Rail Transportation Engineering System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rail Transportation Engineering System - Essay Example Engineering Systems like the rail transportation system analyzed in this report, are characterized by a high level of technical complexity, social intricacy, and elaborate processes that are aimed at fulfilling important functions in the society. Usually, various disciplines are required for input into developing solutions for Engineering Systems, and adopting a systems approach is quite beneficial. The aim of this analysis is to identify the key elements of the rail transportation system and the interactions involved in operating such a system. This rail transportation system was selected for this report because rail transport is an emerging field of engineering and transport that seeks to provide solutions for some important socio-technical problems in society. There have been numerous studies in the past, carried out with the aim of investigating the individual aspects of socio-technical problems in order to find solutions to these problems. Some of these studies went to great lengths to isolate the smaller pieces of the bigger problem. (Sterman, 2000) Although Engineering Systems seek to expand perspectives form smaller pieces to a bigger picture, the bigger picture should be viewed as a system, with interactions explored within the system. Rail transportation systems can be classified as engineering systems because rail transportation involves a high degree of technical complexity and elaborate processes with the goal of fulfilling the function of cost-efficient transportation of goods and personnel in the society. The key elements of the rail transportation system include environmental friendliness, speed, low energy consumption, high safety standards and limited land usage. Rail transportation also makes use of its own transportation lines and is relatively free from time wastage as a result of traffic jams and hold-ups. (Ellis, 1986).

Effective Team and Performance Management Essay - 1

Effective Team and Performance Management - Essay Example But that was just a start of the many lessons that I learnt concerning working in a group. The process of team formation was a unique experience as I had to work with people I did not know neither had interacted with before. Thinking back on the way that the team initially got together, I can clearly understand why Tuckman (1965:87-89) developed his four step model. The very first thing we had to do was select a leader, and since all of us were quite uncomfortable and held back a little, Hana who was the first to break the silence and quite seemed to be directing the group, was chosen as the leader of our group. We were four members in the teams diverse both in gender, race and culture. I realized that this could possibly present a problem as noted by Cox (1991:57) concerning diverse teams, but this was proved wrong as different members though uneasy at first, brought in different thoughts and perspectives into the group discussions and the search for a solution as shown by Kravitz ( 2011). I got to understand that a team would not be able to get focused direction without a leader who fosters the team towards bonding, familiarity and working together rather than individually (Chieh-Wen, Yi-Fang, & Ming-Chia, 2010:1299). Notably at first we had to develop rules on how the team would work out, the various expectation of the team and how we need to behave to accomplish various tasks and accountability. Though initially I felt I did not own the group or understand exactly what we need to and how we need to do it, after laying out the rules and interacting for while and after realizing that my team members were as anxious as I was, I became more comfortable and gained trust in the group. This is certainly a reflection of one of Hackman’s (2002:54) that a team needs to have a strong direction and focus in its direction and needs to develop a structure upon which tasks are assigned. This is clearly noted in the manner with which various tasks are roles were assi gned in the team. One of the most unique lessons that I gained were from the survival activity. Not only was I able to see my team develop its own unique character, but me and my teams became as one dependant on each other and highly seeking to accomplish the same thing. Different team members tended to have different characters. While two were action oriented, one was more of realist while I was a planner engrossed on details (Chieh-Wen, Yi-Fang, & Ming-Chia, 2010:1302). At first I thought it incredulous but fun that we had to take animal names for our group and had to develop a survival strategy for our species to survive in a constraint environment. As we continued with our survival strategy I thought, aha, this is not about just some other random assignment, but was rather a deeper look into team building, what makes teams act in togetherness, have the same goal, same zeal and work together proactively to attain what is good for all in the group (Cook, 2009:124; De Jong, & Elfri ng, 2010:540). This is highly reminiscent of the social exchange theory which looks at how different people in a team exchange resources in manner that created utility for our group and enabled us to be able be able to brainstorm and come up with effective survival tactics for the lion in the jungle (Flynn, 2005:743). It also made me think of Freud’s group behavior model where he notes that people often have a herd instinct which potentially