Case 1.
ALMA ELECTRONICS: I’ll Dream of you
Mr. Andy Mallari opened a small shop selling transistor radios in 1979. His store was located at
one corner (General Luna St.) of the entire stretch of Burgos Avenue, the main thoroughfare of
Cabanatuan City.
The demand for electronic parts made him carry a wide assortment of parts that are used in the
assembly and maintenance of radios, tape recorders, amplifiers, and various related appliances.
By 1990, Mr. Mallari was able to save enough money for the purchase of a 300 square meter lot
along Del Pilar Street. He constructed a 10 meters x 15 meters two-storey building on the lot. The
ground floor is used as his store where sales are made to customers which grew in number month after
month. The second floor is used as his residence.
Mr. Mallari thinks that he can duplicate his feat in the other big towns of San Juan City, Gapan,
and Guimba. He has already started operating his stores in those towns and sales are already picking up.
His current operations cover sales and repair. There are five salesladies in Cabanatuan attending to the
various needs of the customers. Those who bring their appliances for repair are served by one of the six
technicians. The parts used come from the stocks maintained at the store.
Those who purchase parts from the store consist of technicians from the various towns of
Nueva Ecija. Somethimes, the technicians send somebody to do the purchasing of parts.
Mr. Mallari’s perspective has changed drastically after he met his former classmate Estelito
Chans in a class reunion at Aruallo University. Mr. Chan has a well-established appliance assembly plant
in Manila. He indicated that he did not start big but rather as a subcontractor for a large assembly plant.
Slowly, Mr. Chan’s business picked up untis he was able to establish his own factory.
Mr. Mallari thinks that he can follow the footsteps of his friend. As he is already 47 years old and
his oldest child is about ready to enter college, he thinks this is the best time for him to consider sending
his son to an engineering school. His decision will center on which school and which engineering course.
He feels that his children are keenly interested in whatever career he will ask them to take.
Mr. Mallari has three sons, all belonging to the top ten in their respective classes. He thinks all
three have the potential to help him realize his dream of establishing his own assembly plant. His
immediate concern now is to identify the right college coursed for his children.
Case 2. R.E. CONSTRUCTION: It’s Now or Never
When Engineer Romeo Estabillo finished his Civil Engineering course at Mapua Institute of
Technology, he took the board examination and passed it in 1981. Wanting to start independently, he
went back to his hometown (Santiago City) to organize his own construction firm. In his first few years of
operation, he accepted contracts for the construction of residential houses. As he gained experience, his
clients grew in number, and even the most prominent persons in the province of Isabela availed of his
services.
At the start, he hired two assistants to help him in his daily routines as a contractor. One of the
two assistants, Mr. Silvino Santiago, was a third year civil engineering student who has stopped
schooling due to financial difficulties. His main task was as draftsman. His duty was to produce all
documents relating to the physical requirements of the various contracts entered into by his boss.
Among these documents are the building plan, specification, bill of materials, building permit, etc. His
additional duty was to assist Engineer Estabillo in supervising the foremen and workers at the various
construction sites.
The second assistant, Mr. Romulo Mamaril, was assigned to coordinate purchasing,
bookkeeping, and other related administrative activities.
At the third year of operations, Engineer Estabillo was already directing operations in his newly
constructed office inside his residential compound. By this time, two more female employees were hired
to assist in the various tasks performed in the office.
By 1994, Engineer Estabillo reviewed his company’s payroll. It indicated that he has in his
employ six full-tie civil engineers, two draftsmen, ten administrative personnel, one messenger and one
security guard. The foremen and laborers working at the various projects were contractual.
By June 1996, Engineer Estabillo felt that business was continuously growing, so he will have to
secure the services of four additional civil engineers on a full-time basis. As he was directly supervising
all operations, he now feels that he may not be able to perform his functions effectively if he will push
through with the plan. He wants to make a decision, but he is apprehensive. He thinks operations are
now more complex that decision-making must be a little scientific. With this thoughts, he pondered on
how he will go about solving the problem.
Case 3. MOTORBUS COMPANY: Que Sera Sera
Engineer Hermogenes Ancheta has just received his appointment papers from his new
immediate superior, the Vice President for Operations. He has been promoted from Assistant Manager
to Manage of the Maintenance Department. After congratulating him, his boss gave him a verbal
directive that he should put some order in his department and make it work in the most effective and
efficient manner possible.
Engineer Acheta has just passed the board examination for Mechanical Engineering when he
joined Motorbus Company in 1993. By June 1995, he informed his former classmates at the University of
Santo Tomas that he was promoted as Assistant Manager for Maintenance.
The former manager of the department, Engineer Gaudenciao Inductivo, joined the company
since it started operations in 1989. A total of ten buses began plying the Manila-Isabela route. A
maintenance unit was put up at the Manila terminal in Sampaloc. Another unit serves the Ilagan, Isabela
terminal. Each unit has a full-time mechanic and one assistant.
When a company bus comes in for repair, the mechanic diagnoses the various automotive
systems in the bus and later produces a list of parts needing replacement. The mechanic sends the list to
Engineer Inductivo, who in turn, forwards the same to the company accountant for approval of the
purchase request. Oftentimes, Engineer Inductivo performs the actual purchasing himself. Later, he
sends the purchased items to the mechanic who made the request.
The maintenance units were operating normally until 40 new buses were procured by the
company in 1993. Since then, every maintenance personnel were so busy that they threatened to quit
their jobs unless additional mechanics and assistants were recruited. By the end of 1993, each unit has a
personnel complement of 5 mechanics and 5 assistants.
Even with current developments, the old method of purchasing was not improved. Purchase
requests started to pile up. Mechanics and drivers began complaining to the VP for Operations about
delays in the delivery of needed parts.
The VP for Operations immediately sent a note to Engineer Inductivo ordering that the problem
should be resolved immediately. Engineer Inductivo was hard pressed and he could not offer an
immediate solution. The next day, Engineer Inductivo informed the VP for Operations that he is
requesting for the approval of his application for retirement as he is already 62 years old.
The VP forwarded the request to the President with and endorsement justifying the request. On
the same day, the request for retirement was approved. The next day, Engineer Ancheta received his
appointment papers promoting him to manager.
One f the first things Engineer Ancheta did was to inspect the storage room for parts. He found
out that the room was full of an uneven supply of parts. Some parts were of excessive quantities, while
some important ones were inadequately stocked. A corner of the room contains a big volume of
obsolete parts.
At the end of the day, Engineer Ancheta was informed by the VP that the company will be
fielding an additional 50 new buses within 30 days. This will mean that by the next month, about 100
buses will be serving the various routes assigned to Motorbus Company.
Engineer Ancheta is now mulling over how he will make the operations of his department as
efficient and effective as possible.
