Question 12

12.1 Describe the information you need daily, weekly and monthly.

12.2 Define data, information, software, hardware, network and Internet.

12.3 Explain why an engineer is described as a knowledge worker.

12.4 Explain why and how software applications and computer systems are useful to engineers,

12.5 List some issues engineers should be aware of when they use information systems.

12.6 Describe the information you would need to make a good decision in the following situations:

Question 17

17.1 Describe the role of engineers in strategic management.

17.2. Use Michael Porters Five Forces Model to analyze the current state of any industry of your choice. Examples that may be used are the gold mining industry, motor industry and energy industry.

17.3. Define business strategy.

17.4 List the factors a company has to consider when formulating strategy. 17.5 List the tasks and responsibilities of strategic management.

17.6 Differentiate between strategic planning and strategic thinking.

17.7 What is the vision and mission of your company? Does it meet the criteria described in this chapter?

17.8 List the five forces upon which the nature and intensity of competition in industry hinges.

17.9 Define the core competence of an organization.

17.10 Define critical success factors.

17.11 Explain the link between business strategy and technology strategy.

17.12 Briefly describe the generic business strategies of cost leadership and differentiation. Give examples of companies that have implemented these strategies.

Question 18

18.1 Describe the innovation cycle.

18.2 Describe the different types of innovation. Why would one want to classify innovation?

18.3 Explain why it is important to study technological evolution.

18.4 Define technological discontinuity and dominant design. Explain the relevance of these two concepts to a firms competitive strategy.

18.5 Compare the characteristics of firms and industries where technologies are young with those where technologies are mature.

18.6 List the organizational factors that support the creation and maintenance of an innovative organizational environment. Give a brief description of each.

18.7 Describe the elements of a technology strategy. Explain how a first-to-market or fast-[ollower strategy would influence each of these technology strategy components.

18.8 Describe the ways in which the benefits of innovation can be appropriated. When would one use patent protection in preference to other means?

18.9 Briefly explain how a Foster S-Curve is constructed. Explain why the evolution of technology may follow such a pattern.

Question 19

19.1 Describe the following concepts, principles and methodologies in the context of South African (or your applicable countrys) legislation: cradle-to-grave polluter pays precautionary principle integrated environmental management environmental management system environmental auditing environmental accounting life cycle thinking life cycle costing environmental risk assessment life cycle assessment life cycle engineering environmental impact assessment Me MH EM MH MO OH OH life cycle management

19.2 Describe the different phases of the following methodologies as comprehensively as possible and using an example for clarification purposes: % Life Cycle Assessment, using the ISO 14040, SETAC and the US EPA documentation as reference material; and # Environmental Impact Assessment, using DEAT documentation and other international reference material, eg the international principles of EIA prescribed by the International Association for Impact Assessment (LALA). Specifically reference the EIA process in at least one country other than South Africa.

19.3 Define the concept of sustainable development in the context of business/industry and explain how business (and operational) practices must be changed to address sustainable development through a holistic LCM approach.

19.4 Define the concept of sustainable development in the context of society in general and explain how technological strategies and innovations may align business/industry in terms of the increasing trend of sustainable production and consumption. Describe the role of engineers, technologists and scientists in the process.

19.5 Identify additional opportunities, other than the CDM process of the Kyoto Protocol, to obtain direct funding or financial support for green technologies.

Question 20

20.1 List three examples of each form of business ownership.

20.2 List three examples of each type of financial institution.

20.3 Discuss the four possibilities or modalities of starting a new business, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.

20.4 Discuss the possible sources of entrepreneurial ideas. 462 Chapter 20: Entrepreneurship

20.5 Discuss why it is essential for engineers to be familiar with the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.

20.6 Define a business plan, also referring to the main uses of this document. 20.7 Discuss the annual planning cycle of an operating company.

20.8 Briefly describe the advantages and disadvantages of a company and a close corporation as forms of enterprises. Explain why most organizations involved in capital intensive businesses usually choose a company as a form of enterprise.