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Students will
be broken into group sizes of three to five individuals. They will be asked to play a functional role (e.g.
marketing manager, production supervisor, process engineer, plant manager, manufacturing supervisor, finance or
accounting specialist, etc.). Together they will be exposed to digitized video and audio footage about the com
pany's product(s) and process using this courseware. They will be able to acquire background information as we
ll as detailed information about the company's manufacturing operations and capabilities. Each role player wil
l also get to consult individually with the functional managers in their position at the participating corporat
ions using the courseware text, audio, and video. Each student will then be asked to make policy decisions abo
ut the marketing requirements, engineering aspects, and/or manufacturing strategies of the company, given the k
nowledge and information obtained from the company representatives within this courseware. The students will r
ecord and turn in their individual responses to the assigned role questions along with supporting justification
from the courseware.
After the first phase of completing their individual assignments, the students will then be asked to me
et with other students in their group to prepare and record a joint model of the firm and its operations (Figur
e I-D.1). During these discussions, the students will play their functional roles and address the unique conce
rns of their position. The courseware will provide the background information in order for the participants to
understand the requirements, capabilities, consistency and demands of each company and plant represented in th
is courseware. Using this information in group discussions the students will complete the collective assignmen
ts and tasks.
The student teams may also repeat the above exercise using another one of the four companies represente
d, each time rotating their functional roles. Each company also represents a different industry with differen
t marketing requirements and manufacturing capabilities which require different priorities and policies for the
company to be successful. Therefore, an entirely different business plan will have to be constructed for each
plant, allowing students to gain exposure with diverse corporations and giving them an opportunity to play dif
ferent functional roles.
This entire exercise will give the students exposure to, and practical experience in, applying various
concepts and principles in engineering and business. They will be able to acquire a better understanding of th
e functional roles (manager, engineer, designer, accountant, marketer, etc.) which make up crossfunctional team
s. Students will also gain the practical experience of working in crossfunctional teams to formulate and solve
solutions.
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