are many ways to structure a presentation, and the following outline is provided solely for guidance:

Title Slide: This is your audience’s first impression of the presentation. It should indicate what the presentation is about and identify the organisation being studied. This slide is not included in the slide count.

Agenda Slide: This slide outlines the presentation’s agenda and gives a high-level view of the content to be covered during the presentation. This slide is not included in the slide count.

Body Slides: Present your responses to all the tasks for LO1, LO2, and LO3 outlined below. These 20 slides are included in the slide count.

Appendices: Appendices contain additional information that is too detailed to include in the main body. Typical information included in appendices can be glossaries (if it is a technical report), tables with supporting statistical data, examples of research, and so on. This slide is not included in the
Slide count.

Reference List: You are required to include a list of all your references, with dates of internet access where applicable. For more information on the reference and the Harvard system, use the link given
in the General Assessment Guidance above. This slide is not included in the slide count.

3.2 Referenced speaker notes should include the following tasks:

Please note: The Referenced Speaker Notes are to provide additional information and context for your slides. Your speaker notes should be written in an academic style, with clear and concise explanations of the key points you are making on each slide. The speaker notes should be a maximum of 2000 words in length, created and submitted in Word format.

Task B:

LO1. Critically evaluate key theories and models used in engineering management and how they can be applied in practice.

Critically analyse your chosen company’s engineering management practices by focusing on how the company applies particular theories or models in its projects or day-to-day operations. Provide practical examples of how these theories and models can be implemented in your real-world case study project.

Task C:

LO2. Critically analyse theories and practices in engineering management and appreciate challenges of application in a real-world context.

Select a project undertaken by your chosen company and critically analyse the challenges of applying project lifecycle management theories and models in a project undertaken by your chosen company.

Task D:

LO3. Critically appraise the challenges of managing and delivering engineering and technology projects

Select a specific area within the operations or supply chain management of your chosen company and discuss two challenges and two benefits of implementing quality management and continuous improvement practices.

3.3 Reflective Statement

Task E:

LO4. Critically reflect on the challenges of developing effective communication of complex concepts to meet stakeholder needs

• Reflect on the challenges of communicating complex engineering concepts to different stakeholders in your chosen company (e.g., clients, investors, employees, government officials, the public).
• Analyze a specific communication strategy used by your chosen company and evaluate its
  effectiveness.

Please note: Academic reflective writing requires critical and analytic thought, a clear line of argument, and the use of evidence through examples of personal experiences and thoughts and often also theoretical literature. You should aim for a balance between personal experience, tone, and academic practice and write in the 1st person (E.g. I researched ….). Consider using “Kolb’s
reflective model”.

3.4 Twenty-minute recording of your presentation

Task F:

Once you have developed your PowerPoint slides, referenced speaker notes and reflective statement, you will be required to record a twenty-minute presentation using Teams. On completing this video and audio recording, save this in an mp4 format to upload to Totara/TII

Please note: It is very important that you download your recording as an mp4 file and upload that along with your word document in the submission area in the hub.