Engineering and

Computer Academy of Science

and Technology (ECOAST)

;
Course Code
Course Description Engineering Management
Module No. and Title Module 2: Planning

OVERVIEW
Planning is a fundamental function of engineering management that ensures resources, timelines, and goals are aligned
to achieve successful project outcomes. In the engineering context, effective planning involves anticipating technical
requirements, coordinating interdisciplinary teams, estimating costs and timelines, and mitigating potential risks. This
module introduces the principles, tools, and best practices of planning in engineering management. Students will explore
how strategic, tactical, and operational planning work together to guide complex engineering projects—from concept to
completion. By mastering planning, engineers not only improve project execution but also contribute to organizational
efficiency, innovation, and long-term success.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this module, learners will be able to:
1. Understand the role of planning in the engineering management life cycle.
2. Differentiate between strategic, tactical, and operational planning in engineering contexts.
3. Develop project plans that define scope, schedule, resources, and deliverables.
4. Apply planning tools and techniques, including Gantt charts, Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), and Critical
Path Method (CPM).
5. Estimate resources and timelines using engineering estimation methods.
6. Evaluate risks and plan contingencies in technical project environments.

INTRODUCTION
FUNCTION OF MANAGEMENT
PLANNING – setting goals and deciding how best to achieve them.

Types of planning
• Strategic Planning - Strategic planning sets the goals, purpose, and direction of a company. The top-
level engineering managers (i.e., chief executive officer [CEO], chief technology officer, and vice president of engineering)
are usually involved in strategic planning for the company. Strategic planning focuses on identifying worthwhile future
activities. Specifically, strategic planning ensures that the company applies its resources core competencies.
• Operational Planning - Managers at both middle level (managers and directors) and lower level
(supervisors and group leaders) perform operational planning to define the specific tactics and action steps needed to
accomplish the goals specified by top management (Duggan 2011). Managers and directors break down the company
goals into short-term objectives. Supervisors and group leaders specify events and tasks that can be implemented with
the least number of resources within the shortest period.
• Operational Planning - Managers at both middle level (managers and directors) and
lower level (supervisors and group leaders) performs operational planning to define the specific tactics and action steps
needed to accomplish the goals specified by top management.

The major difficulties of strategic planning can be traced back to three inherent characteristics of such planning:
• Prediction of the future: Certain future events are more predictable than others; for example,
 Engineering and
Computer Academy of Science
and Technology (ECOAST)
seasonal variations of weather and election-year cycles.
• Applicable experience and insight: Strategies cannot be detached from the subject
involved. Planners must have in-depth knowledge and relevant hands-on experience of the subject at hand in order to set
forth useful strategies.
• Random process of strategy making: The strategy-making process cannot be
formalized, as it is not a deductive, but a synthesis process.

Methods Used to Plan Strategically

• Deduction: Based on data, managers invoke general administrative and economic principles to a
specific situation, weigh alternatives, and make rational choices. This method needs a lot of data, and is useful for mature
and stable industries.
• Trial and error: Experiment with several options and select one. This is good for
ambiguous, novel, or complex situations in order to experiment and learn from the experience.
• Analogies: Various strategies are made by analogies. Decision-makers often need to
think back to a familiar situation, draw lessons from it, and apply those lessons to the current situation. However, making
decision by analogy must be done carefully.

Planning Roles of Engineering Managers

• Time Management - all managers need to plan and prioritize their personal daily tasks (such as
problem solving, staff meetings, task specification, progress monitoring, and performance evaluation), according to the
value each task may add, so that high-value tasks are completed before others.
• Projects and Programs - engineering managers need to plan projects and programs
assigned to them by upper management. In doing so, they need to fully understand the applicable project objectives, the
relevant performance metrics used to measure outcome, and the significance of this outcome to the company.
• Corporate Know-How - the preservation of corporate know-how is of critical importance to the
company for maintaining and enhancing its competitiveness in the marketplace.
• Proactive Tasks - engineering managers should plan to devote their efforts to proactively pursue
certain other tasks.

Tools for Planning

• Market Research - applies several tools to discover the preference of customers with respect to the
company’s products, services, marketing strategy, product prices, competitive strengths, and brand reputation in the
marketplace.
• SWOT Analysis - is the abbreviation for strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats.
Each company has strengths and weaknesses in comparison to its competitors.
• Financial What-If Analysis and Modeling - spreadsheets are useful in modeling the financial
performance of an operation. Financial statements (such as an income statement, balance sheet, and funds flow statement
are usually modeled in a spreadsheet program.
• Scenario Planning - defines the major forces that may move a company in different
directions, maps out a small number of alternatives futures (scenarios), defines narratives to describe these scenarios,
and develops options for managing within these future worlds.
• Performance Benchmarks - are those that have been successfully applied by successful firms in the
same or a related industry.
• Technology Forecasting - is of critical importance to those companies whose products
are composed of high-technology components.
• Product Life-Cycle Analysis - every product has a life cycle that moves typically through the stages of
initiation, growth, market saturation, and decline. Engineering managers need to examine the life cycles of all products
marketed by their enterprises.
 Engineering and
Computer Academy of Science
and Technology (ECOAST)
Planning Activities
• Forecasting - the objective of forecasting is to estimate and predict future conditions and events.
• Action Planning - another important activity related to planning is action planning,
which is the process of establishing specific objectives, action steps, and a schedule and budget related to a predetermined
program, task, or project.
• Issuing Policies - for companies to operate smoothly and consistently, corporate rules
and regulations are used to prescribe acceptable practices.
• Establishing Procedures - companies perform many important tasks such as product design, plant
operation, project management, equipment installation, facility maintenance, manufacturing, system engineering, parts
procurement, product delivery, customer service, and others.

Some Specific Advice on Planning

• Resistance to Change - any plan is worthless unless its objectives are achieved through successful
implementation.
• Benefit versus Cost - when planning, managers need to be guided by the expected value that a given
project or program may produce.
• Small but Sure Steps - to be effective in planning, managers should (1) identify clearly the desired end
results and the series of small steps required to reach them; (2) allow a timely control and mid-course correction, if
needed; and (3) aim at attaining a series of small progressions (or continuous improvements) that are more acceptable
in many old- style companies than one large achievement (or a step change) after a long period of time.
• Contingency Planning - represents the definition of predetermined back-up steps to
take, when a specific action step, as originally planned, fails to deliver its anticipated outcome.
• Commitment - managers need to secure company commitment before any plan can be
implemented successfully. Company management must declare their intentions and their readiness to allocate resources
needed to achieve the planned objectives.

Prepared by: Reviewed by: Recommending Approval: Approved:

Engr. Daisy C. Fuertes Jane Fernandez, DIT Ariel Y. Leonin Virgo C. Lopez
Faculty - ECOAST Dean, ECOAST Director for Curriculum & VP for Academics
Instruction